The Blues Erase A Half Century Of Hockey Anguish In One Night
It feels extremely weird to write this, but the St. Louis Blues are Stanley Cup champions. It took them more than half a century -- in that time there were three failed Cup bids and a subsequent 25-year playoff streak that included zero Cup appearances -- but this current group of Bluenotes will forever have their names engraved on the face of an ornate punch bowl.
We wrote Wednesday that Blues goalie Jordan Binnington was having one of the worst playoffs in recent memory among goalies who advanced to the Stanley Cup Final. In Game 7, however, Binnington was downright sublime, stopping 32 of the 33 shots the Boston Bruins directed at his goal in a performance for the ages. Binnington might have struggled at times during the playoffs, but no one will remember any of that -- all anyone will remember are those 32 saves.
This is all a bit unbelievable when you consider the Blues' position in the league standings just after the new year. In the first week of January, the Blues had the second-worst points total in the league, outperforming only the Ottawa Senators, who ended the season 34 points outside playoff contention. It hardly looked like the Blues would win another dozen games, let alone qualify for the playoffs. And it most certainly didn't look like they'd advance to the Stanley Cup Final.
Binnington's playoff...
