The force behind the St. Louis Blues' late-season playoff push cannot be found in the box score. He has not scored a single goal. His addition can’t be found on the NHL’s transaction wire.
It’s Jobu.
Yes, the same Jobu from 1989 baseball comedy “Major League.” The team has given center stage — well, a spot in the locker room — to a replica of the Jobu doll from the movie, in which the voodoo-practicing character Pedro Cerrano offers rum and a cigar to remove the fear from his bat so he can hit a curveball.
Six years since “Gloria” was the anthem of the Blues' franchise-first Stanley Cup run in 2019, Jobu’s arrival is the latest good luck charm, his presence felt by the entire roster.
Local media noticed Jobu’s arrival in late February. When asked about his origins, the standard reply from Blues players is that the doll just showed up. You know, like magic.
While it is not clear if the team offered Jobu rum or cigars to get a blessing for their sticks, what is clear is that the Blues have been the hottest team in the league since Jobu's arrival. They were eight points out of the final wild-card spot in the Western Conference when the season resumed out of the 4 Nations Face-Off break.
St. Louis went 19-4-3 since, including a franchise-record 12-game winning streak to move into a playoff spot.
Jobu has his own stall — with a nameplate — in the center of the Blues dressing room at Enterprise Center next to forward Zack Bolduc.
“It’s basically our corner, and no one can sit there,” Bolduc said.
Instead of a cigar, Jobu has a rolled piece of hockey tape in his mouth. He was even in the team photo of the entire organization, taking a prominent place on the front row. Jobu will accompany the team to open the playoffs this weekend in Winnipeg. He also gets his own locker with a nameplate on the road.
“Even in Nashville, I got the lower seat and he got the full seat,” Blues forward Pavel Buchnevich said. “It’s like OK, you’ve got to respect him.”
Goalie Jordan Binnington said Jobu has been known to fire the team up. He credited Jobu’s speech during the second intermission in a 2-1 win at Colorado on March 29 as a much-needed spark.
“He brought a vocal element to the room,” Binnington said, though he didn’t expand on the specifics. “You’ve got to understand his language if you want to know what he says.”
Blues center Robert Thomas concurred with Binnington, simply saying, “I think we all felt it, yeah.”
Coach Jim Montgomery is good with all of this and has embraced Jobu’s presence.
“One of my favorite sports movies of all time, especially comedies,” Montgomery said of “Major League.” "I wish we could get Charlie Sheen to do an ad for us. I thought that would be great.”
If the Blues embracing an offbeat rallying cry sounds familiar – it is.
The team had the entire St. Louis region singing Laura Branigan’s 1982 hit sing, “Gloria,” during the spring of 2019. The song became synonymous with the Blues during their improbable run from last in the league in January to hoisting hockey's most coveted trophy that June.
While Jobu’s singing talent is unknown, it is clear that Jobu is the new “Gloria” for Blues players.
“He’s one of the leaders in the locker room, that’s all I’ll say,” defenseman Cam Fowler said.
This team may not have had the worst record in the league like in 2019, but it did have to jump four teams in the season’s final two months to make its first playoff appearance since 2022. St. Louis also took off after a midseason coaching change, like in 2019 when Craig Berube took over. The Blues have gone 35-18-7 since Montgomery’s arrival on Nov. 24.
It all has Blues veterans feeling 2019-type vibes.
“You just have to get in,” Blues captain Brayden Schenn said. “And there’s momentum swings throughout the playoffs, and it’s just an exciting time.”
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AP NHL: https://apnews.com/hub/nhl
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