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New York Times
08-05-2025
- Sport
- New York Times
Did the Blues' second-half surge and playoff appearance put an end to their retool?
ST. LOUIS — If the St. Louis Blues' season had finished the way it was heading in February, the tone of the team's interviews Tuesday at Enterprise Center could have been much darker. The Blues were playing at a .491 points percentage and were projected to miss the playoffs for the third straight season. Advertisement The majority of the sentiment would have been that it's time for a rebuild and that significant changes with the core were a must. Instead, the Blues played at a .788 points percentage after the 4 Nations Face-Off, qualified for the postseason and took the Presidents' Trophy-winning Winnipeg Jets to Game 7, where they experienced an excruciating end with a 4-3 loss in double overtime. The run was mighty impressive and undoubtedly changed fans' perception about the franchise's future heading into the 2025-26 season. But how much did it alter the thinking of Doug Armstrong, coach Jim Montgomery, captain Brayden Schenn and others? Have the Blues climbed out of the retool? Should they be seen as a postseason contender? Will they be more aggressive this offseason, making trades and signing free agents, than they've been the past two years? Those are fair questions because, regardless of what changes people can agree need to be made to the roster, the Blues legitimately turned the team's trajectory with their performance over the past three months. 'What I said to some of the guys was that in five or six years, when people Google or Wikipedia this season, they're going to see 96 points and a playoff team,' Armstrong said. 'An NHL team is like a tanker in the ocean: When you want to turn things around, it takes a while. We had 92 points a year ago, and this year we had 96. If we do that again next year, that gets us close to 100 points, and that's where we want to go. 'I'm hoping that we have turned the tide on the 're-whatever' and we're starting to become a competitive team that has reasonable expectations of success. I think the re-whatever is ending and we become who we want to be, and now it's how quickly do we move up and continue to expand? We could take a step backwards, but I don't think we're going to take a step backwards.' Advertisement In a combined hour-long conversation with Armstrong and Montgomery, the measure of the Blues becoming 5 percent better next season was mentioned multiple times. If accomplished, they believe that will take the club to a level beyond where it was this season. 'In this league, it's hard to improve by 5 percent, and that's what we're going to need to do again next year,' Montgomery said. 'That's going to be incumbent upon every player, coach and person in the organization to try to get 5 percent better, if not more. 'How do we go about that? Well, the investment by everybody after 4 Nations was significantly improved, and now everybody has to have a great summer so we have a good camp and we're not chasing a playoff spot but in one. Those are things we have to build upon because we were that for two or three months.' Knowing how they got here will help the Blues understand how to carry on what they're doing. First, it's realizing how much the process was sped up by the acquisition in August of Dylan Holloway and Philip Broberg via offer sheet from the Edmonton Oilers; the hiring of Montgomery in November after he was fired by the Boston Bruins; and the trade in December for defenseman Cam Fowler from the Anaheim Ducks. 'I was talking to Mr. Stillman the other night, and I said, 'We were fortunate enough to have three large changes into our group within a year,'' Armstrong said. 'You can sometimes go five years without having three large changes that affect your team.' Those acts alone, however, didn't guarantee success. Other factors were involved, including an increase in the club's confidence after the 4 Nations Face-Off. 'Throughout the year, if you look at the ups and downs, we didn't start off great, and when Monty came in, we felt like we were playing good hockey; we just weren't able to get wins,' Blues forward Robert Thomas said. 'Then you come out of the break with a fresh mind and get back to the way we were playing, and the results started to come.' Advertisement 'After break, it brought excitement, like how we grow,' Blues forward Pavel Buchnevich said. 'We went back to playing as a team, not player by player. Everybody was doing basically the same thing, playing the system. I'm a big believer (that) as soon as you get the confidence, it's going to be, like, (a) snowball, you keep rolling over. It was a big lesson.' More confidence led to more wins, and thus the culture improved. 'We've all been on teams where there's a little bit of fakeness or whatever, where guys are putting on their gear and playing for themselves,' Schenn said. 