The 2012–13 St. Louis Blues season was the 46th season for the National Hockey League (NHL) franchise that was established on June 5, 1967. The regular season was reduced from its usual 82 games to 48 due to the 2012–13 NHL lockout. Off-season On January 6, 2013, after a 113-day lockout, the NHL Owners and Players reached a new Collective Bargaining Agreement (CBA), ratified on both sides by January 12, 119-days after the lockout. The old CBA expired on September 15, 2012, precipitating the lockout of the players by the owners. The new CBA has to be ratified by both the owners and players before the season can begin. On the same day, team owner Tom Stillman released a statement apologizing to the fans for the more-than-three-month lockout. The Blues and the NHL released the new playing schedules for 2013, covering 48 games instead of the usual 82. The Blues open the season at home on January 19 against the Detroit Red Wings. Fox Sports Midwest will broadcast 41 of the 48 games. NBC/NBC Sports will broadcast the remaining seven. On the eve of the start of the abbreviated 2012–13 season on January 19, the Blues trimmed their roster to 23 by the January 18 deadline. Regular season January The first game of the 48-game season scored a first for the Blues: the first shutout in the first game of the season in their 46-year history. A 6–0 shutout of Detroit at home by Jaroslav Halak (14th with the Blues; facing only 14 shots) featured a two-goal game on his first two NHL shots by acclaimed Russian rookie Vladimir Tarasenko, two goals by Chris Stewart and a short-handed goal by T. J. Oshie, with four of the six goals on the power-play, to a standing-room-only crowd of 20,035 in attendance. The opening game was the highest-rated Blues season or home opener on FOX Sports Midwest. It averaged a 6.0 household rating, making it the highest-rated program in prime time in St. Louis on Saturday. The second game of the season, on Monday January 21 against the Nashville Predators, was the highest-rated regular season Blues telecast ever on FOX Sports Midwest. The Blues' 4–3 shootout win at Nashville generated a 7.4 household rating in the St. Louis DMA, according to Nielsen Media Research. That easily tops the previous regular season high of 6.3 set March 13, 2012 at Chicago. The Monday