The NHL’s worst team as of the new 2019 calendar year, the St. Louis Blues completed their remarkable and historic season turnaround with a decisive, defensive Game 7 masterpiece to upend the Boston Bruins and win their first Stanley Cup in franchise history.
On the backs of a stellar goaltending performance from rookie Jordan Binnington, paired with the defensive prowess of veterans Alex Pietrangelo and Jay Bouwmeester, and the offensive spark to pounce on a number of Bruins miscues, giving the Blues the 4-1 victory at TD Garden to win on enemy ice. Conn Smythe winner Ryan O’Reilly, Pietrangelo, Brayden Schenn and Zach Sanford were the scorers for St. Louis, who made Bruins goaltender and potential playoff MVP Tuukka Rask look almost human again after a stellar playoffs.
The win marks the Blues’ first championship in team history, ending a 52 year drought, in a season that saw a climb from the NHL basement, a midseason coaching change, and the emergence of a major goalie star in Binnington. The Blues, with the largest contingent of Canadian players in the Finals, see a number of Canadian World and Olympic medallists hoist the Cup, including O’Reilly, Pietrangelo, Colton Parayko and Jay Bouwmeester, who becomes the 29th player in hockey history to join the Triple Gold Club.
Our congratulations go out to the players, management and fans of the St. Louis Blues, with those on the roster that have also held the IHLC highlighted in bold:
| ๐จ๐ฆ Jake Allen, goaltender ๐จ๐ฆ Bill Armstrong, assistant GM ๐จ๐ฆ Doug Armstrong, general manager ๐ท๐บ Ivan Barbashev, forward ๐จ๐ฆ Craig Berube, head coach ๐จ๐ฆ Jordan Binnington, goaltender ๐จ๐ฆ Samuel Blais, forward ๐จ๐ฆ Robert Bortuzzo, defence ๐จ๐ฆ Jay Bouwmeester, defence ๐จ๐ฆ Tyler Bozak, forward ๐จ๐ฆ Michael Del Zotto, defence ๐จ๐ฆ Rob DiMaio, director ๐จ๐ฆ Vince Dunn, defence ๐จ๐ฆ Joel Edmundson, defence ๐จ๐ฆ Robby Fabbri, forward ๐ธ๐ช Carl Gunnarsson, defence ๐จ๐ฆ Al MacInnis, special advisor |
๐บ๐ธ Patrick Maroon, forward ๐จ๐ฆ Ryan O’Reilly, forward ๐จ๐ฆ Steve Ott, assistant coach ๐จ๐ฆ Colton Parayko, defence ๐จ๐ฆ David Perron, forward ๐จ๐ฆ Alex Pietrangelo, defence ๐จ๐ฆ Larry Robinson, consultant ๐บ๐ธ Zach Sanford, forward ๐จ๐ฆ Brayden Schenn, forward ๐จ๐ฆ Jaden Schwartz, forward ๐ธ๐ช Alexander Steen, forward ๐ธ๐ช Oskar Sundqvist, forward ๐ท๐บ Vladimir Tarasenko, forward ๐จ๐ฆ Dave Taylor, vice president ๐จ๐ฆ Tim Taylor, director ๐จ๐ฆ Robert Thomas, forward ๐จ๐ฆ Mike Van Ryn, assistant coach |
Photo Credit: NHL on NBC – IIHF โ HHOF โ IOC