'We feel like we did a good job of holding each other accountable, and at the end of the day, we had a bunch of guys that were gamers who are willing to lay it on the line for each other, and guys felt that.' Armstrong lauded Schenn for assisting with that. 'He's got his arms around what needs to be done,' Armstrong said. 'He is selfless in the way he treats players off the ice. He does a lot of those things behind the scenes that leaders do. I think he's done a really good job, and more importantly, his teammates think he's done a good job. If he has the respect of his teammates, and he does, he has the respect of me.' Schenn stressed that many players took 'massive steps, whether it was maturity or leadership,' this season. But the captain knows rosters change year to year, and as former Blues coach Ken Hitchcock used to say, the chemistry and culture in the dressing room need to be re-created every year. ''Culture' is a funny word because there's so much that goes into it and it's always changing,' Schenn said. 'I feel like the foundation of the St. Louis Blues, everyone knows what it looks like. But it's a tough thing to build up, and once you have it, it's even harder to keep. You can't let things slip. We have taken steps in the right direction, but now we have to continue working on it.' Advertisement Montgomery believes the key to that will be the players keeping up their communication during the offseason. 'In order for us to pull more out, it's going to be a commitment off the ice,' Montgomery said. 'It's players pulling each other more into the fight during the summer.' Thomas agreed and said the motivation should stem from the way the season ended. 'Every year you come in, you want to win it all, and it feels like a letdown every time you don't,' he said. 'It definitely sucks right now, but looking forward, there's a lot to be excited about, and everyone can see it and feel it. That's what gets you to move on: looking forward. You've got to bring it into your training and bring it into how you think about the game.' Meanwhile, Montgomery says he'll be doing his part, studying the top teams around the NHL and using that research to tweak parts of the Blues' game plan. 'There's some areas that need to get better, and we'll look at those,' he said. 'No. 1, I think, just everybody coming back and having a training camp together and setting the tone of 'This is how hard we're going to work, and we're going to come and have fun, too, because we get to play a game for a living.' That's something that everybody has embraced — that work is fun for us.' And though the first-round series didn't go as the club wanted, it'll take that experience into training camp, too. 'The playoffs are a growing opportunity for us,' Montgomery said. 'We have to learn to hold on to leads better. We have to learn how to handle big moments, where the pressure gets raised, especially on the road. Those are things where everybody got valuable experience, and that's going to be really important as we move forward as an organization.' The other benefit of the Blues' end-of-season success is that Armstrong may have a more aggressive approach when adding talent. Advertisement 'How we perform on the ice is going to (help) make the management's decisions, whatever we do, like trades or improve the team,' Buchnevich said. 'I feel like if your team is good, people will want to come here. So we have to play better and basically make a message to Doug, like, 'OK, we're ready.'' And the interest might be more mutual. 'You have to show that you're ready for that, not only to Army and whatnot but the rest of the league,' Thomas said. 'Players have to want to come here. Everyone in our room knows what a great culture we have in St. Louis, and I think that's spreading more and more.' That wasn't the only message Armstrong got from the players after losing to the Jets. 'I think organizationally we had a decent year — not a great year, a decent year,' Armstrong said. 'What excites me the most is the disappointment they have. They're not patting themselves on the back on what a great ride we had after the 4 Nations. … They know that we had the best team over 82 games dead-to-rights, and that's going to sting them as it stings me.' The tone of Tuesday's interviews wasn't as dark as it could have been. But it wasn't excitement, either. 'There's lots of positives compared to where we were last year, with what people were saying should be done with this team to what we're talking about now,' Schenn said. 'But your season is over, and you're never a playoff team until you are again next year, and that's kind of the mentality you have to have. 'Do we feel like we're in a better spot now than three months ago? Absolutely. But we have to learn just how hard it is to make the playoffs. It's a tough league, nothing comes for free, and you can't look at it like you had a good 25-game run and made the playoffs. This is going to make us feel like we want more.'
