Tom Stillman and his ownership group purchased the St. Louis Blues in 2012, a team hemorrhaging red ink due to front-loaded deals made by departing owner Dave Checketts. Stillman has painstakingly brought the team back to financial stability, punctuated by the club’s miraculous run to the Stanley Cup.
FloHockey’s Tim Rappleye caught up with his former club hockey teammate while the championship afterglow was still fresh.
FloHockey: Tom, we all know you were in last place in January. When did you allow yourself to believe this might be the year.
Tom Stillman: It was a gradual thing. Sometime into the playoffs that we went, “Wait a minute, this could really happen!” Things have to go well: no injuries, things happen in games, goalie plays well. I don’t think there’s ever a point where [you say], “We’re going to win this.” It’s just a gradual process more and more that it’s a real possibility.
There was a lot of “will over skill” to this whole run of yours. How much of that was embodied by new coach Craig Berube?
He just kind of exudes that: Be strong mentally to break the will of the other team. He’s a very natural leader of players.
You had two other solid NHL coaches. What was Berube’s magic?
You’re right, both Hitch [Ken Hitchco*ck] and Mike Yeo are tremendous coaches. What’s different about Chief? It’s probably the way he communicates with his players, it’s just very direct. [He] speaks in a way that they like and understand. He tells them what he expects and holds them accountable, but he also lets them know that he has confidence in their ability, and they should be confident.
How about after the hand-pass playoff loss to San Jose in overtime?
I think Chief provided leadership there, not only for the team, but for the organization and the whole community. Everybody, could have groused about it, but instead the team and the organization said, “OK, no one is going to feel sorry for us, we’ve just to turn around and win.” He was helpful to all of us.
Has the “interim” tag been removed from Berube’s title?
That’s still to be worked on with Doug [GM Armstrong]. There isn’t much sense in playing with titles right now, in the end, get things done once and for all.
There’s a great video of you in the mosh pit that was the Blues locker room in Boston. Will that have a permanent place in your memory bank?
That was a really special moment. Being called in and sprayed by the players was a real highlight. It was Bambi there. I made the rookie mistake of not taking my jacket off before I went in there. Now it’s all wilted on a railing in the back hall of our house. I think I’m going to retire it in that form.
St. Louis Blues owner Tom Stillman celebrates with the players in the locker room after winning their first ever Stanley Cup pic.twitter.com/RGKbow5mGp
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You come from Minnesota high school and small college hockey background, was having your name engraved on the Stanley Cup ever one of your all-time hockey dreams?
I don’t know that I ever dreamed of my name on the Stanley Cup, growing up or even as an adult. I certainly was not a threat to take anybody’s job in the National Hockey League.
But after I got involved with the Blues, it certainly became a goal and a mission to win the cup. It wasn’t, and still isn’t, about getting my name on it as much as seeing that the Blues were NHL Champions, and that we were able to bring a cup to St. Louis.
Forbes Magazine has documented how financially challenged this club was when you took it over. Can you describe the long slog to financial stability?
It took some time, it took some restructuring and changing things. A ton of credit goes to our good mutual friend Chris Zimmerman, who came in five years ago to take over the business side of our operations. His work and leadership [created] a very different organization on the business side from what we were.
You and Zimmerman are both former players on St. Nick’s hockey club, America’s oldest. Not even the legendary Hobey Baker had his name engraved on the Stanley Cup.
That was a really special thing to all of us, to play for St. Nick’s. Partly because it was a great group of guys at the moment, but also because of the long 100-year tradition of the club. It is fun to look back at that. I shared that with Chris, and now sharing this as well.
Your St. Nick’s teammate Joe McCarthy said that Craig Binnington’s performance was reminiscent of Ken Dryden stoning the Bruins in 1971. Do you agree with Joe?
I remember those years; it’s a fair comparison. [Binnington] was a guy that came from fourth on the depth chart at training camp to lead the team to a Stanley Cup. He was fantastic throughout, and just downright spectacular in the first period of Game 7.
Your hockey journey has been pure fantasy, impossible to have predicted. After coming out from New York, here you are in Missouri as the owner of a Stanley Cup champion. Have you had a chance to reflect with your wife Mary or family? Have you had your pinch-me moment?
Mary and I have had several moments where we pinch ourselves, and look at what’s going on. All three of our kids were here for Game 7 in Boston, and back here for the celebration. There were times, especially the day of parades and the celebration at the Arch, when we were together, just being thankful how fortunate we are, about what had happened.
Tom, part of your lore is that you figured out a way to market Miller Beer in St. Louis of all places. What does that say about your “will over skill”?
I think some people might question my sanity. I just think you have to be competitive, and persistent and keep at it, and then things will usually work out.
