Hochman: "It had to be like that, man." The Blues, instant icons in St. Louis, win the Stanley Cup in a unique way | Benjamin Hochman



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BOSTON – It's like a fantastic land on the ice – a feeling of dizziness, delirium and delights as you stroll through bluish blues.

Wherever you look, every turn, there is just joy. Goaltender Jordan Binnington, an icon at the back in St. Louis, wants his father to come up with the Stanley Cup. Coach Craig Berube with that big smile. There's inspiring Laila Anderson, an 11-year-old blues fan struggling with a rare disease, posing with blues players who asked for selfies with her. And then Patrick Maroon, the man of all ages Superman, the child of St. Louis who became Blue and helped his hometown to win the Stanley Cup for the first time in its history.

Thu 7. Wednesday night. Blues 4, Bruins 1.

"We did it!" Said Maroon as tears came to his eyes and his voice broke. "We did it, there's nothing else, we've all come into play from January 3 and we deserve it, and what a way to finish it, on the road we play well." .. My son and I are going to wear this in our graves, we will have memories for life. "

The St. Louis Blues from 2018 to 201H are the biggest story in Saint-Louis' sporting history. If the resilience of the 2011 Cardinals was legendary, consider these Blues, last in the league on January 3. And look over there – the Pietrangelo family is hoisting the Stanley Cup as the cameras flash and the eyes shine. Blues fans are hitting Boston's TD Garden and, man, you can only imagine what's happening in the St. Louis bars and lounges and wherever fans scream and dream.

"I can not even imagine what it will look like in the next few days with these fans," said Maroon. "These fans deserve it more than anything."

There is something intimate about it all. It's not a matter of hitting Boston or other hubs that win a league and go crazy in big cities. From the outside, it simply looks very big, fast, mass-produced (or, in that state, mass-produced). We are in St. Louis and we fight so often to be recognized and respected as great, but in the case of the Stanley Cup finals, being a "bigger, smaller city" gives even more the impression of being a shared experience.

"It's a nice end of story, that's for sure, it was like that, man," said Binnington, the fourth-string goaltender who became the starter. "I can not believe where we are. It's awesome.

The Canadian actress Cristine Prosperi, Binnington's girlfriend, was asked if she was told what it meant for the people of St. Louis. Jordan, of course, is not very open to journalists.

"Yes, we are talking about it all the time, how important it is to the city and that he does not want to drop the city," Prosperi said. "He just wants to make them proud. The community has been so great: they have supported and supported it, and we are very happy to bring them the Cup. …

"I mean, it's crazy. Just to say how much we were in San Antonio at the beginning of the year. And now we are in the Stanley Cup final and we won the Stanley Cup. I'm so proud of him, he worked there all his life, he dreamed about it. "

Bobby Plager, the former septuagenarian defender, is a blues delivery man. The Blues have talked about winning this for him – and for all the elders who bled red on their blue sweaters but who never won everything.

"It's unreal, it's amazing," said Plager on the ice. "Bobby Plager did not win, there are a lot of men who won, and they won for me.

"They called me to raise the Stanley Cup. He has not yet sunk. It's unreal for the players, our supporters back in St. Louis – we're going home for a parade. It's a little heavier than I thought. You know, I have two bad shoulders, I needed help to lift him, just to hold him above my head and give him a little kiss. That's what you dream of. This has never been the case as a player, but it is just as good. "

For Phil Maroon, Patrick's father, he also felt the imagination.

"Never in a million years," he said, trying to figure out what had happened. "I remember all these days in the basement. They had the trophy there, they were playing for the Stanley Cup and now it's real. And that's something I can not believe.

"St. Louis fans, I'm so happy for them. … My father was a season ticket holder from the beginning. From 1967 until the day of his death in 2004. I remember having attended all these games with my boys. My dad had two tickets and I would have bought two tickets with a crowded view for about $ 10, put me in his place, put two boys in one place and put Patrick on my lap, on the other. To see this now? Unbelievable. And all the disappearances in the past. And now we are here.

The St. Louis Blues are champions of the Stanley Cup. It stinks that we have to go back to the real world now. This has been a kind of magical holiday for Blues fans, in an unknown territory. This race introduced us to new heroes and created others as Saint-Louis faithful. In only half a season, Bérubé is introduced to coaches and managers in St. Louis. On the way, we met Laila and Gloria and showed the sporting world how much Saint-Louis cares about their hockey team.

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