New York Times
01-05-2025
- Sport
- New York Times
Can Blues force Game 7 against Jets? It wouldn't be surprising, but they've got work to do
WINNIPEG — The St. Louis Blues' season has been so surprising that it isn't hard to envision them winning Game 6 against the Winnipeg Jets on Friday and sending this Western Conference first-round series back north. Close your eyes and you can see Blues players skating out to tap goalie Jordan Binnington on the top of the mask, and a rambunctious sellout crowd of 18,096 saluting them for pushing the Presidents' Trophy team to the brink. Advertisement They believe it. 'I do,' Blues coach Jim Montgomery said. 'I believe in our group. We've done it here for two and a half months. There's no reason to believe that we're not going to be coming out full force and trying to force a Game 7.' If they think it's possible, who are we — the ones who prematurely gave up on them even making the playoffs, the ones who lost hope once they fell 2-0 in the series — to say they can't? Let's give the Blues the benefit of the doubt. But if that scene is going to take place at Enterprise Center on Friday, they've got work to do after a 5-3 loss in Game 5 Wednesday that gave Winnipeg a 3-2 lead in the best-of-seven series. The game started just like the first four with bodies flying everywhere on every shift. It quickly became clear whose night it was going to be, though. After losing star forward Mark Scheifele to a first-period injury, Winnipeg ramped up in the second period. The Jets outshot the Blues 14-3 that period, and though Jimmy Snuggerud tied the score 2-2, the home team took control for good. The Blues got two of their three goals from Nathan Walker on the fourth line, which also had five of the team's 19 shots. Outside of them and Binnington, who didn't have much of a chance on the Jets' non-empty-net goals, they looked nothing like a team trying to put itself in a clinching scenario Friday. 'They were better than us,' Montgomery said. 'We've got to be more connected. I didn't think our puck support was good enough. I didn't think we got back quick enough. I didn't think we won our forecheck; we didn't establish it. It's every facet. 'But you know what, it's a series, it's going to happen. We're not happy about it, but we're onto the next one. It's as simple as that. We've got to forget about it.' The teams have had three two-day breaks in this series, but they will have a quick turnaround after traveling to St. Louis on Thursday. Game 6 is set for 7 p.m. (CT). It's unknown at this point whether Winnipeg will have Scheifele, who was on the receiving end of a heavy hit by Blues captain Brayden Schenn less than seven minutes into the game. Schenn, who was assessed a two-minute minor for interference and two minutes for roughing, said afterward, 'I haven't seen the replay, but I don't believe I hit him in the head.' Scheifele played three more shifts before being hit again by the Blues' Radek Faksa. After that hit, he took one more shift, then left and didn't return at the start of the second period. Which hit ended Scheifele's night depended on who you asked. 'Let's make it clear: No. 55 (Scheifele) got hurt from the Faksa hit,' Montgomery said. 'He played six minutes after the Schenn hit. He didn't come back after he got rocked by Faksa.' Winnipeg coach Scott Arniel was told about Montgomery's comment and replied: 'I didn't know Monty got his medical degree, trying to say how our player got hurt. He's way off base.' Whoever delivered the blow in question, or whether or not Scheifele plays in Game 6, will have little bearing on whether the Blues can send the series back to Winnipeg. Advertisement They've got a lot of cleaning up to do, and there's a checklist of other items. When the Blues are connected, breaking the puck out of their zone and forechecking, they can play with anybody in the NHL playoffs. When they're not, they look like a team still in a retool. 'Too spread out,' forward Oskar Sundqvist said. In the second period, the Jets directed 33 shots on net to the Blues' seven. 'They were kind of beating us to both goal lines, so we spent a lot of time in our end and not as much in theirs,' defenseman Justin Faulk said. So what changed after the Blues were so dominant in Games 3 and 4, outscoring the Jets 12-3? 'I mean, there are adjustments always, right?' Schenn said. 'I just don't think we liked our game tonight. We weren't good enough tonight to turn the tides. We got some key goals at key times and just weren't able to grab momentum after that. Obviously, it's a little bit deflating.' After chasing Winnipeg goalie Connor Hellebuyck out of back-to-back games in St. Louis, their plan in Game 5 had to be to pepper the Vezina Trophy finalist. They did do that Wednesday, with Walker scoring on a deflection of a shot by Colton Parayko and Snuggerud putting an innocent shot past the netminder. But they didn't do it nearly enough against someone trying to regain their confidence in this series. In the Blues' two wins in this series, they have 26 shots. In their three losses, they have 19.3 attempts. 'Shots, traffic,' Schenn said. 