We had the opportunity to attend the St. Louis Blues vs Columbus Blue Jackets hockey game this past week (January 2025). I've been to a handful of Blues games over the years, but this was my first time visiting the stadium in Columbus despite having lived here a few years now.
Alongside the Cardinals, the Blues were a big deal to young St. Louis sports fan such as myself in the late 90s and early 2000s, although unlike the Cardinals, the Blues were perennial playoff chokers. I grew up in the era with Al MacInnis, Chris Pronger, Keith Tkachuk, and Doug Weight as notable players on the team. While they seemed to make the playoffs nearly every season, things always fizzled out shortly after.
That all changed 15 or so years later, when 2019 resulted in a magical run to the championship, including a Stanley Cup Finals series most will never forget. The series was played against the Boston Bruins and went the distance - all 7 games. This series was popular on a global scale as well, with the series setting a record amount of views, including a game 7 with 8.7 million viewers, the most for an NHL game in 50 years.
The team has unfortunately been trending down since that great series, up through now. The Blues had recently made a head coaching change though and have been one of the hottest teams in the country the past few weeks heading into the game in Columbus. A few days back on New Year's Eve, they dominated their biggest rival, the Blackhawks, in Chicago at Wrigley Field at the outdoor winter classic. The night before the game against the Blue Jackets they notched a win against the Ottawa Senators. The downside of these big wins is the team was obviously fatigued from multiple games in a four day stretch and traveling 450+ miles across the country in one day.
We had a great time visiting the stadium for game day (we have been for a few concerts in the past, but never for a game), and enjoyed seeing all the traveling fans. We did a good amount of walking around the stadium to take in the atmosphere prior to puck-drop.
It was unfortunate that we couldn't see a win, but the last period was so exciting that the game was well worth the night out. Both teams are in a similar spot trying to make a playoff push in the back half of this season, so the next few weeks should be exciting for fans of the Blue Jackets as well as for us Blues fans.
