St. Louis Blues: The Way It Is

My children fell in love with the St. Louis Blues this spring. It’s my fault. This is my open letter to them.

Dear Aidan and Nora,

Welcome to the club.

Look, I know and I am sorry. Saturday night when I was out, I was at a concert. Bruce Hornsby was playing. One of my favorite Hornsby songs is “The Way It Is.” It’s about people who will try to ruin your day. The hook of the song says, “It’s just the way it is, some things will never change.” There may not be a song lyric that better exemplifies the life that I have willingly allowed you to enter. That, of course, is the life of a Blues fan.

You see, a month ago when I told you that you couldn’t stay up to watch the conclusion of the late games (insanely scheduled by the NHL), I was trying to protect you. I was trying to protect you from the certain expectation that Blues fans have developed. That expectation is that…well, the Stanley Cup Playoffs won’t end well for the Blues. It’s so ingrained in our psyche that they won’t win. Ultimately, the look of sadness that I see in your faces as we watch the Blues lose ANOTHER Game 6 is my fault. That first Game 7 against the Blackhawks, I let you stay up to watch the handshakes, and the rest of your life will now be misery…uh, I mean history.

The Blues didn’t win the Cup. It’s just the way it is. I must tell you that ultimately something unexpected always derails the Blues’ chances in the postseason.

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My first real “Blues heartbreak” happened in 1996 when the Blues, after the loss of goalie Grant Fuhr, lost in Game 7 of the second round against the Detroit Red Wings in double overtime, on a shot that might as well have been from Venus. Then in 2000, St. Louis finished with the best record in hockey, but they couldn’t make it out of the 1st round. The Bluenote made it to the Conference Finals in 2002, but they had no goalie. The Colorado Avalanche had some future Hall-of-Famers, and the Blues lost 4-1. I was at Game 4 of that series, and I think I must’ve sat in my seat for almost an hour following the Avs’ win in OT, even after the Blues erased a three-goal deficit. The middle of the 2000s were awful…thanks to former owner Bill Laurie, who is Stan Kroenke’s brother-in-law. Yes…that Stan Kroenke. More recently, these past few years, it’s been the Blues’ quick two-game series leads, only to never win another game.

May 19, 2016; San Jose, CA, USA; St. Louis Blues goalie Brian Elliott (1) leaves the ice after being removed from the game during the third period in game three of the Western Conference Final of the 2016 Stanley Cup Playoffs against the San Jose Sharks at SAP Center at San Jose. Mandatory Credit: John Hefti-USA TODAY Sports

Mandatory Credit: John Hefti-USA TODAY Sports /

This year, it really did seem different.

Nora, you were watching the 30 for 30 documentary on the long suffering fans of Cleveland with me last week.

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There was a man on the show that said something along the lines of “every Clevelander can point to a team and say ‘That was my shot at a Championship.” For me, that was this year’s Blues. You saw, and I passed on to you, excitement for this hockey team. Excitement that had honestly been lying dormant all season. But the unexpected happened, and after two series of pretty great play, the goalies couldn’t stop a puck and the Blues’ best player…just disappeared. This spring ultimately ended the way the 48 seasons before it have: Cup-less.

It’s not always bad…there are times of sheer joy. The 1999 comeback against the Coyotes, after being down 3-1 in the series. The sweep of the Hawks in 1994. Beating the Hawks this year in Game 7, trading Eric Brewer…all these moments were great, and these moments will get you through the tough ones. The tough moments like after Games 2 and 3 this year against the Sharks or…any Game 6 the Blues have played in your lifetime.

The reason sports are so great is because they produce in us something that has become rare. Hope. The Blues produced hope during an awful time in our town’s sports history this year. That hope, once again, will go unrealized. So now that you’re in as Blues fans, I wish I could tell you that it gets better. Ask around, ask me, ask Grandpa, and we’ll tell you, “It might get better, it might. We’ve just never seen it happen.” I hope that you don’t suffer as many of these heartbreaks as I have, but know that it’s the heartbreak that makes the joyous moments joyous. It’s these joys that allow us to come back every Fall and declare that “We all bleed Blue.”

I never finished the lyric from the Bruce Hornsby song earlier.

“That’s just the way it is, some things will never change. That’s just the way it it is. Ahhh…But don’t you believe them”

Let’s Go Blues!

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