2019 championship was first in 52 seasons
Five years. Has it really been that long?
For St. Louis Blues fans, it probably feels like yesterday. But June 12, 2019 is a day that will live in infamy for the franchise forever.
Wednesday is the five-year anniversary that the Blues won the first Stanley Cup in franchise history, a long 52-year wait in which the Blues defeated the Boston Bruins 4-1 in Game 7 to win their first championship.
Wednesday is 'We Went Blues Day' celebrating the championship. The team had a number of scheduling activities planned, including a trivia night at Enterprise Center and re-broadcasts of important games throughout the road to the Cup.
It was quite the ride for the Blues that season, which included general manager Doug Armstrong replenishing the roster with a number of moves made to make this a championship team, including signing free agents David Perron, Tyler Bozak and Oakville native Pat Maroon coming home, and also trading for eventual Conn Smythe Trophy winner Ryan O'Reilly, a blockbuster move on July 1, 2018.
The fans were so stoked for the season, they flooded Ballpark Village in downtown when the Blues introduced their team, and new players.
But when the Blues stumbled out of the gate, coaching change from Mike Yeo to Craig Berube after a 7-9-3 start and Yeo was fired on Nov. 19, 2018 following a 2-0 home loss against the Los Angeles Kings.
It didn't initially get better, and on Jan. 3, this team was in the basement of the league, looking up at everyone else at 15-18-4. This was not supposed to be happening to a roster that was loaded from top to bottom. It was more of an indication of Armstrong selling off assets at the trade deadline rather than adding to it.
Jan. 7, 2019 changed everything.
Actually, it began before that.
It was a December day in practice at St. Louis Mills Ice Zone. At the end of a random practice, Zach Sanford, who will remain a trivia question in Blues Stanley Cup history until the next time they reach one, and Robert Bortuzzo trading unpleasantries.
It stoked the initial fire. Jordan Binnington fueled the flames.
Binnington was recalled from San Antonio of the American Hockey League to start Jan. 7 against the Philadelphia Flyers. A 25-save shutout in a 3-0 win paved the path to stardom.
That win put the Blues at 17-19-4; they would go 28-10-5 the rest of the season, including a franchise-record 11-game winning streak Jan. 23-Feb. 21, and bulldoze their way into the playoffs as the third seed in the Central Division to go against the Winnipeg Jets.
It was a big-boy bruising series. The Blues were big and physical; the Jets were big and physical. St. Louis went on the road and won the first two games to set the tone, but the Jets would not go down quietly, winning Games 3 and 4 at Enterprise Center setting up a best-of-3.
The Jets would storm ahead 2-0 in Game 5, and there was this feeling of 'here we go again' with Blues playoff history. But this team was different. They found a way to tie it in the third period, and Jaden Schwartz scored with 15 seconds remaining in regulation to fuel a 3-2 win, one which they would win in Game 6 on a Schwartz hat trick.
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Next up was the Dallas Stars in the second round, and another series with lots of twists and turns. St. Louis native Ben Bishop was next in line to try and take down his hometown team as the Stars goalie.
Neither team was afraid of going into the other's building, splitting the first four games, and when the Stars came back to St. Louis and took down the Blues 2-1 in Game 5, they had a chance to close them out at home in Game 6.
But these Blues were the road warriors, where they rose from the dead time and time again.
Sammy Blais scored his first-ever goal in the NHL to cap a 4-1 win to send the series back to St. Louis for Game 7.
[embed]https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Fm0TNmQ-kSA[/embed]
Game 7 for most of this game was all about Bishop, who was removed late in that Game 6 loss after taking a bomb off the shoulder from a Colton Parayko slap shot.
Bishop was outstanding, and to be honest, the Stars had no business being in that game having been outshot 54-30.
But it was a 1-1 game heading into overtime, and one shot wins the game. The Stars nearly got it off the stick of Jamie Benn that if Benn tucks just inside the post is likely in, but Binnington's pad kept the game going ...
[embed]https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6RWdT-H-kf8[/embed]
... For No. 7, in Game 7, on May 7 ...
Maroon found his hometown moment, when he potted a Robert Thomas rebound 5:50 into double overtime to send the Blues to the Western Conference Final.
