SHAKING THE BLUES
How did the NHL’s worst team at the start of the year end up in the Cup final?
The St. Louis Blues, the NHL’s worst team as late Jan. 3, are four wins from hoisting their first Stanley Cup. They advanced to the final round for the first time in 49 years on Tuesday night, ousting the San Jose Sharks from the Western Conference finals with a 5-1 victory in St. Louis.
The reward is a matchup with the Boston Bruins, who swept St. Louis in the final in 1970 — the last time the Blues played for the Cup. It’s instructive to see just how the Blues went from worst in the NHL to best in the West.
Nov. 19: After losing, 2-0, at home to the Los Angeles Kings — the only team at the time that had fewer points than St. Louis — the Blues fired their head coach, Mike Yeo. The loss dropped St. Louis to 7-9-3. To replace Yeo, the Blues elevated one of his assistants, Craig Berube, a longtime NHL enforcer, to be the interim coach. Jan. 6: The night before the Blues played the Flyers in Philadelphia, some players — among them Alexander Steen, Robert Bortuzzo and Joel Edmundson — visited a private social club in South Philly called Jacks NYB. During commercial breaks of the NFL playoff game between the Philadelphia Eagles and the Chicago Bears, the DJ played “Gloria,” a 1982 song by Laura Branigan that reached as high as No. 2 on the music charts in the United States.
“I’d heard it before — me and my dad listen to some oldschool music,” Bortuzzo told television reporter Frank Seravalli. “But it’s not a song that would’ve been prevalent in any of our lives. It’s a catchy song. I remember specifically looking at Steen right away, saying, ‘This is our jam.’”
Right then, they resolved to blast “Gloria” in their locker room after every win. Jan. 7: Berube, after starting Jake Allen in goal for 14 straight games, rested him in favour of Jordan Binnington. Once the Blues’ best goalie prospect, Binnington, 25, had played more than 200 minor league games before skating onto the ice at Wells Fargo Center in Philadelphia for his first NHL start. He stopped all 25 shots in a 3-0 victory. Afterward, the Blues played “Gloria.” Feb. 5: At the 11-minute-9-second mark of the third period at Florida, Ryan O’Reilly tied the score at 2-2. The Blues did not trail again for the next 517:28.
The Blues’ 11-game winning streak, the longest in the NHL since Columbus won16 in a row during the 2016-17 season.. April 7: The Blues finished the regular season with 99 points, one behind Central Division champion Nashville and the same as the Winnipeg Jets, whom St. Louis would face in the first round of the playoffs. Entering the playoffs, the Blues had a 10.1% chance of winning the Cup, according to MoneyPuck. April 20: Jaden Schwartz scored all three of St. Louis’ goals in a 3-2 victory in Game 6 against Winnipeg as St. Louis advanced to the Western Conference semifinals against the Dallas Stars. May 7: Patrick Maroon, the pride of Oakville, Missouri, about 15 miles south of downtown St. Louis, jammed in a loose puck behind Stars goalie Ben Bishop in the second overtime for a victory in Game 7, sending the Blues into the conference final against San Jose. May15: The Blues blew a lead in Game 3 against the Sharks in the final seconds, then lost, 5-4, in overtime, on a controversial goal aided by a missed hand pass. Replays proved they were correct, and the NHL later acknowledged the mistake. The Blues channeled the slight into comprehensive victories in Games 4, 5 and 6.