Hochman: St. Louis shows it’s a great hockey town, too – STLtoday.com

• UPDATE: Winter Classic will start at noon as scheduled

St. Louis’ reputation as a heck of a hockey town gets overshadowed because St. Louis is a historically renowned baseball town.

“I think so,” Blues defenseman Kevin Shattenkirk said Sunday. “That’s no one’s fault — we’re kind of blessed to have a great baseball town. They’ve been here for a long time so there’s a longstanding tradition — but people here love Blues hockey. Everyone in St. Louis knows it’s a hockey town — people outside are starting to figure that out. After tomorrow, it’s going to be a pretty big indicator to a lot of people around the country, and a lot of people around the hockey world, that this is a great place to play hockey.”

Monday’s Winter Classic is St. Louis’ moment, providing the hockey gods can entice Mother Nature to take the day off, throw on a Tarasenko sweater, throw back a Budweiser and enjoy the show.

The Winter Classic is our moment to celebrate how far we’ve come as a hockey town. No, a sold-out Blues-Blackhawks game at Busch Stadium isn’t going to instantly transform St. Louis into St. Paul. But it’s our day to appreciate the confluence — one like the confluence seen on the St. Louis flag.

It’s the confluence of the Blues’ 50th season celebration, of the team coming off a trip to the conference finals, of the rise of Vladimir Tarasenko into the Hart hunt, of the current team playing (pretty) well and of the momentum from four locals going into the top 15 of the most-recent NHL draft (consider, Canada had as many natives picked in the top 15 as St. Louis did).

“The team and the sport and the game itself in St. Louis is probably as strong now as it’s ever been,” said Wayne Gretzky, who has numerous strong ties to the area.

In a vacuum, St. Louis is a higher-tier hockey town. To many, though, it’s as if the existence of the Cards somehow diminishes the strength of St. Louis’ hockey love story. It shouldn’t.

To the loquacious Blues coach Ken Hitchcock, the Winter Classic is “probably the fourth or fifth step of what cements this town as a real hockey city. I think the big previous step was the draft. The kids that are from St. Louis that are drafted and you see them playing for the U.S. national team now, you see them having great success in college and major junior. I think that opened everybody’s eyes globally …

“I think from a hockey purist standpoint and just being involved in the game for so long, I think the crowd yesterday (in the alumni game) shocked the world. I don’t think people expected that many people to come to the event. I think the hockey world and the hockey community, the people that are ingrained in it on a daily basis in the working part of it, were just shocked by how big the fan base was here yesterday and how vibrant it was. That to me was step two or three and then this one tomorrow, I know it’s going to be a great show.”

Of course, the biggest step would be winning the Cup. It’s unfathomable that the Blues haven’t even played in the Stanley Cup Finals since Bobby Orr soared past the crease in 1970. And it’s incomprehensible that cities such as Tampa Bay and Raleigh have hosted a Stanley Cup parade. Forty-nine danged seasons here! Forty playoff appearances! Only three conference finals since 1972.

Again though, the fans can’t do anything about not winning a Cup — and if anything, the St. Louis fans have shown how steadfast and strong they are by supporting the Blues despite all the postseason failures.

“Look at our games every night,” captain Alex Pietrangelo said. “We’ve been good the last four, five years, which has helped, but I love playing here for a reason – it’s because the fans are awesome. They’re passionate no matter what’s going on. They bring a bit of an extra excitement for us, and that’s why a lot of guys are always coming back, because they love playing here.”

In recent years, the Blues have finally gotten it, realizing their strength — and role — in growing hockey in our town. In late 2015, the franchise announced its campaign called “Hockey STL 2020.” The Blues said their goal, by 2020, was to grow the game in the region by 70 percent. They want to develop 5,000 new players and will do their part by committing $2 million to youth programs.

They call us the “Heartland of Hockey,” which might sound hokey, but it’s a slogan to embrace. We really are part of something cool here.

So here we go, hockey at Busch. At the Cardinals’ home stadium Monday, we’ll see the first “Zamboni” since Ken Reitz, the first “skates” since Lonnie Smith, the first “freeze” since David and the first “lighting of the lamp” since Lou Brock’s 3,000th hit ricocheted off pitcher Dennis Lamp.

By the end of this week, though, we’ll have moved on from the Winter Classic. Moments come, seize and leave.

So let’s use this moment to showcase that we’re a hockey town, too — and for us to appreciate that we’ll still be one, even after the circus leaves town.