St. Louis Blues: Let's Keep Canada On Our Side

The St. Louis Blues had a title wave of support during their Western Conference Run. Some of it came from a rather unusual place.

The St. Louis Blues had fantastic support from the fans during their special playoff run of 2016. While the vast majority of it came from the expected places, such as the local St. Louis fan base and St. Louisans that have moved to other places, there was a strong play by the team and its marketing department to lure in lost Canadian fans.

Canadians are some of, if not the most passionate fans of the game in the world. They did invent it afterall. They’re some of the most loyal as well.

They’ve had to be. A Canadian team has not won the Stanley Cup since the Montreal Canadiens did it in 1993. The last time a Canadian team even made the finals was in 2011, with the Vancouver Canucks losing to the Boston Bruins.

Needless to say, Canadian fans are usually looking to find a team to support come the spring. Why not keep it being the Blues?

That’s not to say those fans are going to specifically root for the Blues over their local teams. That wouldn’t make much sense.

You’re never going to convert fans of Toronto or Montreal or any of the other Canadian NHL cities. It’s almost unthinkable to them to not support their own team and we wouldn’t be asking them to.

However, whether we admit it or not, there are usually teams outside of our own that we keep a side eye on or at least a passing interest in. For me it was the Devils of the 90’s or the Avalanche, because Scott Stevens and Patrick Roy were two of my favorite players.

So, why not keep up this marketing campaign (when it makes sense) to keep Canadians interested in the Blues? It makes sense to look for new markets to find fans in and if the team hooked anyone during their last playoff run then why not try to take advantage of it?

The Blues still have as many Canadians on their roster as they touted last year. Even with the loss of Troy Brouwer and Steve Ott, David Perron has come back and Ty Rattie could be poised to see extra playing time.

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Alex Pietrangelo is on Team Canada for the 2016 World Cup of Hockey. He could be a bridge to get a few more eyes on the Blues in the fall.

St. Louis also has an exciting, young team. Fans in the area might doubt it given that they’re going to attempt a different style than they have the past couple years and also given the team didn’t make a splash in free agency. However, potential fans from north of the border don’t bring in that baggage.

If the Blues can continue their recent run of success and take another run in the playoffs, then the potential of people jumping on the bandwagon without it being a negative connotation increases.

Let’s be honest, Canadian teams aren’t likely to do much better than they did last year. Vancouver doesn’t seem to know if it wants to make one final run or build for the future. Edmonton has boatloads of scoring talent, but can’t seem to find a balance to take a positive step. Winnipeg is Winnipeg. Toronto has made some good moves, but are likely still a few seasons away from being serious. Ottawa is a playoff contender, but sort of in the same boat as Boston as they have just as much chance of missing as they do making the postseason. Montreal is a good squad, but are one goaltender injury from tanking again. Calgary added some serious pieces, but you never know how well everyone will mesh.

That’s not to bash any of those teams. That would be counterproductive to this entire argument. It’s being real from the current perspective though.

The Blues have not taken a step backward, or at the very least not as big a step as some would have you believe. On the same token, there may not have been enough changes made for any of the Canadian sides to stride forward enough.

Nobody is asking fans north of the border to take on the Blues as their full-time team if they haven’t already. It’s fine to keep rooting for the team you grew up with. However, like the political waters, things change and you can pick up a different candidate when the choice is trimmed down.

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So, why not keep an eye on Vladimir Tarasenko? Why not keep rooting for Pietrangelo after the World Cup is done? Why not cheer for future national team members like Colton Parayko?

Cheer for your own team as long as possible. If the playoff situation turns out like it did last year though, why not latch on to the Blues again?

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