I don't know if you know anything about the National Hockey League but the rough equivalent of a solar eclipse happened tonight. For the first time in 49 years, one of the teams in this year's Stanley Cup finals will be the St. Louis Blues.
I'm 63 years old. I was 12 going on 13 when the Blues got started in 1967. And we weren't even supposed to get that team; I've read that it was supposed to go to Baltimore. But whichever Wirtz (the family who owned the Chicago Black Hawks) ran the Hawks at the time offered a deal.
Apparently, the Hawks ran a Central Hockey League farm team in St. Louis called the St. Louis Braves. I loved those guys; first professional sports team I ever listened to religiously on the radio regardless of what my parents thought about it. Somehow, the Wirtz family also found itself stuck with the St. Louis Arena which was a dump back then.
So whatever Wirtz this was had a simple proposal for a local named Sid Salomon Jr., a Missouri Democratic Party power broker who supposedly got Harry Truman on the '44 presidential ticket. Take the St. Louis Arena off my hands and I'll get you into the NHL.
Salomon wasn't at all crazy about the idea but his son, Sid III, was and, I guess, talked his old man into it. So Salomon bought the Arena, Wirtz returned the favor and the St. Louis Blues were born. Salomon did what he could to improve the Arena, it wasn't too bad and I spent a lot of my youth there watching hockey, basketball, indoor soccer, Roller Derby, things like that.
But the place, in far too many ways, remained a dump until the day that they blew it up.
In one fell swoop, the NHL went from six teams to twelve. I guess there was nothing else they could have done but the league kept the six old teams in one division and dumped the six expansion teams into the other one.
For the first three years they existed, my Blues won their division and got into the Stanley Cup finals. And they didn't win a single game. Twice against Montreal (Jean Beliveau era), once against Boston (Bobby Orr era).
Four-and-out all three years.
And my Blues haven't been close to being back ever since.
Until today.
It's always been touch-and-go for this franchise. In the 80's, they used to be regularly outdrawn by indoor soccer. Before that, they came this close to moving to Saskatoon. They've torn this team down and rebuilt it more times than I can count. And it was at the end of just last year that the Blues were in such sorry shape that many of us were absolutely convinced that they wouldn't make the playoffs this season at all.
But if my boys actually do end up taking down this pot, figure on at least a week of Web silence from this end because I'll be too continually drunk to get out on the Internet.
UPDATE: This is how weird this NHL season has been around here.
I'm 63 years old. I was 12 going on 13 when the Blues got started in 1967. And we weren't even supposed to get that team; I've read that it was supposed to go to Baltimore. But whichever Wirtz (the family who owned the Chicago Black Hawks) ran the Hawks at the time offered a deal.
Apparently, the Hawks ran a Central Hockey League farm team in St. Louis called the St. Louis Braves. I loved those guys; first professional sports team I ever listened to religiously on the radio regardless of what my parents thought about it. Somehow, the Wirtz family also found itself stuck with the St. Louis Arena which was a dump back then.
So whatever Wirtz this was had a simple proposal for a local named Sid Salomon Jr., a Missouri Democratic Party power broker who supposedly got Harry Truman on the '44 presidential ticket. Take the St. Louis Arena off my hands and I'll get you into the NHL.
Salomon wasn't at all crazy about the idea but his son, Sid III, was and, I guess, talked his old man into it. So Salomon bought the Arena, Wirtz returned the favor and the St. Louis Blues were born. Salomon did what he could to improve the Arena, it wasn't too bad and I spent a lot of my youth there watching hockey, basketball, indoor soccer, Roller Derby, things like that.
But the place, in far too many ways, remained a dump until the day that they blew it up.
In one fell swoop, the NHL went from six teams to twelve. I guess there was nothing else they could have done but the league kept the six old teams in one division and dumped the six expansion teams into the other one.
For the first three years they existed, my Blues won their division and got into the Stanley Cup finals. And they didn't win a single game. Twice against Montreal (Jean Beliveau era), once against Boston (Bobby Orr era).
Four-and-out all three years.
And my Blues haven't been close to being back ever since.
Until today.
It's always been touch-and-go for this franchise. In the 80's, they used to be regularly outdrawn by indoor soccer. Before that, they came this close to moving to Saskatoon. They've torn this team down and rebuilt it more times than I can count. And it was at the end of just last year that the Blues were in such sorry shape that many of us were absolutely convinced that they wouldn't make the playoffs this season at all.
But if my boys actually do end up taking down this pot, figure on at least a week of Web silence from this end because I'll be too continually drunk to get out on the Internet.
UPDATE: This is how weird this NHL season has been around here.
11 comments:
Virginia finally won an NCAA basketball championship only to have most of her first string go pro. Glory is fleeting, Chris, so enjoy it while you can.
& I could say that without waking up your robot-buster.
Now that I'm over the Blues eliminating my home town Winnipeg Jets, I hope they take out the Bruins as well. It would be good to see them win their first ever cup.
This place would be wasted if that happened. :-)
There was lots of excitement around here about the Hurricanes getting into the playoffs at all, and then coming from behind to win the first round. Good luck to your Blues.
This Hock Key of which you speak ... How is it played?
Thanks very much, Katherine. Thing that bugs us here is that your 'Canes already have a Stanley Cup to their credit while my boys haven't been close to one in their long history. :-)
Yeah, that was a huge deal here when it happened. Who's favored, the Bruins? "Who's favored" hasn't meant much in the playoffs so far, so, Go Blues!
Well, I'm happy for you Chris, but I'm still rootin' for the "Brooons."
This is shaping up to be a Battle of the Goalies because both Rask and Binnington are on fire.
That's okay, Myrmidon. Figured you would and you should. And if your guys take this thing 4 games to 2 or something, this season will still be far and away the best the Blues have ever managed in their entire history. After all, five or six months back, nobody here thought the Blues would even make the playoffs at all.
It's like when the St. Louis Rams first made the Super Bowl in 2000. Just the fact that they got there meant that season was more wildly successful than I ever thought it could be.
But actually WIN the thing? That was and still is beyond my comprehension. :-)
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