In January, the St Louis Blues had the worst record in the entire National Hockey League, were rock bottom of their conference and 300-1 outsiders to win the Stanley Cup.
But now, after a remarkable turnaround, the Blues have secured a place in the Stanley Cup Final for the first time in 49 years.
“This city’s been waiting for this for so many years now,” said forward Pat Maroon after a 5-1 victory against the San Jose Sharks secured his team’s place in the final of NHL’s showpiece.
St Louis were bottom of the Western Conference on New Year’s Day after losing more than half of their first 37 games, having sacked coach Mike Yeo in November,
However, they followed that by winning 30 of their last 45 matches to finish in third place.
That saw the Blues qualify for the Stanley Cup play-offs and wins over the Winnipeg Jets, Dallas Stars and San Jose have taken them to the final.
“A lot of us felt we were in games and close and couldn’t find a way to win them,” St Louis captain Alex Pietrangelo said.
“We had some good honest conversations and knew we had to be better. We looked each other in the eye and we did it.”
The Blues have never won the Stanley Cup and will face six-time champions Boston Bruins in the final.
The sides met the last time the Blues reached the final, with the Bruins winning 4-0.
The first game of the best-of-seven series takes place in Boston on Monday.
