I'm not a huge hockey fan but wife's from the Loo & we lived there a couple years in the 90's, so I guess I'm a bit of a St. Loo homer. Back then I went to my first hockey game at the old Kiel Center, & it was...old...with restricted sight lines caused by columns holding up the roof. But it was packed with the faithful, and I got to see Hull, Shanahan, CuJo in a game. When that fog horn cranked up, I was like, what in the world is that...
Anyway, I'll never forget when the old Kiel center was demolished... I was there & watched as it imploded. And as the dust settled, there was a lone guy in a Blues jersey, standing on top of something, shouting at the top of his lungs, "LET'S GO BLUES! LET'S GO BLUES! ..." and didn't stop for a while. He was very emotional. Many were sad at all the history in that building, only to come down in a brief moment. Many playoff games were played in that old building, only to come to sad endings.
Fast forward to this January, when my family & I went back to the Loo for a weekend vacay, and got some tickets to see the Blues in the Enterprise Center. First time I'd seen them live since the 90's. Much nicer, the video boards & intro music & flames & etc. were over the top. They won that game. Looked pretty good. But, never would I have guessed they'd go on a historic run. The Blues?? yeah, right.... too small a market, in an unpopular sport, only the bigger cities & Canadians ever win it all. They got swept in 1970, probably gonna happen again, right? Crazy enough, when they got swept by the Bruins in 1970, I was fresh out of the womb, a couple of weeks old. 49 years later.... 49 years....
Never would I have thought I'd see them win last night & gather around the Stanley Cup for that picture they always take of the winners. My wife walked in the room & said, "hey, the Blues are up 2-0!" So we switched on the telly, found NBC, and watched history unfold. Incredible series. Great games by both teams, Kudos to the B's. But so happy for the Blues who finally won it all, after a long, long road.