Blues win. That's amazing in itself, considering they were in last place on New Year's day. If my team couldn't win it (ha!) then I want it to be a team like this, not a traditional powerhouse or preseason favorite. It does the soul good, a story like this. This is hockey.
And I'm really happy for Craig Berube. I watched him for years, going to games at the old Spectrum. We all called him Chief. He was the kind of player you needed back then, a guy who would score four goals but rack up 300 PIM. He coached the Phantoms then was named head coach of the Flyers in 2013, guiding them to the playoffs after an 0-3 start. Next year they missed the playoffs and he was fired by Hextall. I was sorry to see him go. He has the old-school mentality that clearly worked wonders in St Louis. They had a lot of overtime losses that season if I recall correctly, and that inability to finish close games cost him his job. But you could sense he could be a good coach. Seeing him lift the Cup was great. Good on ya Chief!
I'm not a Blues fan, but was pulling for them to win it. I can't root for any Boston-area team, just not in my DNA. And the Blues are blue-collar, and a tight-knit organization despite the years of falling short and I just think it's a great story. It reminded me of the Flyers in '87, when Hexy was a rookie like Binnington, although they lost to the Gretzky-Kurri-Messier Oilers in seven games. Who else was a rookie on the Flyers that season? Craig Berube