'We made it too easy on him tonight and we know that.' It's tough to say after the offensive outburst in St. Louis, but the Blues need more production from their top three forward lines. After five games, three of their top-six scorers are defensemen: Cam Fowler (9 points), Parayko (4) and Faulk (3). Pavel Buchnevich had a hat trick in Game 3 and has seven points in the series. Robert Thomas has two goals and seven points. Jake Neighbours has a goal and five points. But Jordan Kyrou has just two points and is a team-worst minus-5 in the series. Zack Bolduc has no goals and one assist. Advertisement 'The (fourth line) is a good example of what we need to do,' Montgomery said. Meanwhile, Winnipeg broke through with some secondary scoring Wednesday. Vladislav Namestnikov, who replaced the injured Scheifele on the top line, netted his first goal of the series, giving the Jets a 4-2 lead late in the second period. Earlier, Nino Niederreiter had his first of the series. 'They had to move some guys up the lineup, shuffle the lines a bit, and a couple of them scored some goals,' Faulk said. 'We've got to do a little bit better job at our net and not let them get in tight.' Which brings us to the last issue: the third defensive pair. With Tyler Tucker listed as day-to-day with a lower-body injury, veteran Ryan Suter returned to he lineup in Game 5 and played with Nick Leddy. They were on the ice for the first two Jets goals, and Leddy was on for the fourth when Philip Broberg missed a shift after blocking a shot. It doesn't seem likely that Tucker will be back for Game 6, so Suter and Leddy, who both played more than 15 minutes in Game 5, will have to suffice. 'We know we can play better and we know what this group is capable of,' Faulk said. 'We're excited to get back home, get the job done there and you never know. We've just got to win that one and get to Game 7.' Added Schenn: 'At the end of the day, you turn the page, you move on and go to Game 6.' They've been in this spot before and surprised us. Now they'll head home, where they've won 14 consecutive games, to see if they can do it again. 'Yeah, definitely,' Sundqvist said. 'We've probably had worse odds against us throughout the season. We're going to play Game 6 first and try to force a Game 7.'
Yahoo
28-04-2025
- Sport
- Yahoo
Jets goalie Hellebuyck expects to bounce back in Game 5: ‘I am going to be better'
Winnipeg Jets' Connor Hellebuyck (37) and Vladislav Namestnikov (7) defend the net against St. Louis Blues' Jake Neighbours (63) during the second period in Game 4 of an NHL hockey first-round playoff series Sunday, April 27, 2025, in St. Louis. (AP Photo/Connor Hamilton) Winnipeg Jets' Dylan Samberg (54) and Connor Hellebuyck (37) defend the net against St. Louis Blues' Colton Parayko (55) during the second period in Game 4 of an NHL hockey first-round playoff series Sunday, April 27, 2025, in St. Louis. (AP Photo/Connor Hamilton) St. Louis Blues' Robert Thomas (18) celebrates a goal on on Winnipeg Jets goaltender Connor Hellebuyck (37) on a shot by Jimmy Snuggerud, not shown, during the first period of an NHL playoff game in Winnipeg, Monday April 21, 2025. (Fred Greenslade/The Canadian Press via AP) Winnipeg Jets goaltender Connor Hellebuyck (37) makes a save against a St. Louis Blues shot during the third period of Game 2 of a first-round NHL hockey playoff series in Winnipeg, Manitoba, Monday April 21, 2025. (Fred Greenslade/The Canadian Press via AP) Winnipeg Jets goaltender Connor Hellebuyck (37) makes a save against a St. Louis Blues shot during the third period of Game 2 of a first-round NHL hockey playoff series in Winnipeg, Manitoba, Monday April 21, 2025. (Fred Greenslade/The Canadian Press via AP) Winnipeg Jets' Connor Hellebuyck (37) and Vladislav Namestnikov (7) defend the net against St. Louis Blues' Jake Neighbours (63) during the second period in Game 4 of an NHL hockey first-round playoff series Sunday, April 27, 2025, in St. Louis. (AP Photo/Connor Hamilton) Winnipeg Jets' Dylan Samberg (54) and Connor Hellebuyck (37) defend the net against St. Louis Blues' Colton Parayko (55) during the second period in Game 4 of an NHL hockey first-round playoff series Sunday, April 27, 2025, in St. Louis. (AP Photo/Connor Hamilton) St. Louis Blues' Robert Thomas (18) celebrates a goal on on Winnipeg Jets goaltender Connor Hellebuyck (37) on a shot by Jimmy Snuggerud, not shown, during the first period of an NHL playoff game in Winnipeg, Monday April 21, 2025. (Fred Greenslade/The Canadian Press via AP) Winnipeg Jets goaltender Connor Hellebuyck (37) makes a save against a St. Louis Blues shot during the third period of Game 2 of a first-round NHL hockey playoff series in Winnipeg, Manitoba, Monday April 21, 2025. (Fred Greenslade/The Canadian Press via AP) WINNIPEG, Manitoba (AP) — Connor Hellebuyck says there is no crack in his confidence after the Winnipeg Jets goalie was pulled during his team's last two playoff losses. Hellebuyck, who was announced Monday as a finalist for the Vezina Trophy, told reporters his mindset is good heading into Wednesday's Game 5 at home against St. Louis. Advertisement The Blues tied the Western Conference best-of-seven opening-round series 2-2 after thumping the Jets 5-1 on Sunday and 7-2 Thursday in St. Louis. 