The St. Louis Blues won’t be skating in the Stanley Cup playoffs, and now they’re looking for an owner.

Team chairman Dave Checketts announced earlier this month the team is for sale, after the team’s majority partner, TowerBrook Capital, decided it no longer wants to be in the business of owning an NHL team.

Maybe the partner’s principals grew tired of watching a team languish near the bottom of the Western Conference standings this season. The Blues are 13th in the Western Conference with 73 points, 12 points out of the eighth and final playoff spot with nine games to go.

Fan support hasn’t been a problem. St. Louis ranks eighth in the NHL this season in attendance.

The Blues have lost two in a row and six of their past 10. St. Louis plays host to Edmonton on Thursday.

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The St. Louis Blues still are seeking their first victory of 2011.

The latest loss for the stumbling Blues came Wednesday night. St. Louis lost its fifth in a row, falling at Anaheim 7-4.

The Blues fell behind 3-0 after one period, giving up two goals in the first 7:21 of the period. St. Louis made a game of it in the second period, getting two goals from David Backus less than three minutes apart early in the period. Backus scored at the 3:44 mark and again at 6:15, pulling the Blues within 3-2.

But Anaheim took control in the third, scoring four unanswered goals to build a 7-2 lead. Ryan Reaves and Brad Boyes scored in the final four minutes for St. Louis.

The Blues, who are four points out of the final playoff spot in the Western Conference, play Thursday night in Los Angeles.

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After dropping three of their first four games in February, the St. Louis Blues found their stride entering the Olympic break.

Facing the top team in the NHL Saturday night, the Blues let three one-goal leads disappear before finally prevailing in a shootout, downing Washington 4-3.

The win gave the Blues three consecutive victories entering the Olympic break, and pulled St. Louis to within four points of the final playoff spot in the Western Conference.

St. Louis jumped to a 1-0 lead at the 9:13 mark of the first period on Patrik Berglund’s goal. T.J. Oshie made it 2-1 midway through the second period. At 15:23 of the second, Erik Johnson scored on the power-play to make it 3-2.

Each time the Blues scored, the Caps answered. In the shootout, David Perron scored in the fourth round, and Chris Mason stuffed the Washington shooters for the victory.

St. Louis opens the post-Olympic part of its schedule March 2 at Phoenix.

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