ST. LOUIS, MO - MAY 7: Pat Maroon #7 of the St. Louis Blues is congratulated after scoring the game winning goal against the Dallas Stars in double overtime in Game Seven of the Western Conference Second Round during the 2019 NHL Stanley Cup Playoffs at Enterprise Center on May 7, 2019 in St. Louis, Missouri. (Photo by Scott Rovak/NHLI via Getty Images) The St. Louis Blues journey to where they are now would be sweet no matter the circumstance. However, the personal journey of Pat Maroon to compliment it all has just added glorious icing to a fantastic cake. If you do not feel a great welling of emotion with the story of St. Louis Blues forward Pat Maroon, you must be dead inside or have a personal vendetta against him or one of his family members. The way his ups and downs have mirrored the team and even how his journey brought him to St. Louis in the first place is a made-for-TV movie of the week. The fact that Maroon made it to the NHL is a great story in and of itself. Maroon had talent in spades, but his size gave him an early advantage that was almost his undoing. During his time with the St. Louis Bandits, which I was fortunate enough to cover his games, you could see a ton of talent in there. He had soft hands and slick moves to go along with pro-style size and enough strength to think he had a shot at going pro. The problem was that advantage over his peers at a young age never prepared him from a work ethic stand point. Maroon admitted in an ESPN piece by Emily Kaplan that he was fine for games, but it was the little things like practice habits and taking care of himself off the ice that were hard. “They say ‘keep your nose clean.’ I was keeping my nose dirty,” Maroon told Kaplan of playing in the AHL. “You’re making 40 grand, you’re living on your own, you’re living with roommates who party, you party, things can get a little sideways at times. I knew how to play hockey, that’s it. I didn’t know how to take care of myself off the ice.” He was ready to retire after being dismissed from the Philadelphia Flyers, but was given second life when traded to the Anaheim Ducks. He worked his way up to their NHL club and even got time on the top line. That would become a theme as he played top line minutes with the Edmonton Oilers too. Maroon garnered enough fan support north of the border that a few fans have traded in their blue and orange for blue and yellow for this playoff run. Even then, things were not easy for Maroon. He had a great, but short run with the New Jersey Devils and even considered re-signing with them. That’s where the story gets interesting. About a quarter of the way into the season, rumors started coming out that Maroon may have actually preferred staying in New Jersey, but it was his agent that had him sign in St. Louis for less money so they could bet on themselves for the seasons to follow. That threw a little wrench in what had been a heartwarming story about Maroon wanting to be closer to his son, in St. Louis. We all saw the raw emotion in a video following a goal scored for Edmonton against the Blues when speaking about his son. So, it took a little of the shine off that story when the rumbles said it might not have been the main reason after all. Nevertheless, whatever the reason he was in St. Louis, he was with the Blues and it did not go well right away. Maroon struggled in the early going, trying to fit in with new teammates while also suddenly juggling a home life he had not had to deal with before since his son was always in another city. Maroon got some early assists, but it took 16 games before he got his first goal in a Blues uniform. It took another 10 games to get his second. Then, there was a huge drought where he did not score a goal from mid-January until March 9. The struggle was real for Big Rig. He was scratched from the lineup a few times during those winter months and could not find any rhythm with any linemates or any success under Mike Yeo. Finally, Craig Berube found the solution and, as Maroon said, revitalized Big Rig’s career. Berube gave him the confidence that he could do great things with this team and also gave him the job of supporting Robert Thomas‘ upbringing along with Tyler Bozak. Maroon’s job, along with Bozak, was to do the dirty work and allow Thomas’ creativity to shine. It has worked in spades. Maroon said after his series clinching goal in Game 7 of the Western Conference Semifinals that being paired with those two saved his season. If that is true, it may have saved his career too. Maroon is scheduled to be a free agent in the summer of 2019. If things had stopped for him in January or February, there would not have been many offers. Even Blues fans were unlikely to want him back, even considering his hometown boy status. The feeling was mutual early on. In one of those friend of a friend scenarios, I learned that Maroon wanted out of town. Likely that was due to the awful play of the team at the time, but it was hard to hear. You understand where he was coming from, but from the fan perspective, it is hard to feel spurned by someone who was in your shoes with loving and rooting for a team not long ago and being lucky enough to pull on that sweater. However, a funny thing happened on the way out of town. Maroon found chemistry with his linemates and the Blues found chemistry with themselves.