St. Louis Blues Have Fans Suckered In Earlier Than Ever

The St. Louis Blues have made some gigantic moves in the summer of 2018. That has fans buying in on this team earlier than almost any of us could expect.

Let me preface things by saying I do not use the term suckered in a negative frame here. Neverthless, the power of the word cannot be denied in how fans are feeling about the St. Louis Blues right now.

We have all been let down so many times in the past. Whether you’ve been a fan for the full 50-plus years or just got into it within the last few, you’ve had your share of disappointment.

This organization has come achingly close at various points in their history. The Blues made it to the final three straight years at their inception.

They made the conference finals once every 15 years starting in the 80’s, then the early part of the century and again in 2015-16. Each time, fans hoped, prayed and dreamed it was the year the Stanley Cup would find a home in St. Louis. Each time those dreams were dashed.

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Thus, over the years, we have developed a thicker skin. We always end up buying in that something good could happen by the time the puck drops on a regular season, but usually the summer is a mix. You get the hopefuls with their exuberance, but you also have wary fans and negative Nellies evening things out. Particularly when the team has an early exit or misses the playoffs, the summer is a cooling off period. Usually you have fans stewing over how far away the team is and then, similarly to the Cardinals, the team does just enough to give us hope prior to the season.

2018 is almost completely different. The Blues went big on day one of the free agency period and then added another big piece, no pun intended, just days afterward.

Now, Blues fans don’t know what to do with themselves. Twitter is ablaze with questions of lineup possibilities and asking whose jersey they should get.

Some fans are being brought to tears regarding incoming players’ personal stories. Many of us are having our spirits lifted by players gushing over how much they want to play here.

How are we supposed to keep our excitement in check? We have almost three full months before the season and we are all ready to run through walls over this team.

It is hard to remember any time when the majority of fans were actually excited about hockey this early in the year. Most times this is baseball time and the Blues register a blip come the fall. The Cardinals being mediocre helps, but kudos to Doug Armstrong for orchestrating this.

For two years, just when fans were ready to get their pitchforks and torches and storm his property, he has tossed happy gas grenades into the mob. He’s added fantastic pieces that fit this team well, even if he has missed out on some bigger names.

In the span of a matter of days, Blues fans went from talking about how far away they are to dreaming about glory again. So, what are we supposed to do now that we’ve been sucked in this early?

Next: Blues Building Very Interesting Squad In San Antonio

Usually we do not start thinking about lines until at least August when we are bored. Now we have nowhere to go with our nervous energy other than to count down the days until EA Sports NHL 19.

It’s all about the players going out and doing their thing now. Armstrong did his job. Fans are on board earlier than ever. October needs to get here already.

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