A changing of the guard is taking place in the City of St. Louis.
This past MLB season, the St. Louis Cardinals said goodbye to team legends Albert Pujols and Yadier Molina, who retired after their Wild Card Series loss to the Philadelphia Phillies.
Today, the Cards’ hockey counterparts, the St. Louis Blues, said goodbye to forward and fan-favorite Vladimir Tarasenko, who was traded to the New York Rangers.
And so, two eras in St. Louis sports have come to an end.
On Twitter, a Cardinals fan posted a photo of Molina and Tarasenko together at Busch Stadium before a ballgame.
2023 really said I hope you enjoyed 2022 because this era of being a STL sports fan is OVER #stlblues #stlcards pic.twitter.com/KyhHCDN0yi
—David Kleinstuber (@DKleinstuber) February 9, 2023
It’s been a tough winter in St. Louis.
It’s never easy to say goodbye to a fan favorite, let only three of them.
Tarasenko today became a part of the fan-favorite exodus.
Cardinals fans experienced this in 2011 when Pujols first departed.
And to add insult to injury, the mass exodus isn’t over quite yet.
Veteran right-hander and two-time World Series champion Adam Wainwright will be retiring at the end of the 2023 season.
The three-time All-Star is the last holdover from the Cardinals World Series championship teams from 2006 and 2011.
Needless to say, saying goodbye isn’t going to get any easier for fans of the Cardinals and Blues.
All good things must come to an end, as the old saying goes, but it’s coming in waves for St. Louis sports fans.
Things are already going to be a lot different in 2023, but by 2024, Wainwright, Pujols, and Molina will all be gone, signaling a new era in St. Louis.
