To mark the centennial of the founding of the National Hockey League<\/a> in 1917, fans were invited to vote online to determine what the greatest moment during those 100 years was.\u00a0 Their verdict was Mario Lemieux’s<\/a> five-goal performance against the New Jersey Devils<\/a> on New Year\u2019s Eve in 1988.\u00a0 Lost in the fanfare of this outcome is the fact that center Red Berenson<\/a> actually scored six goals in a single game for the St. Louis Blues<\/a> in 1968.\u00a0 Yet, Berenson\u2019s feat elicited nary a blip on the meter when it came to the voting.\u00a0 Somehow this is fitting.\u00a0 Admit it, Blues fans.\u00a0 The St. Louis Blues are the Rodney Dangerfield<\/a> of the NHL and have been for 50-plus years.\u00a0 Blues fans, it sucks to be you.<\/p>\n Want more evidence than that?\u00a0 No problem!\u00a0 Coming in at number two in the voting was Bobby Orr’s<\/a> iconic overtime goal that he scored in game seven of the 1970 Stanley Cup<\/a> finals against (you guessed it) the St. Louis Blues.\u00a0 Still not convinced?\u00a0 One of the candidates for the honor that made it to the semifinals of the voting was Steve Yzerman\u2019s game seven double overtime playoff goal for the Detroit Red Wings<\/a> in 1996 that was scored against (drumroll please) the St. Louis Blues.\u00a0 Coincidence?\u00a0 Not a chance.<\/p>\n Throughout the history of the franchise, the Blues have been a team that has set a tone of high expectation invariably leading to crushing disappointment for itself and its loyal fandom that no other NHL team can match.\u00a0 They are the first and only NHL team to make it to the Stanley Cup finals in its first year of existence (1968).\u00a0 The series was lost to the Montreal Canadiens<\/a>.\u00a0 They are also the only team to make it to the Stanley Cup finals in their second and third years as well, again losing both times.\u00a0 The Blues have never returned to the Stanley Cup finals since and, consequently, have never won a Stanley Cup.\u00a0 Ever.<\/p>\n The Blues made the playoffs for an NHL third-best ever consecutive season streak of 25 straight years from 1979\/80 through 2003\/04.\u00a0 Throughout that entire quarter-century, they never once made it to the Stanley Cup finals.\u00a0 In the history of the team after 1970, they have made it to the conference finals only three times and have lost in each instance.<\/p>\n During the 1990\/91 season, the Blues were loaded with offensive firepower led by star right-winger and future hall-of-famer Brett Hull<\/a>.\u00a0 Hull scored goals at such a frantic pace that anticipation began to build that he might even somehow eclipse the single-season record of 92 that had been set by Wayne Gretzky<\/a> during the 1981\/82 season.\u00a0 Naturally, Hull came up short with a total of 86 and the Blues, despite finishing in second place in the old Norris Division<\/a> that year, were gunned down in the second-round of the playoffs against their old nemesis, the Minnesota North Stars<\/a>, in six games.\u00a0 Ironically, Hull later won two Stanley Cups, the first with the Texas incarnation of the transient North Stars (Dallas Stars<\/a>) in 1999 and, much to the utter distaste of Blues fans everywhere, the despised Detroit Red Wings in 2002.<\/p>\n During the 1995\/96 season, Blues management made a bold move aimed toward winning their first-ever Stanley Cup when they acquired the great Wayne Gretzky himself from the Los Angeles Kings<\/a>.\u00a0 Although they finished strong with the Great One on their roster, their dreams of finally hoisting Lord Stanley\u2019s silver chalice were dashed once again when Nick Kypreos\u00a0<\/a>of the Toronto Maple Leafs<\/a> took out the Blues\u2019 five-time Stanley Cup champion goaltender, Grant Fuhr<\/a>, with a controversial hit in the first round that sidelined the netminder for the rest of the playoffs.\u00a0 They ended up taking the series from the Leafs but lost in seven games in OT to the Red Wings on (what else?) Yzerman\u2019s classic OT goal.<\/p>\n To be a fan of this team is unlike any fan experience elsewhere in the league.\u00a0 To say that Blues fans are jaded is a gross understatement.