It rained on the Blues鈥� parade, but nobody seemed to mind.
Hundreds of thousands of people lined the streets of downtown St. Louis and braved the rain on Saturday to cheer on the Stanley Cup champs, who concluded the festivities with a packed rally beneath the Gateway Arch that began just as the sun popped out.
The Blues ended one of sports鈥� longest championship droughts on Wednesday by beating the Boston Bruins 4-1 in Game 7 of the Stanley Cup Final, the first title for a franchise that joined the NHL 52 years ago.
The long-awaited championship stirred strong emotions in St. Louis, a city still smarting from the departure of the NFL鈥檚 Rams in 2016. The loss of the football team seemed to strengthen the fans鈥� bonds to the Blues and their beloved baseball team, the Cardinals.
鈥淚鈥檓 so happy for the city and the fans here,鈥� coach Craig Berube said. 鈥淭hey deserve it. But more than anything I鈥檓 so happy for our players, because of how hard they鈥檝e played, the character and leadership coming through, winning that cup.鈥�
Ryan Korte, a 56-year-old letter carrier from the St. Louis suburb of Belleville, Illinois, said he wasn鈥檛 sure he鈥檇 ever get to see the Blues win the cup.
鈥淚 was starting to wonder,鈥� Korte said as he waved a towel while standing on a ledge, straining to see the parade. 鈥淎 lot of disappointments. They鈥檝e had some good teams and they always let us down.鈥�
Not this time.
鈥淭his is bigger than the World Series,鈥� Korte said.
READ MORE:
That may sound strange in St. Louis, which has long been considered a baseball haven thanks to the Cardinals鈥� 11 World Series titles. It sure looked like a hockey town on Saturday, though, as fans shouted 鈥淟et鈥檚 Go Blues!鈥� and danced to 鈥淕loria,鈥� the 1982 Laura Branigan hit that became the Blues鈥� unofficial victory song.
Forward Ryan O鈥橰eilly, who won the Conn Smythe Trophy as the most valuable player of this year鈥檚 playoffs, carried the Stanley Cup to fans lining Market Street to let them touch it.
鈥淭he Blues have an amazing fan base,鈥� said Michael DeHeer, 52, of St. Louis. 鈥淭his place is ready to explode.鈥�
It has been quite a journey since the Blues joined the NHL in 1967 as one of six expansion teams that year that doubled the size of the league. The original six teams were kept in one division, the six new teams in another, ensuring that an expansion team would play for the Stanley Cup.
The Blues loaded their roster with aging veterans and it paid off: They played for the Stanley Cup in each of their first three seasons. They didn鈥檛 win a game, though, going a combined 0-12 in those three series.
What followed was a 49-year stretch in which the Blues didn鈥檛 make the finals 鈥� a drought made even more remarkable because the team only missed the playoffs nine times during that span.
This year鈥檚 season didn鈥檛 start out promising, as a sluggish start got coach Mike Yeo fired in November.
Craig Berube took over as interim coach 鈥� a title he still holds, though the interim tag is expected to be lifted soon. Improvement didn鈥檛 come immediately 鈥� the Blues were dead last in the standings on Jan. 3, the middle of the season. Days later, an unheralded rookie goaltender named Jordan Binnington was called up. He won his first game in a shutout.
Soon, with Binnington taking over as the lead goalie, the Blues went on a franchise-record 11-game winning streak and stayed hot through their playoff run.
Binnington, known for his calm demeanour, finally let loose Saturday.
鈥淵ou want to see some (expletive) emotion?鈥� he asked the rally crowd. 鈥淲e鈥檙e Stanley Cup champions, baby!鈥�
The Blues joined a list of other sports franchises to recently end long championship droughts. The Chicago Cubs鈥� win in the 2016 World Series ended a 108-year run of futility. The Philadelphia Eagles won the 2018 Super Bowl, their first championship in 58 years. Last year鈥檚 Stanley Cup winners, the Washington Capitals, won for the first time since joining the NHL in 1974.
Jim Salter, The Associated Press
Like us on and follow us on .
