Former Blues forward, five years after winning first Cup with St. Louis, after scoring game-clinching goal in Eastern Conference Final, to battle for second title against Edmonton
It was nearly five years ago that Vladimir Tarasenko was raising the Stanley Cup for the first time with the St. Louis Blues, helping a city and franchise end a long drought of winning the NHL's championship and creating memories that will last an eternity.
The 16th pick in the 2010 NHL Draft was a key part of the Blues defeating the Boston Bruins in an epic seven-game series that put him in franchise lore for a lifetime.
Five years and three teams later, including two trades, Tarasenko will be vying or the Cup once again after he and the Florida Panthers eliminated the team the Blues traded him to late in the 2022-23 season, the New York Rangers, in six games in the Eastern Conference Final.
Tarasenko, as a matter of fact, scored the goal in the third period that would up be the winning goal in Game 6 on Saturday of a 2-1 series-clinching victory.
[embed]https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7_DBBECXxvY[/embed]
The 32-year-old, who signed a one-year, $5 million free agent contract with the Ottawa Senators last summer before being traded to the Panthers for a conditional fourth-round pick in 2024 and a third-round pick in 2025, isn't immune to the big stage and big goals. He set up Brayden Schenn in Game 7 of the '19 Cup Final that all but sealed the Blues' win.
[embed]https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=U8sk98BR57Y[/embed]
Tarasenko will be teaming up with St. Louisan Matthew Tkachuk, who is vying for his first Stanley Cup after falling short last season when the Panthers, two-time Eastern Conference champions, fell to the Vegas Golden Knights in the '23 Cup Final. Also, former Blues defenseman Niko Mikkola is also vying for his first Cup.
A free agent once again this summer, a solid showing and perhaps win in the Cup Final should net Tarasenko contract offers. Can he go 2-for-2 and how much are Blues fans cheering that he do it? He'll have to take down arguably the best player in the game, Connor McDavid, Leon Draisaitl and the Edmonton Oilers, who are vying to be the first Canadian team to win the Cup since 1993, to do it.
The series begins Saturday in Sunrise, Fla.