\u00a0 They are indeed cynical beyond any normal sense of the word.\u00a0 However, when one considers the history of the team against the backdrop of the city and the inevitable comparisons to their eminently-successful Major League Baseball<\/a> counterparts, the St. Louis Cardinals<\/a>, the underlying reasons for their cynicism become painfully clear.<\/p>\n Blues fans, although wildly enthusiastic and supportive of the team (Scottrade Center<\/a> is an ongoing sellout for them), actually expect to be ultimately disappointed by them.\u00a0 Time and again this prophecy has fulfilled itself and, just like Pavlov\u2019s<\/a> famous dog, they react according to the way they have been conditioned to react.\u00a0 In many ways, this tradition has created a culture of mediocrity if not downright failure that has infused itself into the very fabric of the franchise, the management, and players in addition to the fans.\u00a0 Blues fans not only accept failure, they expect<\/strong> it!<\/p>\n So, you think this is an overstatement perhaps?\u00a0 Witness the debacle that took place on Wednesday night when the Blues took on the Nashville Predators<\/a> in a divisional battle at Bridgestone Arena<\/a> in Music City.\u00a0 St. Louis came out like a team on a mission and the Predators appeared to be on their heels as the Blues outskated, out-checked, outworked and outscored Nashville to build a 3-0 lead after two periods.\u00a0 All they had to do was keep playing their game and hold on for the win, right?\u00a0 After all, their current season record when leading after two periods was a stellar 26-0-1!\u00a0 Things were looking good for the boys in blue as the 3-0 lead was still holding up with less than 11 minutes to play in regulation.\u00a0 Surely this one was in the bag, right?\u00a0 Well, as if on cue and in a scenario that was way too familiar for any Blues fan to ignore, the Predators scored on Calle Jarnkrok’s<\/a> follow-up of a rebound against Blues goalie Carter Hutton<\/a> at 9:04 of the period.<\/p>\n OK.\u00a0 Still up 3-1, no cause for panic, yes?\u00a0 Well, it appeared that the Blues had a chance to get Jarnkrok\u2019s tally back when they went on the power play a few minutes later.\u00a0 But alas, Alexander Steen<\/a> mishandled the puck in the neutral zone, the Preds poured across the blue line on an odd-man rush and Austin Watson<\/a> netted the shorthanded goal.\u00a0 The score was suddenly 3-2 with 5:27 left in regulation.\u00a0 Then, much to the absolute and subliminally-expected horror of every Blues fan who was watching or listening, Watson scored again on yet another odd-man break as the penalty expired and the game was knotted up at 3-3 just like that.\u00a0 It is a fair assessment to state that Blues fans everywhere (and perhaps the players as well?) knew in their hearts how this one would end.<\/p>\n As always it seems, the prophecy was fulfilled as Filip Forsberg<\/a> was somehow awarded a penalty shot on what appeared to be just an ordinary hooking call against Jaden Schwartz<\/a> in overtime.\u00a0 Of course, Forsberg rifled his shot past Hutton for the game-winner.\u00a0 Actually, the game didn\u2019t seem to abruptly end as much as it was suddenly put out of its misery in the minds and hearts of Blues fans across the globe.<\/p>\n This game against the Predators would seem to be a microcosm of not only the current season perhaps but of the entire history and legacy of the St. Louis Blues as a franchise.\u00a0 Someday, hopefully, and mercifully, the Blues will turn things around and defy tradition by winning the Stanley Cup.\u00a0 At some point, their loyal fans deserve as much.\u00a0 In the meantime, it does indeed suck to be a Blues fan in a way that no other team\u2019s fan base can relate.<\/p>\n Main Photo:A Mountain of Evidence<\/h2>\n
Three Strikes, You’re Out?<\/h3>\n
Consistent Mediocrity<\/h3>\n
Try, Try Again<\/h3>\n
Going All In<\/h3>\n
A Tough Act to Follow<\/h3>\n
Accept Failure, Expect Failure<\/h3>\n
A Case in Point<\/h3>\n
The Inevitable Collapse<\/h3>\n
The Bitter End<\/h3>\n
A Microcosm of their History<\/h3>\n
\nEmbed from Getty Images<\/a>