Arena: Enterprise Center (1994)

Location: Downtown St. Louis, Missouri

Game Attended: January 15, 2022 vs. Toronto Maple Leafs

Game Result: 6-5 Leafs Win, Brutal Game-Winning Goal, Defense Optional

Seat Location: Lower Corner, Blues 1x End

Overall Impression: Fun City, Fun People, Average Building

Sometimes plans change, and it’s good to be flexible, especially in this era of COVID-19. New York Drew (not to be confused with Boston Drew) and I planned to spend our long MLK Day weekend exploring St. Louis and enjoying a Blues game, but Drew wisely decided to postpone his plans with the Omicron variant running rampant. I, perhaps not as wisely, carried on with my plans. 

And thankfully, I enlisted the help of another friend, one of my Charlotte golf buddies (and future neighbors) Jon. And I’m glad he decided to join: Jon is a great friend, a funny and carefree kind of guy, a perfect companion for a “spur of the moment” kind of trip where improvisation is welcomed. And where better to practice our improv skills than in St. Louis, home of the Blues. An apt team name for a weekend full of improvisation. 

So armed with high hopes and empty stomachs, we arrived in St Louis for a fun weekend. And St Louis certainly did not disappoint us. Even with snow and sleet on Friday night, we carried on for some great barbecue and live country music. And in a first on the Tour (and in my life altogether), we even went to a National Park on our trip!

The Gateway Arch was named a national park in 2018, and even though it’s America’s smallest national park, it was still very impressive! The Arch itself, 630 feet tall, is a beacon to welcome locals and visitors alike to the Gateway to the West. Both Jon and I conquered some slight fears of heights and some claustrophobia for the tram ride to the top, and boy was it a good idea! We had wonderful views of the city, the Mississippi River, and even Busch Stadium, the home of the Cardinals. 

We had all afternoon to kill before the 6:00 faceoff, but we decided to walk over to the Enterprise Center early for some daytime photos. It’s a very impressive looking building with new glass windows that hardly looks its age. And to my pleasant surprise, a Leafs fan asked us to take a picture of him and his son. Romele and Jordan live in Ontario, but follow the Leafs and visited their 18th different arena that evening. It’s so exciting to meet fellow fans on their own journeys, so I had to snap a pic with some fellow dedicated fans!

We then headed a little further out from Downtown St Louis to the Center Ice Brewery. This spot was so cool! It’s a small brewery but had an impressive beer lineup, plenty of TV’s and board games, and was practically a shrine to Blues hockey. Even the wood paneling from behind the bar was taken from the Blues’ former home at St. Louis Arena. 

Of course, we had to try some high quality barbecue in town, and luckily Pappy’s Smokehouse was right next door to Center Ice. Y’all….we have some pretty good barbecue in North Carolina, but these ribs were OFF. THE. HOOK! I see now why Pappy’s was named one of the best rib spots in America by Food Network. Highly recommend if you come to town!

Even more luckily, Center Ice had a shuttle bus from the brewery to the doorstep of Enterprise Center. All for the convenient cost of a pint of beer! So we rode over with some friendly Blues fans and got in early to find…..a concert! Much like some other teams (Edmonton and Los Angeles come to mind), the Blues had a live band on the concourse of the arena before the game, so we stopped by for a few tunes!

More on those friendly fans: there really is something to be said for Midwestern hospitality. I’ve experienced it in Minnesota and Chicago before, but Midwesterners are truly very kind and easy to talk to. We spoke with plenty of fans about the Tour and our travels from Charlotte and everybody was very supportive and encouraging!

And those friendly fans certainly know their hockey and love their Blues! I know Toronto fans travel well, but the arena was largely filled with Blues fans in jerseys of all colors. And I mean all colors: the Blues have a rainbow of jerseys from retro reds to their standard royal and powder blues to green for St Patricks’ Day and of course, a few purple Hockey Fights Cancer jerseys as well! Their dedication to their team (or at least their choice in supporting apparel) was certainly impressive to me!

As for the arena itself, I found the Enterprise Center to be largely average. Nothing really stood out to me positively or negatively, save perhaps the large and well-lit scoreboard hung over center ice. It just seemed like an average building: not quite the upscale and modern facility you’d expect after seeing the building from Clark Avenue outside. Although we did get a chuckle and a goofy (and perhaps beer-influenced) picture in the Pit of Misery!

But the true highlight of the evening was the atmosphere inside the building. The Blues have a sensational in-game experience with great music and cool quirky little fan chants and traditions. Enterprise’s pipe organ plays “When the Saints Go Marching In” following Blues goals (and thankfully we got our fair share of those), followed by some coordinated “HEY!” and “Let’s Go Blues” chants. They had a special winter-themed fan cam to compare certain “lucky” fans to the Heat Miser and Abominal Snowman, among others. And the second intermission ended with a dark arena, thousands of cell phone flashlights, and a powerful rendition of “In The Air Tonight”, drums and all. Perhaps most impressively though, all 18,096 fans sang the National Anthem!

The game was an absolute blast, and we both had a great time thanks to the Blues and some great friendly fans around us. If it weren’t for some defensive zone turnovers that led to at least three Leafs goals, we might’ve left the building happy and victorious. Alas, we left with a bitter taste of loss in our mouths, but still content. 

We spent Saturday evening after the game in St. Louis’ Ballpark Village, just a few steps from left field in Busch Stadium. What a cool neighborhood – they’ve built up bars and restaurants (and conveniently even our hotel) around the home of the Cardinals, and the entire neighborhood gleams with Cardinals pride. There are plenty of statues of Cardinals greats behind the home plate gate, banners and logoed memorabilia all around. They even have a 10-foot mockup of both the STL logo and the Commissioners’ Trophy for the World Series champions, of which the Cardinals have won an impressive 11!

While Blues fans were passionate and knowledgable, I have to think that the Cardinals run this city. Obviously winning will do that to a team (the Cardinals having a 10-championship lead on the Blues), but given that the seasons rarely overlap, I’d have expected to see a better neighborhood built up around Enterprise Center. Ballpark Village is a great spot to enjoy refreshment and catch a game on TV, but there’s really not much around the arena itself. The city is very walkable, but I noticed more than a hundred fans walk the six blocks or so towards the Village for postgame activities. 

Not to say that St. Louis wasn’t enjoyable. By all means, Jon and I had a great time exploring the city, enjoying some great food, and seeing a great hockey game with passionate fans! It has all the traits of a typical Midwestern city: perhaps a bit older, industrial areas surrounding a downtown area trying to become trendy in the 21st century, filled with friendly locals welcoming you to their hometown. And as our time at the Gateway Arch taught us, St. Louis is literally the Gateway to the West and holds a critical place in American history. I’d definitely love to come back and see Ballpark Village in full force for a Cardinals game!

And as I sat on the plane home to North Carolina, I couldn’t help but think how fortunate I am to have this Tour, this incredible journey. Fortunate to have incredibly supportive friends and family joining me for impromptu adventures to new and exciting places. Fortunate to have this great game of hockey that I somehow fell in love with. Fortunate to have good health and good fortune in this age of COVID. Fortunate to be able to support a cause I care deeply about!

So while plans change, when they do come to fruition, you end up in St. Louis with a good friend and good hockey and……..wait……..what do you mean this plane ISN’T going to North Carolina??

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