<doc-sep>Close Get email notifications on {{subject}} daily! Your notification has been saved. There was a problem saving your notification. {{description}} Email notifications are only sent once a day, and only if there are new matching items.<doc-sep>Patrick Maroon had a night he’ll never forget Tuesday as he netted the game-winner in double overtime to lead his hometown team, the St. Louis Blues, to a Game 7 win and a trip to the Western Conference Finals. Being from St. Louis just has to make that even more incredible. But it’s also awesome that his young son Anthony was there and he was brought to tears after seeing his dad score the game-winner. A few years ago it was Maroon who was brought to tears in a video that went viral in which he broke down in tears talking about how his son was in the building to see him score a goal. Maroon was with the Edmonton Oilers then and didn’t get to see his son often. He scored that night against the Blues in St. Louis. Now they’re together in his hometown and his son’s reaction was so great: Everyone remembers when Maroon broke down while talking about his son watching him tie a game 2 years ago. But watching lil rig break down after watching his dad score a GM7 OT winner is even more emotional. pic.twitter.com/NT5gG0Mbgn — Jordan Elford (@Flelford) May 8, 2019 The two got to celebrate together in the locker room: Pat Maroon and his 10-year old son Anthony celebrating in the dressing room. pic.twitter.com/sKzXVHVIKW — Charlie Marlow (@CharlieMarlow_) May 8, 2019 And here’s the video from a few years ago, which is still great: #Oilers Patrick Maroon chokes up while seeing his son celebrate his goal in his hometown of St. Louis tonight pic.twitter.com/6HFc88Mm6T — Marina Molnar (@mkmolnar) December 20, 2016 You gotta love sports.<doc-sep>Photo : Scott Rovak ( NHLI via Getty ) Until Patrick Maroon finally, finally beat Ben Bishop 5:50 into the second overtime and put the Blues through to the Western Conference final, no player in the history of the NHL had ever scored a Game 7 overtime winner in his hometown. It’d been close, once, when in 1979 Yvon Lambert, out of Drummondville, Quebec, not far outside of Montreal, scored a sudden-death series winner for the Canadiens. But Drummondville is not Montreal. Pat Maroon was and is a St. Louis kid. Advertisement St. Louis is where Maroon grew up, and where his family had Blues season tickets, where he went to school, where he played junior hockey. Where he had an infant son, Anthony, whom he missed so badly while scuffling in the minors as a young player, even being cut from his AHL team, that he considered retiring from hockey just to go home to be with him. After earning his way into the NHL and carving out a niche as a dependable depth winger in Anaheim and Edmonton and Newark, the local kid finally got an offer from the Blues last summer. But it wasn’t much of an offer. One year, $1.75 million. He had another offer worth twice as much. He had multiple offers for multi-year deals. But, as told in a great piece by ESPN’s Emily Kaplan, Maroon decided the Blues’ contract promised things the others couldn’t. Like home, and his son. When Maroon told Anthony this summer that he was staying in St. Louis — and that after his Sept. 2 birthday they wouldn’t have to say goodbye — the then-9-year-old didn’t quite understand. “He kind of just went to his room quietly, like he had to think about it,” [Maroon’s fiancée Francesca] Vangel says. “I don’t think it’s hit anyone yet what this really means.” They’d figure it out soon. The first thing Maroon did after signing with the Blues was to buy his father season tickets; better seats than the ones they’d had when we was a kid. Being home means having your family in the house for all your home games, not just the odd St. Louis road trip. Having them all there for, say, your Game 7 double-overtime winner. There were tears all over, and long after. Maroon’s mother, Patti, was still crying when she talked to a reporter in the Blues’ family room. “I didn’t see the goal when it went in,” she said. “People were saying: ‘Your son scored, your son scored.’” (Anthony, by then, had recovered as only a 10-year-old can. “I taught him a few things,” he said of his father.) Advertisement Maroon himself tried to take stock of what the moment meant. “It means the world,” Maroon