“It’s been a rough season to be a fan of the St. Louis *ahem* Blues, and at this point everyone either realizes that the team is in the middle of a rebuild or is in desperate need of one.” — some hack earlier in the season *checks notes*, oh, yes, me.
Well, well, well, look at who’s left standing at the mountain top. Before recapping this incredible playoff run, let me first just say that I absolutely cannot believe this finally happened. Growing up, watching great teams with great players like Brett Hull (more on him later), and watching them so often fail in the most comical ways – let’s just say, it jaded me.
This year was different – every round had at least one defining moment of adversity that the Blues had to overcome. Against the Winnipeg Jets, the Blues found themselves down 2-0 in the third period of a pivotal game 5, yet managed to erase that deficit with 3 goals in the third. Against the Stars, who quite honestly posed a very bad matchup for the Blues, they found themselves down 3 games to 2, before roaring back to thoroughly dominate them the next two games. But for Ben Bishop in Game 7, the scores of the last two games would have been incredibly lopsided. There was the infamous hand-pass against the Sharks, after which the Blues outscored them by a combined 12-2 mark the last three games. Even in the Stanley Cup Finals, the Blues came back after getting blown out in game 3, having multiple players suspended, and losing a chance to clinch at home.
There isn’t much to go over that TXHT has not covered in the game recaps, but my hope is to convey just how much this means to the city, to me. St. Louis is a nice city, but one people don’t necessarily need to visit. However, once you live there, once you experience the people, the day-to-day life, it becomes your home – forever. That’s why Brett Hull cares so much. That’s why greats like Bernie Federko, Chris Pronger, Al MacInnis, and Wayne Gretzky still live, at least partially, in the city and were there every step of the way for this run. There’s also a certain kinship people have with the Blues that they don’t have even with the Cardinals – maybe the Cardinals win too much it becomes old hat? I really don’t know. But I do know that records were set for viewership and ticket cost, and almost half the population showed up for the parade. Brett Hull might still be having his own parade right now.
But, as much as I try, I am certainly not a good enough writer to adequately convey its meaning in words, so please accept these two words as my final thought:
Thank you
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