Bright Hockey Future

In recent days I have thought a lot about how far St. Louis has come with its hockey presence in the world since I became involved with the Blues. I started thinking about it while working the PA for the PWHPA (Profession Women's Hockey Players Association) Dream Gap Tour games that were played May 16 & 17 at Centene and Enterprise. 

Those rosters were dominated by women from the northern U.S., but Jincy Dunne, who played for Ohio State and the women's national team, represented O'Fallon, MO. And goaltender Alex Cavallini has relocated to St. Louis to work with her goaltending coach. Not all that long ago, women's hockey was barely a blip on the sports radar. Now, with good reason, it has advanced to the point of being thought of as a viable professional-level sports offering. And you can bet that St. Louis girls will become prominent as women in this sport before long. 

In taking a brief survey of the extended rosters of the 31 NHL teams, I found not only the obvious names connected to St. Louis but several I was not aware of who are under contract. I might have missed a few. For that I apologize in advance. But here are the players who have obvious connections to St. Louis and youth hockey in our region-- 

Columbus- Josh Dunne, Ryan MacInnis / Dallas- Ben Bishop / Detroit- Chase Bradley / Nashville- Luke Kunin / Tampa- Jack Finley, Pat Maroon, McKade Webster / Arizona- Clayton Keller / Minnesota- Dakota Mermis / Blues- Luke Opilka / Boston-Trent Frederic / Islanders- Scott Mayfield / Rangers- Austin Rueschhoff / Calgary- Matthew Tkachuk / Ottawa- Brady Tkachuk / Toronto- Joseph Woll / Winnipeg- Adam Lowry (born here-raised in Calgary), Paul Stastny 

When I started with the Blues in 1987 the NHL was totally dominated by Canadians. There were a few U.S.-born players around and a few Europeans. Having someone at the professional level from anywhere south of Chicago was extremely rare. Now we have high-level pros who call sunbelt cities their hometown including Auston Matthews of the Toronto Maple Leafs who was born in California but grew up in Scottsdale, Arizona watching Coyotes games.  

Combine the existence of more ice sheets that have previously not existed and the early efforts of Blues alumni and other dedicated mentors who have worked to grow the sport in recent decades, and you have the answer to the question..."why have so many St. Louis kids hit the professional level in the last several years?" By adding Centene Community Ice Center in Maryland Heights and Maryville Hockey Center in Chesterfield to the mix in recent years the growth among our area youth will likely explode to even greater heights.

We also have several area colleges and universities dressing high-level teams in the sport giving local players the opportunity to grow with the sport as they continue their education. This also exposes the sport to many people through their connections to these schools.  

A few years ago the Blues began calling our region The Heartland of Hockey. It's obvious that this is becoming more true with every passing day. As I head into the latter years of my life, I surely don't have to worry about the growth of the sport of ice hockey in the St. Louis region in what's left of the 21st century.  

Pujols Return Not in the Cards

So it appears the 10-year deal that Albert signed with the Angels wasn't all that heavenly for them as it draws to a close. We kinda thought they might regret it at the time. Albert Pujols, who provided so many wonderful and amazing thrills for Cardinals fans in his earlier days, is to be out on the open market. That is, unless he somehow is claimed off waivers. 

Many fans of the Redbirds will be clamoring for the team to sign Albert back to finish out his career in St. Louis. While that sounds like a fine idea on the surface for sentimental reasons, I think some other, more business-related factors, will get in the way. And that's probably a good thing for the Cardinals team make-up. 

I can't imagine any National League team being all that interested. Albert hasn't been hitting like the Albert of old...or even close...and having him take up a spot on a Cardinals roster without the designated hitter in place just doesn't seem practical. Where would he play? The Cardinals have highly-paid stars at the two positions that seem to make any sense...third and first base. Albert as a once-in-a-while pinch hitter? Doesn't seem like the way he would want to go out. And he has said he wants regular playing time. One of the reasons the Angels cut him loose was because he wasn't being used enough to satisfy his urge to play. Some AL team might like to take a chance and see if he has anything left in the tank as a DH. But he may not want that either. He might hang up the spikes. 

Albert had a great return to Busch Stadium in June of 2019, just after the Blues had won the Stanley Cup. It was great!!! An emotional night with hugs all around and huge ovations for Albert when he came to the plate. Most everyone thought that this would be his St. Louis swan song. Let it be that. He will be welcomed back in St. Louis to get his red jacket some day. Sounds like now that day is much closer than it was yesterday.