As the St. Louis Blues look to win the franchise’s first-ever Stanley Cup, Doug MacLean has nothing but fond memories from his two years with the organization.
The Summerside native, who would go on to a lengthy NHL career as a coach, manager, team president and analyst, was an assistant coach with the Blues from 1986 to 1988.
“We (MacLean and his wife, Jill) really enjoyed it,” said MacLean, who proudly noted his son, Clark, was born in St. Louis. “It was a special spot because it was my first NHL job.
“I went there from UNB and I was two or three years removed (as head coach) from the Western Capitals (Summerside’s junior A hockey team). It was a big move for me and I think I was 31 at the time.
“It was a great two years. Harry Ornest was the owner, Ron Caron was the GM, Jacques Martin was a rookie head coach.”
The Blues open the NHL championship series against the Boston Bruins on Monday night. It will be the Blues’ fourth appearance in the Stanley Cup final and it’s a rematch of the 1970 series, which featured the iconic photo of Bobby Orr flying through the air as he scored the championship-winning goal.
“People forget the Blues came in in ’67 and Scotty Bowman was the coach and Jacques Plante and Glenn Hall were the goalies, Doug Harvey was playing and what Scotty did was bring a lot of the ex-Montreal players to play and it was a veteran team,” said MacLean. “Then they go to the Stanley Cup finals for a couple of years.”
The Blues, one of six franchises to join the NHL in 1967, capitalized on a playoff format that required an expansion team to play in the Stanley Cup final and were swept in the 1968 and ’69 finals by the Montreal Canadiens and the Bruins in 1970.
Different times
MacLean, now a radio and television analyst for Sportsnet, admitted it was a different era when he worked with the Blues.
“One of my job responsibilities was I had to go to the airport early to get the boarding passes because we all flew commercial then,” said a laughing MacLean. “I had to make sure (play-by-play broadcaster) Dan Kelly and certain coaches were in the smoking section of the plane. That is how long ago and how different it was.”
MacLean’s tenure with the Blues featured lots of old-time hockey in what was known as the Norris Division at the time.
“I’m telling you the hatred with the (Chicago) Blackhawks, Detroit, Toronto and Minnesota was over the top,” said MacLean. “It was absolutely scary.”
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Great hockey market
MacLean described St. Louis as a great hockey market and praised the loyalty of Blues’ fans.
“We were sold-out every game at the old St. Louis Arena, which is long gone,” said MacLean. “It was a famous arena in those days for hockey and sports. The Blues had a great reputation.
“I know they almost moved because they struggled with ownership and almost ended up in Saskatchewan in the old days (early 1980s), but it’s always been a really great franchise. It’s really good to see them get to the finals, it’s well-deserved.”
Although MacLean acknowledged “St. Louis is one of the best baseball cities in America with the Cardinals,” he pointed out there was no shortage of famous sports announcers around the Blues.
“You think of Jack Buck, the famous baseball and football announcer, his son (Joe) is with a major network today, Bob Costas was out of St. Louis and was around the hockey team all the time.
“We had Jack Buck, who was hanging around, and Dan Kelly, one of the most famous hockey broadcasters of the modern era, was there and he was up there with the best of the best.
“They really cultivated an amazing fan base with the broadcasters and the high-profile guys who were around. It always was a great sports town.”
Returning to St. Louis
MacLean, who would go on to work with the Washington Capitals, Detroit Red Wings, Florida Panthers and Columbus Blue Jackets, always looked forward to returning to St. Louis during his career.
“It’s hard to believe it was that long ago I was coaching there and when I would go back over the last 25 or 30 years a lot of the same people were around the arena and lots of the same guys working in the arena,” said MacLean. “The Midwest United States is one of the friendliest places you could be in the U.S.
“The players that go to St. Louis, you see a lot of them retire there because they love the city.”
Prediction
Doug MacLean’s Stanley Cup prediction:
“The Bruins have been a great story, I’ve picked them all the way through and they have been the one team I have been right on in the playoffs because there have been so many upsets.
“I like them. (Bruins goaltender Tuukka) Rask right now is playing as well as I have ever seen him play.
“They are deep up front, their bottom six forwards have dominated the (Toronto Maple) Leafs, their bottom six dominated Columbus and the last round they were too good for Carolina.
“Then you go to (Patrice) Bergeron, (Brad) Marchand and (David) Pastrnak, it’s tough to beat that group.
“I like their speed. I talked to (Vegas head coach) Gerard (Gallant) with about two months left in the season and he told me St. Louis was the best they played down the stretch. They were that good.
“St. Louis is similar to Columbus, except they have more veterans. They play the same style as Columbus plays, which is tough hockey to play against for the Bruins.
“(Blues goaltender Jordan) Binnington has been a great story, they have a big blue-line that is strong with (Colton) Parayko, (Jay) Bouwmeester and obviously (Alex) Pietrangelo. This has the makings of a big series. I’m picking Boston in six.”
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