5 reasons the Blues finally broke through to the Stanley Cup finals

St. Louis Post-Dispatch ^ | 22 May 2019 | Ben Frederickson

[NFHale]

Haha!!! You’re not alone.

[dfwgator]

I always had the impression that Orr’s goal was a dramatic Game 7 winner.

Turns out Boston swept the series.

[LRoggy]

To be fair, a lot of those organ players were pretty dreadful too . . . like the one in Slap Shot that Newman had to set straight!

[woodbutcher1963]

The 1970 series was a sweep by the B’s.

[xp38]

Boston doesn’t have Orr or Esposito and a bunch of other greats this time but they do have a hot goalie in Rusk so we shall see. That last matchup was still in the wake of the expansion of 1968 and west division which St Louis represented back then was considerably weaker at the time than the 6 legacy teams in the east.

[dfwgator]

Yeah, it was kind of BS for the NHL to allow all the new teams in one division, where one of the expansion teams was guaranteed a spot in the finals.

[Puppage]

Agreed. However, at least it wasn’t ear splittingly loud like today. Man, the even blast music when tennis players change sides. The worlds gone mad. :-)

[EdnaMode]

Would be nice to see them win it!

[ShadowAce]

Yeah, it was kind of BS for the NHL to allow all the new teams in one division, where one of the expansion teams was guaranteed a spot in the finals.

They probably did that for marketing purposes. If a new team has no chance at advancing anywhere, the local fanbase won't pay them any attention. Having an expansion team guaranteed to go to the Finals sparks interest and attendance.

Now with 31 teams, they can add new teams in where they fit best. I think they did it correctly back then.

[NormsRevenge]

The Schnarks couldn’t stop an ice cream truck. Riddled by injuries, they were out hustled, out muscled, out played.. and now, they are out..

I’m pulling for the Bruins and BoBBy Orr.. But the Blues ain’t a bad team at all. Should be a good series.. seriesly. ;-)

Hockey was a different game 50 years ago. now, get the puck out of here.

[Buckeye McFrog]

Turns out Boston swept the series.

Yup. When the NHL did the expansion in '67 they put all of the new teams in their own division, as that would guarantee that at least one of them would get to the Final.

St. Louis managed to climb to the top of the scrum for all three seasons that was in effect. But they were no match for the likes of Montreal or Boston, and typically got their clocks cleaned.