ST. LOUIS (KMOX) - Wednesday marked five years since the St. Louis Blues won their first ever Stanley Cup in 2019, capping off a remarkable turnaround from being one of the worst NHL teams to start the 2019 calendar year, to being Stanley Cup champions in a six-month span.
"It was a momentous time and in some ways, it still doesn't quite seem real," said Blues Owner Tom Stillman on Total Information A.M. Wednesday.
Oakville-native Pat Maroon, who scored the crucial series-winning goal in the Blues second round series against the Dallas Stars, admits it was tough to get the team to come together leading up to that run after a quite disastrous start to the season which saw the Blues crater to rock bottom of the league.
However, Maroon credits Craig Berube for taking the reigns helping change culture of the dressing room.
I think just putting our differences aside, when (Berube) came in, he took the standings off the wall, he took everything off the wall and was like 'It's going to be about hard work and dedication and who was going to want to put the time in and effort? Screw the Xs and Os. We got to come together as a group and a team.'" Maroon remembered. "Well we certainly did that, we put the bulls*** aside and came together as a group, stopped pointing the finger and got back to work and got back to the basics."
Maroon says there was a ton of special moments during that run, but ultimately the day they all won the Stanley Cup is a day they will all never forget.
"It changed my life forever," said Maroon. "Being a St. Louis-kid growing up and winning the Stanley Cup, when (NHL commissioner Gary Bettman) said '(former Blues Captain Alex Pietrangelo) come grab the Stanley Cup', I mean that was the best time to come together, and watching them do that, watching our teammates celebrate and come together, it's truly amazing."
"Touching down in St. Louis (after winning the cup), seeing the fans when we landed, then going to Enterprise Center( to meet up with their families) and celebrating at the Enterprise Center. It was just a remarkable day and a day none of us will forget."
Stillman says whenever he looks back at the 2019 Stanley Cup run, he can't help but remember and think about the late-Bob Plager.
"You just knew what was going on inside of him. He was just burning to get that Cup for the franchise, even if a lot of times, he was pacing in the halls rather than watching," said Stillman. "I had the distinct honor of sitting with him on the plane back, and that's an important memory for me."
