St. Louis was awarded a NHL expansion team despite not having an ownership group. Bill Wirtz, owner of the Chicago Blackhawks and Chicago Stadium also owned the arena in St. Louis, which was in a state of disrepair. He thought he could pawn off the arena to the eventual owner.
As such, St. Louis were the only one of the six 1967 expansion franchises to be conditional. The City of Baltimore, MD was waiting in the wings if the St. Louis deal fell through.
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