said. “You’re playing street hockey and playing with your brothers or in your basement and you dream of those moments. To score a goal like that, I’ll never forget that moment. My fiancée, my son, my parents, my brother, my sister, my uncle, cousins, whatever, they’ll never forget this moment, and neither will I.” Advertisement As it happened, Game 7 would’ve had a hometown hero no matter who won the game. Stars goalie Ben Bishop, whose 52-save performance was the only thing that kept Dallas in it, is also from the area, having grown up in suburban St. Louis (before moving, for high school, to suburban Dallas). He and Maroon are friends, and every summer they come home to the area and golf together. Maroon couldn’t stop gushing about Bishop after this one, but, then, Maroon couldn’t stop gushing, period. “I’m proud. I’m proud to be from St. Louis and I’m proud to put that jersey on every night and I’m proud to work hard in front of these fans and to work hard for these guys that deserve it in here, that have been here for so long and want nothing more [than] to win.” Advertisement And now St. Louis is in the final four, a miracle run for a team that looked dead in the water earlier this season—and for a franchise that has never won a Cup in its long history. If this team keeps going and keeps winning, it’s entirely possible that the Maroon hometown storyline gets done to death and you get sick of hearing about it. That’s fine. It wouldn’t make Tuesday night any less emotional for the Maroons or for Blues fans, and it doesn’t change the fact that, for all that sports sometimes has to stretch for narratives, every once in a while something really lovely happens.<doc-sep>
Patrick Maroon deserved this one. (Getty) He missed it. Flipping through media notes to learn about the different hometowns of Dad’s teammates (how else would one deal with the stress of double overtime? ), Patrick Maroon’s 10-year-old son Anthony didn’t catch his father reaching around the brick wall that had been Ben Bishop and shovelling in the goal that sent the St. Louis Blues to the Western Conference final. For that reason the reaction was delayed. But it wasn’t spoiled. As the Blues celebrated their hard-fought seven-game triumph over the Dallas Stars on the ice at Enterprise Center, Anthony was in the stands and unable to control his emotions. Patrick Maroon's son after his father scored the OT winner. I'm not crying, you are. pic.twitter.com/wf8zE8aHv0 — Leah Kessel (@leahflame) May 8, 2019 Anthony is certainly his father’s son. While playing with the Edmonton Oilers several years ago, Patrick broke down in a memorable post-game interview when he was showed footage of Anthony celebrating his goal — scored against the Blues at the time. Patrick’s voiced cracked, and he said one of the realest things ever spoken in an interview staged in the moments following a hockey game: "I don't get to see him as much." #Oilers Patrick Maroon chokes up while seeing his son celebrate his goal in his hometown of St. Louis tonight pic.twitter.com/6HFc88Mm6T — Marina Molnar (@mkmolnar) December 20, 2016 Anthony was born just as Patrick was embarking on his professional hockey career — one that never carried the promise of making it to the NHL. Stops in Philadelphia, Adirondack, Syracuse, Anaheim, Norfolk, Edmonton and New Jersey meant that father and son spent far more time apart as Anthony remained in St. Louis with his mother. Story continues There have been many challenges for Maroon to overcome in his career, but being separated from Anthony seems to have impacted him the most. That’s why the decision was made this summer to leave significant money and term on the table in free agency to return to St. Louis to play for his hometown team. Maroon’s start to the year was characteristic of the entire team’s struggles in the first few months of the season, and a moment like this one once seemed inconceivable. You can’t deny that it wasn’t deserved. “The biggest goal of my career. Wow, what a moment it has been,” Maroon said, his voicing cracking in another postgame interview with Sportsnet after noticing his son’s reaction live. “It’s been an emotional roller coaster for me all year, and to score a big goal like that in front of my hometown, my son was in the stands tonight, fiancee, friends, family — I mean ...” In that moment, Maroon interrupted himself, and transitioned to deflective hockeyspeak by crediting his linemates for making the goal and his season turnaround possible. He would, however, allow those emotions to come out when reuniting with Anthony in the Blues dressing room, where more tears were shed. Most importantly, together. A special moment for hometown hero Pat Maroon. Lucky #7 in Game 7. pic.twitter.com/TggYQu7Wk8 — Hanna Yates (@HannaRaeYates) May 8, 2019 More NHL coverage on Yahoo Sports