ST. LOUIS — A four-to-one loss against the Colorado Avalanche Saturday was one of two things on the minds of St. Louis Blues players on Saturday.
Reaction from fans poured in after the hockey team announced the trade of its popular Captain Ryan O'Reilly on Friday.
Johnny O’Mara and his son Auggie O'Mara wore their blue and yellow and watched the game from Maggie O’Brien’s Irish pub.
"I'm a little happy that I didn't put O’Reilly on the back of his jersey now. As all the Blues fans are, we were sad to see O’Reilly go. He's been a great captain for the team, he led us to the Stanley Cup. We were hoping he'd end his career here," he said.
O'Reilly played five seasons with the Blues.
The team picked the 32-year-old up from the Buffalo Sabres in 2018.
Now, he and center Noel Acciari are headed to the Toronto Maple Leafs.
O'Reilly took home the Stanley Cup walking the team all the way down Market Street to the Gateway Arch in 2019.
"Full blown rebound. it's too bad. I mean it was just three years ago. We watched the parade come down Market Street and now the good players are gone so start over. Hopefully, they get some good draft picks," said Terry Anderson, another fan.
During a press conference about the trade, Coach Craig Berube said O'Reilly and Acciari are the type of players every coach wants to work with.
"When you get the effort that they give every night and the competitiveness that they bring. The smarts. The details. Those are the type of guys you love to coach," he said.
This is the second notable trade the Blues have experienced. On Feb. 9, the team sent Vladimir Tarasenko and defenseman Nikko Mikkola to the New York Rangers.
Berube and fans are looking to the future.
"The Blues started going the wrong direction with the trade of Tarasenko and with the year that we've had, I think it's better to prep for the next three or four years instead of taking a minor step for this year and really just turning it around right and making sure we do it right," said Rob Carmody.
They will travel to Ottawa for a game against the Ottawa Senators Sunday at 1 p.m.
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