Saturday might be the most anticipated visit to St. Louis by the Maple Leafs since their 1996 playoff series.
The Blues won that bitterly contested set, but little history has passed between the teams since switching conferences more than 25 years ago,
But now Toronto will count off ‘One Mississippi, Two Mississippi,’ with goaltender Joseph Woll returning home and coach Craig Berube back 11 months after his firing, preceded by leading the Blues to their only Stanley Cup in 2019.
“I had a great stop there, got a lot of special memories, a lot of people I became really close with,” Berub, usually not one to express much sentiment publicly, said Friday. “We had success (he replaced Mike Yeo early in the ‘18-19 season, then kept a post-Cup .597 winning percentage). I worked with a lot of great players I’m close to still, in the organization, too.
“But to me, it’s a special place because of the people. They love their sports, really root their teams on. I had a really good time there.”
The Blues have prepared a first-period timeout tribute on Saturday.
But his Leafs rather mucked up their initial chance to make him and Woll look good in the first meeting of the teams eight days ago at Scotiabank Arena. Toronto gave up two early goals en route to a 5-1 loss while Auston Matthews, Mitch Marner and Matthew Knies were a collective minus-nine.
“There’s a little more on the line for those guys (Berube and Woll), especially coach,” winger Steven Lorentz said as the Leafs packed. “We want to play hard no matter the opponent, but know these games mean more for them. We’re hoping to get in there with our ‘A’ game rather than our ‘B.’”
Berube was not exactly helping the media build a Woll narrative for a warm and fuzzy homecoming as he doesn’t like confirming starting goalies before a game. But with Woll’s confidence in Thursday’s 4-1 win versus Seattle and the weekend back-to-back, it’s easier for Berube to stick with him Saturday and go to Anthony Stolarz in Minnesota with little rust on the latter.
Woll’s journey out of Missouri started in the suburb of Dardenne Prairie, 40 minutes west of St. Louis. He lived there until he was 16, joining the U.S. National Team Development Program, from where the Leafs drafted him in 2016, then two years of NCAA hockey at Boston University.
He was there when the Blues won Game 7 and the Cup against the Bruins, joking he was one of the few Blues fans brave enough to show their face around Beantown.
“I have a lot of family and friends, and just looking forward to seeing them and to play there,” Woll said, adding many present and former Blues chose Dardenne Prairie to reside. “I went to a pretty good amount of Blues’ games. I really liked (goalie) Manny Legace growing up.
“A lot of memories are sprinkled in with the guys I grew up with, a lot of players in the NHL now such as Trent Frederic, Clayton Keller, the Tkachuks, a handful of other guys, and coaches such as Jeff Brown, Keith Tkachuk and my goalie coach, Bruce Racine.
“We were a pretty good (youth) team and there were some great players on that team. I didn’t see many shots because we were so good and we were fortunate to win some championships.”
Woll has left his mother in charge of rounding up enough tickets on Saturday at the Enterprise Center.
“(The game) will be pretty emotional for her, she’ll probably be a nervous wreck,” Joseph said. “She’s always very pumped to watch. My parents were both Blues fans.”
For Woll, he has learned to keep calm as can be in the firing line amid the disappointment of many early career injuries in a tough NHL market such as Toronto
“It’s a life full of lessons. Mental health, like physical health, is ongoing and I’ve learned it’s not necessarily one thing that makes you healthy. You dedicate time to it.”
X: @sunhornby