It rained on the Blues含羞草研究社� parade, but nobody seemed to mind.

Hundreds of thousands of people lined the streets of downtown St. Louis and braved the rain on Saturday to cheer on the Stanley Cup champs, who concluded the festivities with a packed rally beneath the Gateway Arch that began just as the sun popped out.

The Blues ended one of sports含羞草研究社� longest championship droughts on Wednesday by beating the Boston Bruins 4-1 in Game 7 of the Stanley Cup Final, the first title for a franchise that joined the NHL 52 years ago.

The long-awaited championship stirred strong emotions in St. Louis, a city still smarting from the departure of the NFL含羞草研究社檚 Rams in 2016. The loss of the football team seemed to strengthen the fans含羞草研究社� bonds to the Blues and their beloved baseball team, the Cardinals.

含羞草研究社淚含羞草研究社檓 so happy for the city and the fans here,含羞草研究社� coach Craig Berube said. 含羞草研究社淭hey deserve it. But more than anything I含羞草研究社檓 so happy for our players, because of how hard they含羞草研究社檝e played, the character and leadership coming through, winning that cup.含羞草研究社�

Ryan Korte, a 56-year-old letter carrier from the St. Louis suburb of Belleville, Illinois, said he wasn含羞草研究社檛 sure he含羞草研究社檇 ever get to see the Blues win the cup.

含羞草研究社淚 was starting to wonder,含羞草研究社� Korte said as he waved a towel while standing on a ledge, straining to see the parade. 含羞草研究社淎 lot of disappointments. They含羞草研究社檝e had some good teams and they always let us down.含羞草研究社�

Not this time.

含羞草研究社淭his is bigger than the World Series,含羞草研究社� Korte said.

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That may sound strange in St. Louis, which has long been considered a baseball haven thanks to the Cardinals含羞草研究社� 11 World Series titles. It sure looked like a hockey town on Saturday, though, as fans shouted 含羞草研究社淟et含羞草研究社檚 Go Blues!含羞草研究社� and danced to 含羞草研究社淕loria,含羞草研究社� the 1982 Laura Branigan hit that became the Blues含羞草研究社� unofficial victory song.

Forward Ryan O含羞草研究社橰eilly, who won the Conn Smythe Trophy as the most valuable player of this year含羞草研究社檚 playoffs, carried the Stanley Cup to fans lining Market Street to let them touch it.

含羞草研究社淭he Blues have an amazing fan base,含羞草研究社� said Michael DeHeer, 52, of St. Louis. 含羞草研究社淭his place is ready to explode.含羞草研究社�

It has been quite a journey since the Blues joined the NHL in 1967 as one of six expansion teams that year that doubled the size of the league. The original six teams were kept in one division, the six new teams in another, ensuring that an expansion team would play for the Stanley Cup.

The Blues loaded their roster with aging veterans and it paid off: They played for the Stanley Cup in each of their first three seasons. They didn含羞草研究社檛 win a game, though, going a combined 0-12 in those three series.

What followed was a 49-year stretch in which the Blues didn含羞草研究社檛 make the finals 含羞草研究社� a drought made even more remarkable because the team only missed the playoffs nine times during that span.

This year含羞草研究社檚 season didn含羞草研究社檛 start out promising, as a sluggish start got coach Mike Yeo fired in November.

Craig Berube took over as interim coach 含羞草研究社� a title he still holds, though the interim tag is expected to be lifted soon. Improvement didn含羞草研究社檛 come immediately 含羞草研究社� the Blues were dead last in the standings on Jan. 3, the middle of the season. Days later, an unheralded rookie goaltender named Jordan Binnington was called up. He won his first game in a shutout.

Soon, with Binnington taking over as the lead goalie, the Blues went on a franchise-record 11-game winning streak and stayed hot through their playoff run.

Binnington, known for his calm demeanour, finally let loose Saturday.

含羞草研究社淵ou want to see some (expletive) emotion?含羞草研究社� he asked the rally crowd. 含羞草研究社淲e含羞草研究社檙e Stanley Cup champions, baby!含羞草研究社�

The Blues joined a list of other sports franchises to recently end long championship droughts. The Chicago Cubs含羞草研究社� win in the 2016 World Series ended a 108-year run of futility. The Philadelphia Eagles won the 2018 Super Bowl, their first championship in 58 years. Last year含羞草研究社檚 Stanley Cup winners, the Washington Capitals, won for the first time since joining the NHL in 1974.

Jim Salter, The Associated Press

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