'You don't love giving up that many goals, but we're 2-2 in the series. That's all that matters. Win the next one,' Hellebuyck said after he and most of his teammates didn't take part in Monday's optional skate. 'Am I going to be better? I am going to be better. I've studied goaltending extremely hard. I've probably studied the most out of anyone in this world, so I know what to do and how to get my best game. So that's what I'm looking forward to do.' Backup Eric Comrie replaced Hellebuyck in the third period of the past two losses and gave up one goal in Thursday's match. Advertisement Hellebuyck is up for the NHL's top goalie award with Darcy Kuemper of the Los Angeles Kings and Andrei Vasilevskiy of the Tampa Bay Lightning. The 31-year-old from Commerce, Michigan, is the reigning Vezina Trophy winner and also claimed the honor in 2020. He was a finalist in 2018 and 2023. Hellebuyck posted career bests in wins (47), shutouts (eight), goals-against average (2.00) and save percentage (.925) to help Winnipeg finish the regular season with the league's best record and gain home-ice advantage by capturing the Presidents' Trophy. 'It would be crazy to go that many regular-season games and then all of a sudden switch something up in the playoffs,' Hellebuyck said. 'You don't win 47 games and then come the playoffs switch everything up. I know how it needs to look. I like a lot of things. I'm not going to go and make huge changes.' Advertisement Hellebuyck won a second consecutive William M. Jennings Trophy as the goaltender (minimum of 25 games played) on the team allowing the fewest regular-season goals. He said he's mentally prepared for what's ahead. 'I think playoff time, that's one of the most important attributes you can have, is being strong between the ears,' Hellebuyck said. 'You don't want to go into a game playing with fear. If you play with fear, that's when you start to actually make mistakes and want things back. 'We go out, we play our game and you continue to be better every single shift, every single game and every single day. That's my mindset moving forward, and I'm looking forward to that.' ___ AP NHL playoffs: and
New York Times
19-04-2025
- Sport
- New York Times
Once a Blues lightning rod, Jordan Kyrou (and his +23) won over fans going into playoffs
ST. LOUIS — It's almost noon on April 5, and Jordan Kyrou is leaving Enterprise Center after the St. Louis Blues' morning skate. The team has won 11 straight games, and he's been a major contributor with nine goals during the streak, including a hat trick. Kyrou is wearing comfy clothes and carrying a to-go lunch. Life is good for the Blues' leading scorer over the last three seasons. Advertisement 'It's been awesome,' Kyrou said. 'You can see the boys are on a good winning streak right now, and it's just fun to be a part of right now. We've got a big fan base here that wants us to do well, and I just want to do my best out there.' The fans have been rooting for Kyrou to become a go-to player since the Blues selected him in the second round of the 2016 NHL Draft. His electric speed was enticing, but his lack of defensive responsibility and penchant for turnovers made him a lightning rod. This season, however, it started to come together for the 26-year-old right winger. Not only did he finish the regular season with 36 goals and 70 points, but his plus-minus was a team-high +23. Think about that for a second. In 2022-23, 951 players suited up in the NHL, and Kyrou tied for the second-worst plus-minus in the league at -38. Two years later, with 920 players seeing action, he was tied for 26th at +23. Asked what he made of that, Kyrou said: 'I mean, I don't know. I don't really look at it like that. I just look at it as our team is winning games and everyone is doing well.' Told that fans have taken note and asked how he felt about that, he replied: 'Yeah, it feels good. But honestly, I just try to focus on myself. I don't really focus on the outside noise or anything like that. I just try to stay locked in.' As the Blues begin their first-round playoff series against the Winnipeg Jets on Saturday, they hope Kyrou can remain locked in. For their remarkable run to continue, they'll need the all-around game he showed he's capable of playing this season. Game 1 of the Western Conference first-round series is at 5 p.m. at Canada Life Centre. Teammate Robert Thomas has been by Kyrou's side since the beginning, and, in fact, signed the same eight-year, $65 million contract that Kyrou did in 2022, intensifying the scrutiny on the two young players. Thomas, who's turned himself into a dynamic defensive player, agreed that Kyrou has become more accountable all over the ice this season. Advertisement 'It's something I know he's put a lot of work and effort into,' Thomas said. 