St. Louis Blues: Matchup with Chicago Blackhawks Reminiscent Of The Past

Regardless of who wins this particular St. Louis Blues/Chicago Blackhawks matchup, it has spiced things up. More legends and stories will be told from this series the way they have from past meetings.

For those of you who have been paying attention, and who hasn’t given the temperature of this series, you’ve seen about everything. We’ve seen game winning goals, big hits, heated arguments and the closest we’ll ever get to an all out brawl in today’s NHL.

Game 4 of the 2016 Western Conference Quarterfinals not only gave the St. Louis Blues a 3-1 series lead, but added another chapter in one of the fiercest rivalries outside of the Northeast corridor and perhaps the entire league.

With the game tied at a goal for each side, an incidental collision between the Blues’ Robby Fabbri and Chicago’s Corey Crawford set off a chain reaction. Crawford clearly felt that he was purposely run into and took a page out of former Blackhawks goaltender Ed Belfour‘s book.

As you can see in the video, Crawford goes right after the much smaller Fabbri for the perceived offense. What makes it more interesting was the apparent intent to swing his goaltender stick at Fabbri and then thinking better of it.

That was more than enough to evoke memories of when Ed Belfour went absolutely bonkers following the St. Louis Blues beating him for an overtime/series ending goal in the 1993 playoffs.

Under present day rules, that goal would not have stood. Regardless of whether the contact was incidental, it clearly interfered with Belfour’s ability to get back into the net and stop the puck. However, the officials of the day felt differently in those different times.

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Regardless of who won the game, it was great for the rivalry. The Blackhawks were coming off a season where they went to the finals and figured they were going back. However, despite being outclassed in the regular season, the Blues swept that series and added another story in the rivalry.

The fracas that immediately followed Fabbri and Crawford also brought back memories of the St. Patrick’s Day Massacre. While it was nowhere near as contentious or dangerous, it still evoked those feelings of bad blood between these two franchises.

Making the comparison even more was how things snowballed, which was also an echo of the past. Prior to the “Massacre”, the Blues and Blackhawks played in St. Louis the night before. Regardless of both matchups being in the regular season, the back to back nature of it all just exploded.

It all began with a scrape between Darin Kimble and Cam Russel.

In 2016, it didn’t take another game for things to boil over again. In this iteration of the rivalry, it snowballed at the end of the game with Andrew Shaw losing his cool on several occasions.

While there is no tolerance to be had for racial or sexual slurs and bigotry, the energy could not be denied. Beyond just the slur and the double bird given, Shaw lost his cool again when the final buzzer went.

By no means taking Shaw’s side, he was probably upset that not only had his team just lost but Alexander Steen landed on top of him. However, in true rivalry fashion, things escalated very quickly and the extra curricular activity took off.

It’s not the first time it’s happened and won’t be the last. It’s added extra spice into this matchup that had been lost for a long time. It’s not new this season either. It began even back in 2013.

There is no one thing that has reignited this rivalry. To see more on the passion that has always existed between these two teams and cities (if you have the time), check out this piece from NBC Sports.

St. Louis Blues fans have long felt like the younger sibling to their neighbors to the north. That breeds ill will enough, but when it translates onto the ice it explodes in all areas.

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When the Blues were great in the late 90’s and early 2000’s, the Blackhawks were in a low period and often missed the playoffs. Then, when the ‘Hawks returned to prominence, the Blues were in a franchise low.

It’s been decades coming, but it’s good to see again. Heroes and villains on both sides and a war-like no-man’s land in between. Win or lose, love or hate, triumph or torture, this is how this rivalry is supposed to be.

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