The St. Louis Blues Stanley Cup seems to be the gift that keeps on giving. Now a commissioned painting has been revealed and fans can get it.
The St. Louis Blues winning the Stanley Cup was one of the best sports memories many fans ever had. Now, they can relive that thrilling moment with a copy of a painting by Blues fan and sports artist, Rick Rush.
As reported by Jim Thomas of the Post-Dispatch, Rush’s friend and fellow Blues fan David Keinath, commissioned the painting for himself. Keinath already had Rush do several other paintings for him, such as some depicting the last two St. Louis Cardinals’ championships and one of the St. Louis Rams winning the Super Bowl.
However, Keinath wanted to give back to the community. So, fans will be able to buy prints of this spectacular painting.
"Blues (literally) have their brush with history in “Market Street Dream” paintingIn the past, St. Louis businessman and sports superfan David Keinath has commissioned several paintings from noted sports artist Rick Rush. There was one depicting the 1999 Rams’ Super Bowl XXXIV victory over the Tennessee Titans; others commemorated the Cardinals’ World Series titles in 2006 and ’11. They became friends."
You can see the unfinished product above. Apparently it is not quite finished as Rush will put the final touches on it and have it completed within the month.
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Even if there were no additional items added to the painting, it has all the base elements you need. It honors the history of the team while keeping the focal point on the team that finally ended all our suffering.
The eye is quickly drawn to Jordan Binnington right at the forefront. Rush depicts Binner making that spectacular, game-saving stop in Game 7.
To either side of Binnington, you have two of the most important players on the team in Ryan O’Reilly and Vladimir Tarasenko. Either one of them could have been named as the Conn Smythe winner, with O’Reilly getting the nod and deservedly so.
Behind that, you have the unforgettable player celebration once the clock ticked down to zero and ended Game 7. Beyond that, you get all the cool details about the team’s past.
Of course, you have a scoreboard listing the final score of Game 7. You also have a nice depiction of the old St. Louis Arena.
The Arena is one of those things where absence makes the heart grow fonder. The place was old and crumbling and smelled, but just about any fan who attended games there has a fondness for the Old Barn and great memories there, even though the amenities are much better at the current building.
Even Rush noted his own memories shaped this part of the painting. “When my brother Warren and I would go to the old Arena as kids, they had the neon hockey player and net (on the marquee in front of the building),” Rush told Thomas in the stltoday article. “The puck would go from the player’s stick to the net. We remembered that as kids.” That neon player is nicely added right to the front of the old Checkerdome.
Rush included the banners with all the retired and honored numbers and announcers in it. It really is a fantastic piece of art that encapsulates the Blues first championship.
You have all the key players in focus. All the main guys are shown in the celebration, even if just a number is poking out. It will be interesting to see what the final additions are to the painting to make it a finished product.
Even better than just being able to bring this home as a print – various sizes will be available – is that the money is going to good causes. Part of the proceeds will go the Blues Alumni and their various charitable organizations such as Blues for Kids and the other part goes to Rush’s foundation that helps provide art supplied for schools. Anything that helps keep art and music in schools is always a good thing.
For more details on the painting, such as who added a few strokes and even an interesting tidbit on Rush’s athletic endeavors as a youth, check out the original article here. As far as the painting goes, it really is something that stirs up all the emotions.
It’s gold old memories and new. It makes you feel all the positives about being a Blues fan, which makes sense since the man who painted it and the one who commissioned it are Blues fans.
No details were given about when or how fans could order a copy. Stay tuned for more details either here or on the Blues website.