'You can see it, especially when he's getting a lot of chances off turnovers and stuff that he creates. I think it's about being in the right position. It's more about managing the game and knowing that being in the right areas will reward you more than trying to do too much. That part of his game has been amazing to watch him grow.' In 2021-22, Kyrou had a breakout season with 27 goals and 75 points, and according to Natural Stat Trick, he was on the ice for 60 five-on-five goals for and 45 against. The following season, he hit another level offensively with 37 goals, but as his ice time grew to 18 minutes a game, and his matchups became more difficult, his defense was exposed. He was on the ice for 56 goals for and 72 against. But the past two seasons, it's swung dramatically the other way. Blues coach Jim Montgomery was an assistant coach with the club from 2020-22, and after being away with the Boston Bruins for three seasons, he's noticed a difference in Kyrou upon his return. 'I think his willingness to work off the puck,' Montgomery said. 'How many times have you seen him track people and strip pucks? He's turned over a lot more pucks, and now he's not defending as much, and now he's on the attack mode. 'Our D-zone coverage, I think it's really easy for wings. He understands the details and he executes it really well. So you're confidence just continues to grow as a coach and his confidence grows.' Montgomery also pointed to Kyrou's increased physicality. He was credited with a career-high 50 hits this season, which is triple what Kyrou combined for (13) in the two seasons Montgomery was a Blues assistant. 'He's finished a lot more hits than when I was here last time, and that's just him maturing and gaining confidence physicality-wise,' Montgomery said. Advertisement Kyrou believes it was a matter of time before it came together. 'It's just a learning experience, right?' he said. 'I felt like I took a step in the right direction defensively. Maybe one game you didn't do so well, and you're like, 'I need to try to work on this specific thing this game,' and then it starts to happen more naturally. 'I'm just trying to balance the two and make them both become more natural — when to make a play, when not to make a play, when is the right time of the game, you know? I feel like this year it's finally clicking both ways.' A Western Conference coach, speaking on the condition of anonymity, concurred that Kyrou has been more effective overall. 'I would say definitely, yes, but it's a little difficult to try to figure out why after all these years,' the coach said. 'Jordan has always been a really skilled, a very clear top-six player with the potential to be a game-breaker offensively, and it's a common with a player of that ilk, you're often happy with what he's doing to create offense, but what you're not happy with is his work ethic away from the puck, to check it back, or be positionally responsible. 'It becomes for those players because they say, 'If I use all of my energy to defend or get above pucks, I don't know if I can be the offensive player.' But what they fail to realize is just a little bit of effort early will allow you to spend 30 seconds playing offense. So I wouldn't say Jordan is a voracious checker, but still he's improved, and sometimes that's enough. If there's improvement, it allows the coach to play him in more situations.' The coach, however, believes it could be a case of Kyrou trying to keep in line with how the Blues are playing collectively. 'It's been really impressive to watch what their team has done since the 4 Nations tournament,' he said. 'I bet five people in the organization have said to me, 'You can't believe how good the room is.' When you're part of that, you don't want to be the guy who's the outlier. I think a guy like Jordan can get caught up in that, where sometimes he's the benefactor of other people's work. But it seems like he's more involved in it now than in the past.' Advertisement Which bodes well for the playoffs. Without Kyrou's linemate, Dylan Holloway, who's out week to week with a lower-body injury, the Blues will be dealing with a Winnipeg offense that finished the regular season tied for No. 3 in the NHL in goals per game (3.35). 'Playoffs are tougher, so everyone's got to elevate their game,' Kyrou said. 'They're a heavy team and they play a physical game. They're really good in the O-zone, so we've got to be good in our D-zone. Everyone's going 100 mph, all out, and then it settles down and you get to the details of the game and what you need to do to win.' That's spoken like a leader. 'Yes, he does it within who he is, which is a true sign of leadership,' Montgomery said. 'He's not the guy that's going to be rah-rah in the room, and that's OK because we have enough of those guys. But he really helps our core leadership group grow.' That's not something that would've been said about Kyrou in the past. But his game has come around, and Thomas is glad to see that fans have come around, too. 'When he came in the league, someone so young, so skilled … you can always find holes in a young person's game,' Thomas said. 'But when you're so dynamic and trying to create so much, you're going to have flaws in your game. I just think the effort he's put in to make himself more polished, it's something everyone should be really proud of him for.'
