Blues Beat Sharks to Advance to Their First Stanley Cup Final in 49 Years

The St. Louis Blues had the worst record in the NHL on January 2nd. On May 21st, the Blues beat the San Jose Sharks 5-1, to win the Western Conference Championship and advance to their first Stanley Cup Final since 1970. This was only the third time since then that St. Louis had reached the Conference Finals; most recently, the Blues lost to the Sharks three years ago, so they gained some revenge.

St. Louis entered the NHL in the 1967-8 season as an expansion team when the league doubled in size from six to 12 teams. The Blues played in the Finals their first three years of existence, losing each time, and so have never won a Stanley Cup.

The Blues will face the Eastern Conference champion Boston Bruins in the Finals. The Bruins and Blues split their two regular season games, each winning at home. Boston beat St. Louis in that 1970 Cup Final in a four game sweep, with Hall of Famer Bobby Orr scoring the winning goal in overtime of Game 4 to clinch it. One of the NHL’s Original Six teams, the Bruins have been in the league since the 1924-25 season and have won six Stanley Cups, most recently in the 2010-11 season.

Here’s some highlights of the final game of that 1970 Final between St. Louis and Boston: