KANSAS CITY, Mo. — The St. Louis Blues have one more shot to make history after failing to clinch the Stanley Cup on Sunday at the Enterprise Center in St. Louis.
Support for Missouri's only NHL team stretched along Interstate 70 to Kansas City, where a sea of blue crowded the Blue Line bar in the River Market.
"I've never seen this at my bar before, so it brings chills to me seeing this," Blue Line owner Steve Stegall said while standing in the crowd gathered outside. "It's beautiful."
Blues fans lined the sidewalks surrounding the bar, eventually spilling out into the street and blocking East Missouri Ave.
"We got here at 4," St. Louis native Daniel Shovlain said. "There was not a single seat open on the inside."
Fans stood shoulder-to-shoulder inside.
"It's a zoo; t is completely packed there wall to wall," Stegall said.
For hockey-lovers, it was an opportunity to put the Show-Me State rivalry aside.
"Kansas City doesn't really have that hockey presence besides the Mavericks, so when it comes to professional hockey, you've got to look to no other than the St. Louis Blues," St. Louis native Christian Schveninger said.
Amy Ellard, who came from Wright City, said, "It's a statewide sport."
If you could not travel to the 314 area code, which includes St. Louis, for the Game 6 on Sunday night, the 816 was a good runner-up.
"It's not quite St. Louis, but it's a lot of fun," Blues fan David Heritage said. "This is the best place to be tonight."
The Blue Line expects to be packed again Wednesday for the decisive Game 7.
