In St. Louis, where baseball and the Gateway Arch dominate the landscape, hockey fans are no longer singing the blues over their team. Instead, they're singing "Gloria", a 1982 hit record by Laura Branigan that became their victory song.
The Blues defeated the Bruins in Boston 4-1 Wednesday night, winning the Stanley Cup for the first time in their 52-year history. Ryan O'Reilly and Alex Pietrangelo scored goals in the first period of Game 7, followed in the third by Brayden Schenn and Zach Sanford to wrap it up. Goaltender Jordan Binnington stopped 32 shots. O'Reilly won the Conn Smythe trophy as the MVP in the playoffs, having scored goals in four consecutive games. No one had done that since Wayne Gretzky.
The Blues were a rags-to-riches story this season, having sat at the bottom of the National Hockey League standings on New Year's Day. Then a coaching change was made, with Craig Berube replacing Mike Yeo. Then they ripped off a string of victories, thanks in part to Binnington's goaltending, that ended with a high playoff position in the Western Conference.. The Winnipeg Jets, Dallas Stars and San Jose Sharks all fell before the Blues along their playoff run.
The Bruins more or less benefited from upsets that had rocked the Eastern Conference during the playoffs, which included the league-leading Tampa Bay Lightning getting swept in the first round by the Columbus Blue Jackets, and the Carolina Hurricanes dethroning last year's champion Washington Capitals. Boston took care of the Blue Jackets, Hurricanes and Toronto Maple Leafs to make it to the finals.
The Blues entered the NHL in the 1967-68 season with five other expansion teams (Pittsburgh Penguins, Philadelphia Flyers, Los Angeles Kings, Minnesota North Stars and Oakland Seals) that played in a division of their own. St. Louis represented that division in the Stanley Cup finals for three consecutive years, losing the Cup to the Montreal Canadiens and Boston Bruins without ever winning a game. Then came a half century of waiting, as all anyone remembered of the Blues' last trip to the finals were endless replays of the Bruins' Bobby Orr flying through the air after scoring the championship-winning goal in overtime at Boston Garden.
The city of Boston has won enough professional sports titles since the beginning of the 21st century. It's time for some other city to enjoy that honor, and look what's come marching into St. Louis. Laura Branigan, who died in 2004, must be very proud.
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