ST. LOUIS -- When Alexander Steen, Joel Edmundson, Jaden Schwartz, Robert Bortuzzo and Robby Fabbri walked into The Jacks NYB Clubhouse in Philadelphia, little did they know they'd walk out with the Blues' new victory song.
And by Edmundson's admission, he had never heard of Laura Branigan's 1982 hit 'Gloria'.
"No, not a chance," Edmundson said. "I've heard it a lot now and I want to keep hearing it."
Of course, because it means the Blues are winning.
The establishment, which hosted the five Blues players there for a night of watching the Philadelphia Eagles and Chicago Bears in an NFC Wildcard game, uses Gloria as its fight song, and it was playing multiple times throughout the night as Steen, Schwartz, Edmundson, Bortuzzo and Fabbri were gathered with friends. One thing led to another, and it would become a regular tune inside the Blues' locker room.
"We were at our buddies' private bar thing with his buddies all watching the game and they had their own DJ that whenever there was commercial, they'd play the song," Fabbri said. "After a few times and there was a commercial, everyone would yell 'Play Gloria!' We kind of took to that too. The timing was just right for it all.
"... I've heard the song before. It's a good song, it's a catchy song, especially when you hear it in an atmosphere where everyone's loving it. You've got a playoff football game on, it's a lot of fun, so it kind of caught on with us. We got that same vibe in here."
The Blues went out the following night and shut out the Philadelphia Flyers 3-0, Jordan Binnington's first NHL start, and they started playing the song upon entering the locker room following victories. It started on the Dads' trip to Florida and Tampa Bay and the rest is history.
Superstitions are something players tend to hold onto in high regard, and with the Blues going on a run of 30-10-5 at the turn of the new year, Gloria gained steam, and Steen gets the nod for having made the initial revelation for he and his teammates.
"I think 'Steener' brought it up and we were all like, 'Yeah, we're in for it,'" Edmundson said. "I would say Steener should take credit for that one.
"They had it cranked and everyone was singing along and I was like, 'This is pretty cool.' They kept playing it and playing it and we were like, 'This is our song.'"
Gloria replaced Dion's 1961 hit Runaround Sue and has turned into a phenomenon in the city.
"I think it was more of just a coincidental thing," Fabbri said. "The story watching the playoff game and it just so happened to be Binner's first game the next day and we got a shutout. Everything just kind of fell together after that, it's fun for us. We're still having fun with it."
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The players were OK with it sticking in the locker room and not being turned into a big deal, but now that the fans have rallied around the players and their superstitions, Laura Branigan was as loud as she could be following the Blues' Game 6 win in the first round against the Winnipeg Jets on Saturday playing loud and clear over the Enterprise Center speakers.
The players can't believe it's turned into this, but they're more than happy to hear more of it moving forward, beginning with the second round starting Thursday against the Dallas Stars.
"No, actually not really, but it's awesome though, especially being one of the guys that was there and experienced it firsthand," Edmundson said. "We still talk to the guys that were at that bar. They're so pumped. They're new Blues fans, and they love watching the Blues now, so they turned it into a Blues bar, I think. I think the whole city of St. Louis knows the song now. It's a song that no one really knows. It's pretty cool and it's something that brings everyone together."
Now all one hears is 'Play Gloria!,' and the Blues have no problem doing so. It means another 'W'.
"The Blues did a good job of getting it out there," Edmundson said. "We just kept on winning, so it kept on getting played a lot. I've been out in public and I've heard it on. It just brings a smile to my face."
