NHL ’94 “St Louis Blues” Win the “Stanley Cup Finals”. Time for Gooey butter cake and Baked Ravioli!

The 2019 Stanley Cup Finals was the championship series of the National Hockey League’s (NHL) 2018–19 season and the culmination of the 2019 Stanley Cup playoffs. The Western Conference champion St. Louis Blues defeated the Eastern Conference champion Boston Bruins four games to three in the best-of-seven series. It was the Blues’ first championship, in their 51st season of play (not including the 2004–05 lockout), ending what was then the third-longest championship drought in league history. The Bruins had home-ice advantage in the series with the better regular season record. The series began on May 27 and concluded on June 12. The Blues’ Stanley Cup–winning run of 26 playoff games tied the 2014 Los Angeles Kings for the longest of any Stanley Cup–winning team in history.
This was a rematch of the 1970 Stanley Cup Finals, which Boston won in four games. This was the fourth consecutive Finals to both involve at least one team vying for its first championship and end with the champion clinching the Cup on the road. It was also the first time since 2011 where the Finals went the full seven games.
Entering the 2019 finals, the Blues were the oldest franchise not to win a Stanley Cup and the only active team from the 1967 NHL expansion without a Stanley Cup. The Blues’ victory resulted in all five of the active 1967 teams obtaining a Stanley Cup title, while the Buffalo Sabres and Vancouver Canucks became the oldest franchises not to win one.
This was the St. Louis Blues’ fourth appearance in the Stanley Cup Finals. Their last appearance in the Finals was in 1970 against the Bruins, which Boston won in a four-game sweep. All of St. Louis’ prior appearances came during their first three seasons after the Blues and five other new teams formed the West Division in the 1967 NHL expansion. While the Blues were able to advance past their fellow expansion franchises, each Finals appearance ended with them being swept by Original Six teams that comprised the East Division, concluding with their 1970 defeat. In the years that followed, the other expansion teams from 1967 would win Stanley Cup titles (excluding the defunct California Golden Seals franchise), but the Blues went nearly half a century without reaching the Finals again and became the oldest franchise not to win the Stanley Cup.
Ryan O’Reilly, who was acquired via trade in the off-season led the team in scoring with 77 points and assists with 49. Vladimir Tarasenko led the team in goal-scoring with 33 goals.
St. Louis struggled early in the regular season, beginning the year with a 7–9–3 record. Head coach Mike Yeo was fired and assistant coach Craig Berube was named interim coach. Their record declined to an NHL-worst 15–18–4 with 34 points on January 2, 2019. However, the Blues went on a 30–10–5 run to finish the season with 99 points, third in the Central Division. Amid their turnaround, rookie goaltender Jordan Binnington was given his first start and went on to obtain 23 wins. In the playoffs, St. Louis defeated the Winnipeg Jets 4–2 in the First Round, eliminated the Dallas Stars in seven games, and won 4–2 against the San Jose Sharks in the Conference Finals.
In game seven, Jay Bouwmeester’s shot got through a screen of players and Ryan O’Reilly tipped the puck past Tuukka Rask for the opening goal. The Blues increased their lead with eight seconds remaining in the first period when Jaden Schwartz passed to an open Alex Pietrangelo who backhanded his shot for his third goal of the playoffs. Boston continued to pressure St. Louis in the second period with eleven shots, but Jordan Binnington kept the score at 2–0. In the third period, Vladimir Tarasenko followed the puck into the Bruins’ zone and passed to an open Brayden Schenn who fired the puck past Rask. Zach Sanford made the score 4–0 as the Blues continued to work in the offensive zone, with David Perron working around the Bruins defenceman to pass to the open rookie forward. The Bruins then swapped Rask for an extra attacker and thwarted Binnington’s shutout attempt with a goal from Matt Grzelcyk. With the 4–1 victory, the Blues became the last remaining expansion franchise from 1967 to win the Stanley Cup. O’Reilly was awarded the Conn Smythe Trophy as the most valuable player in the playoffs.
In Canada, the series was broadcast by Sportsnet and CBC Television in English, and TVA Sports in French. In the U.S., the Finals were split between NBC (Games 1, and 4 through 7) and NBCSN (Games 2 and 3).
In the United States, the seven-game series averaged 5.3 million viewers, the highest average since the six-game 2015 Stanley Cup Finals. St. Louis had an average 28.7 rating, and Boston had an average 25.5. Game 7 had an average 8.7 million viewers, being the most watched NHL game in nearly 50 years.