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Now to the conference final, a rematch of the 2016 series that the San Jose Sharks won in six games before facing the Pittsburgh Penguins for the Stanley Cup. This time, the Blues were underdogs again. But that's OK. They preferred it that way.
They split the first two games at SAP Center in San Jose, highlighted by a Robert Bortuzzo nifty goal.
[embed]https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=f9u1BbpRuO8[/embed]
Then, the series changer. A hand pass that shouldn't have counted. But it did.
San Jose won Game 3 by a 5-4 count when Erik Karlsson finished off a play after Timo Meier batted a puck down with his hand, play continued and Karlsson scored, sending the Blues into a frenzy on the officials on the ice.
[embed]https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lex0ba6F3LY[/embed]
The right reaction following was what fueled the Blues to not miss a beat the rest of the way, winning the next three games to close the series in six.
[embed]https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KuJH1ezkvKc[/embed]
Remember what was said prior to the series: Hey buddy, we're still here!
So here we are, a rematch from 1970:
The Bruins took Game 1 in a very entertaining start, 4-2. But the Blues played arguably their best game of the series in Game 2, winning 3-2 in overtime on Carl Gunnarsson's clapper from the blue line on a delayed penalty.
[embed]https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=iTTPkiZ91CU[/embed]
It was set up on a conversation at "the pisser."
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Boston came in and dominated Game 3, winning 7-2, but the Blues, as they've done countless times, came back with an answer, winning 4-2 in Game 4 to set things up for a best-of-3 for the holy grail of hockey.
[embed]https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jmN-1xdFbek[/embed]
Game 5 turned into controversy, one that Bruins fans will hate forever.
With the Blues leading 1-0, Tyler Bozak trips Noel Acciari in the Bruins zone. No call was made, and Perron would go on and score to make it 2-0. It finished 2-1 in favor of the Blues giving them their first series lead.
[embed]https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=snm2HcX1le4[/embed]
The city of St. Louis was ready to explode. Over 100,000 fans packed downtown outside for a watch party ready to celebrate on home territory the first Cup.
Boston had other ideas, winning 5-1, leaving the city somber and setting up an epic Game 7 for all the marbles.
If the Blues were to win it, they would have to do it in familiar territory: away from home.
When Binnington came on the scene Jan. 7, he captivated not only a team but a city. He had to be good, especially in the first period with a number of crucial saves before the Blues were finally able to find a crack and take the game over.
Going nearly 16 minutes without a shot, O'Reilly broke the deadlock, redirecting a Jay Bouwmeester shot through the pads of Tuukka Rask for a 1-0 lead, set up by a terrific shift by Sammy Blais.
[embed]https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aEL0AUHqfZU[/embed]
The goal that probably broke the camel's back, for all intends and purposes, was Alex Pietrangelo's backhand goal with 7.9 seconds left in the opening period, goals on consecutive shots by the Blues for a 2-0 lead.
Schwartz was able to break out the puck, chip it into the corner past Brad Marchand, who made the ill-timed line change.
[embed]https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=etoy7Eyw7Bs[/embed]
Now the Blues can lock the game down, which they did to perfection through a scoreless second period. Twenty more minutes and the Cup was theirs.
Boston would come throwing the kitchen sink. And perhaps the save of the game -- and the Cup -- for the Blues was Binnington's lunging right pad save on Joakim Nordstrom with 11:09 remaining.
[embed]https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lA9dGpa6FqI[/embed]
Moments later, Schenn added the nail-in-the-coffin goal, converting Vladimir Tarasenko's pass into the slot for a 3-0 lead with 8:35 remaining.
[embed]https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=U8sk98BR57Y[/embed]
And you know what, with 4:38 left, the emphatic seal for the win came off Sanford's stick, 4-0, game, set, match. And the Blues made history.
[embed]https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=54KmrmFr3jA[/embed][embed]https://twitter.com/lkorac10/status/1800954657159708946[/embed][embed]https://twitter.com/lkorac10/status/1800962856663355818[/embed][embed]https://twitter.com/lkorac10/status/1800963683310272683[/embed][embed]https://twitter.com/lkorac10/status/1800965568587047071[/embed]
And one of the most influential Blues of all time, Bobby Plager, can continue to smile down upon St. Louis after having lived through a dream.
It was a special run five years ago that provided plenty of special, eternal memories.
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