O'Reilly touched by tribute in return to St. Louis

ST. LOUIS -- You knew it was coming.

Eventually, the captain would make his way back to St. Louis, but as an opposing player.

When the St. Louis Blues cut the cord with Ryan O'Reilly last season, trading him to the Toronto Maple Leafs on Feb. 17, and then not attempting to re-sign their captain of nearly three seasons when he became an unrestricted free agent on July 1, there would be a day when the 2019 Stanley Cup champion, so instrumental in their championship run that led to winning the Conn Smythe Trophy, would line up on the opposite side of the ice against the Blues.

It happened with David Perron. It happened with Vladimir Tarasenko. It happened with Ivan Barbashev. On Friday, it happened with O'Reilly,a tribute video welcoming back O'Reilly in Nashville's 8-3 win over the Blues at Enterprise Center on Friday, and it was warming to the heart, not only for the player, but for the 18.096 in attendance that adored every moment of O'Reilly's tenure here.

It was their way of saying thank you for nearly five glorious years. It was their way of saying thank you for bringing hockey's holy grail to the Gateway City for the first time. It was their way of saying thank you for gracing the Blue Note.

But when O'Reilly signed a four-year contract with the Predators, it was the end of any potential return -- at least for the time being -- back to St. Louis.

He mentored the young Blues on the roster today; now he's mentoring the young Predators. 

"I did watch it. It's crazy," O'Reilly said. "Obviously, it was such a special time here. It was such a nice thing for the Blues to do. I got a painting, too, from them before the game as well. Such a great organization. Everything they've done for me. Coming here I think really changed my career around. I can't thank the organization, the staff enough for being so great to me. It was a pretty great welcome back. It was definitely emotional. It was just an amazing time. An amazing tribute.

"... Coming here and being part of this culture, I just learned so much. I did a massive job of just maturing here. To learn from the veterans playing here. When I was playing against the Blues, I always admired that growing up. Then being a part of it changed a lot of things for me for the best. Definitely a special place."

When O'Reilly was traded to the Blues on July 1, 2018, one of the first things he said in a phone conversation with general manager Doug Armstrong was, "Let's go win a Cup!" And as promised, he helped deliver.

"He was a special guy," Blues coach Craig Berube said. "I think as a coach, to have a player that really does not need a lot of coaching, I guess is the best way I can put it. He's the type of guy that's very prepared, first of all, off the ice with what he does and preparation for every day, practicing, games and then if you watched him in practice, he was the first guy on the ice and last guy off the ice pretty much on a daily basis, to a fault at times, too much at times with how long the season is and everything. We tried to keep him off sometimes on optionals and things. And then on the ice, he was a great player. He's the type of player where he doesn't wow you with speed or these high-end plays, but it's the little things he does with his stick and his checking and his hockey IQ. They're all very high. ... He was great to coach. I really enjoyed being around him and learned a lot from him. Very professional."

O'Reilly not only received the gift from the Blues, but also captain Brayden Schenn presented O'Reilly, a the music aficionado, with a guitar autographed by Pearl Jam.

"It was pretty special," O'Reilly said. "I knew he had something in the works last year. It was a really nice gift from him. It's something I'll cherish."

He got the last laugh too, scoring his sixth power-play goal of the season during a two-man advantage in the second period to make it 5-1.

"Scoring the goal, yeah, that felt great," O'Reilly said. "That felt pretty darn good as well. It was an unbelievable play by Filip [Forsberg] to hit me backdoor. When you score against your old team, it always feels good."