Dear Pat Maroon,
Unfortunately, a lot of St. Louis Blues fans overlooked you the day you were signed. More excited about the Ryan O’Reilly trade, they underestimated just how much you wanted to help bring St. Louis’ first Stanley Cup home. That’s okay though because it made it better every single time you dropped the gloves or scored.
While you only had 28 points in 74 regular season games and seven points in 26 playoff games as a Blue, you did exactly what you’ve always wanted to do in the city you grew up in with your family by your side. There’s nothing better than that. Now, you deserve a bigger contract. Blues fans everywhere wish the Blues could be the ones to offer it to you, but it’s not in the cards. You came up big for the Blues in the most important moments of the second half of the season and in the playoffs. You deserve to be paid. Your Game 7 2OT goal to send the Blues to the Western Conference Final alone proved the type of player you are — clutch. And clutch players make big bucks in the NHL.
A Huge Thank You to Pat Maroon
Even when all hope seemed to be lost for Blues fans, you still brought a smile to the fans faces every time you chirped a member of the other team, every time you laid your body on the line for your teammates with a big hit and every time you dropped the gloves. It’s hard to imagine anything being as fun to watch as the old days of hockey when bench clearing brawls weren’t out of the question and hits weren’t watched so closely. But watching you this season, it brought back some of that old school magic in hockey and you deserve to be thanked for that.
This season was at times heartbreaking to watch as was every season as a St. Louis Blues fan. But thanks to you, none of those seasons matter anymore. Whatever happens next in your career, no one will ever be able to take this away from you. You’re a Stanley Cup champion now and you deserve to be. You wore your passion for the city of St. Louis on your sleeve and look where it got you. You were a piece of the huge complicated puzzle that finally brought Stanley home to St. Louis after 52 years of pain and misery and you deserve to be thanked. So, thank you.
Good Luck in Tampa Bay
Most importantly, even when you’re in Tampa, remember that St. Louis will always be there to welcome you home, you legend. See you on November 19. You will be greeted with a standing ovation. Don’t be surprised if your Game 7 2OT goal against Ben Bishop is made into a mural. It was epic. You were epic.
Now, go out and play your heart out in Tampa Bay. If the Blues can’t repeat, your fans will be cheering you on in hopes that you can. Of course if it comes down to the Blues vs. the Lightning, no promises.
BOSTON, MASSACHUSETTS – JUNE 12: Pat Maroon #7 of the St. Louis Blues celebrates with the Stanley cup after defeating the Boston Bruins in Game Seven of the 2019 NHL Stanley Cup Final at TD Garden on June 12, 2019 in Boston, Massachusetts. (Photo by Patrick Smith/Getty Images)
