ST. LOUIS - Pictures fade. Some take almost 50 years.
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Fans at Boston Garden on May 10, 1970, thought Bobby Orr was a superhero. After all, that was the day they saw him fly.
Orr's flight, one of the most famous images in hockey history, helped the Boston Bruins do something many of those fans had never seen: the Bruins won the Stanley Cup for the first time since 1941.
There was talk of karma surrounding the goal. It was the fourth goal scored in the fourth period, 40 seconds into overtime of the fourth game. Orr wore No. 4 and he was tripped by No. 4 Noel Picard. Recaptured by a statue in front of TD Garden today in Boston, it’s memorialized as “The Goal”. It ended the game 4-3 in overtime. And it’s haunted the St. Louis Blues and their fans for 49 years.
The statue shows some wear due to the Boston climate. But in St. Louis, “the picture” and its decades-old bad memories finally faded away for good Wednesday night. The St. Louis Blues defeated Boston, the same team that swept them in four games in 1970, 4-1 on Wednesday and won the best-of-seven series four games to three.
For the first time ever, the Cup is coming to St. Louis.
It was legendary Blues broadcaster Dan Kelly who called Orr’s legendary goal. His son John Kelly shared part of the broadcast as the Blues made history Wednesday. Ryan O’Reilly stretched his goal-scoring streak to four games and earned the Conn Smythe Trophy as the finals Most Valuable Player. O’Reilly scored nine points in the finals and a franchise record 23 points in the playoffs. His 23 points also tied with Bruins Brad Marchand for the most points in the playoffs. O’Reilly became the first player to ever score goals in Games 4, 5, 6, and 7 and joined the great Wayne Gretzky as the only players to score goals in four consecutive playoff finals games.
Not to be outdone, rookie goaltender Jordan Binnington made 32 saves and came within 2:10 of shutting out the Bruins. Binnington set an NHL rookie record for most playoff wins with 16.
Blues interim coach Craig Berube, who took over the team in with the worst record in the NHL at the beginning of the calendar year became the fourth coach in the past 11 years hired in midseason to lead his team to the NHL title.
With an autograph, the photo of “The Goal” can sell for several hundred dollars. Wonder what the value of a vinyl version of “Gloria” will be on Thursday?
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