Chicago Tribune
17-04-2025
- Entertainment
- Chicago Tribune
Meet Jobu, the good-luck charm behind the St. Louis Blues' late-season run to the playoffs
ST. LOUIS — The force behind the St. Louis Blues' late-season playoff push cannot be found in the box score. He hasn't scored a single goal. His addition can't be found on the NHL's transaction wire. It's Jobu. Yes, the same Jobu from 1989 baseball comedy 'Major League.' The team has given center stage — well, a spot in the locker room — to a replica of the Jobu doll from the movie, in which the voodoo-practicing character Pedro Cerrano offers rum and a cigar to remove the fear from his bat so he can hit a curveball. Six years since 'Gloria' was the anthem of the Blues' franchise-first Stanley Cup run in 2019, Jobu is the latest good-luck charm, his presence felt by the entire roster. Local media noticed Jobu in late February. When asked about his origins, the standard reply from Blues players is the doll just showed up. You know, like magic. While it isn't clear if the players offered Jobu rum or cigars to get a blessing for their sticks, what is clear is the Blues have been the hottest team in the league since Jobu's arrival. They were eight points out of the final wild-card spot in the Western Conference when the season resumed after the 4 Nations Face-Off break. The Blues went 19-4-3 since, including a franchise-record 12-game winning streak, to move into a playoff spot. Jobu has his own stall — with a nameplate — in the center of the Blues dressing room at Enterprise Center next to forward Zack Bolduc. 'It's basically our corner, and no one can sit there,' Bolduc said. Instead of a cigar, Jobu has a rolled piece of hockey tape in his mouth. He was even in the team photo of the entire organization, taking a prominent place on the front row. Jobu will accompany the team to open the playoffs this weekend in Winnipeg. He also gets his own locker with a nameplate on the road. 'Even in Nashville, I got the lower seat and he got the full seat,' Blues forward Pavel Buchnevich said. 'It's like, OK, you've got to respect him.' Goalie Jordan Binnington said Jobu has been known to fire up the team. He credited Jobu's 'speech' during the second intermission in a 2-1 win March 29 at Colorado as a much-needed spark. 'He brought a vocal element to the room,' Binnington said, though he didn't expand on the specifics. 'You've got to understand his language if you want to know what he says.' Center Robert Thomas concurred: 'I think we all felt it, yeah.' Coach Jim Montgomery is good with all of this and has embraced Jobu's presence. 'One of my favorite sports movies of all time, especially comedies,' Montgomery said of 'Major League.' 'I wish we could get Charlie Sheen to do an ad for us. I thought that would be great.' If the Blues embracing an offbeat rallying cry sounds familiar — it is. The team had the entire St. Louis region singing Laura Branigan's 1982 hit 'Gloria' during the spring of 2019. The song became synonymous with the Blues during their improbable run from last in the league in January to hoisting hockey's most coveted trophy in June. While Jobu's singing talent is unknown, it's clear he's the new 'Gloria' for Blues players. 'He's one of the leaders in the locker room, that's all I'll say,' defenseman Cam Fowler said. This team might not have had the worst record in the league like in 2019, but it did have to jump four teams in the final two months to make its first playoff appearance since 2022. The Blues also took off after a midseason coaching change, like in 2019 when Craig Berube took over. They have gone 35-18-7 since Montgomery's arrival on Nov. 24. It all has Blues veterans feeling 2019-type vibes. 'You just have to get in,' captain Brayden Schenn said. 'And there's momentum swings throughout the playoffs, and it's just an exciting time.'
