Ryan O'Reilly is used to playing against former teammates - he's on his fifth NHL team, after all - but the Nashville Predators center said he expected Friday's matchup against the St. Louis Blues to hit him a little differently.
"You win a Cup, it changes your life," he said in a recent interview with the St. Louis Post-Dispatch's Matthew DeFranks. "That makes it a little bit more emotional than the other ones, just knowing how special a place it was for myself. It wasn't very long I was there, but gosh, still some of my favorite hockey memories. My biggest accomplishment came there."
"(St. Louis) changed my whole career," he added.
O'Reilly crammed a whole lot of success into his five-year tenure in Missouri.
During his first season with the Blues in 2018-19, he helped them win their first Stanley Cup championship in franchise history, which was an astounding feat given that St. Louis was dead last in the league that January.
O'Reilly also earned some individual accolades that season, including the Conn Smythe Trophy as the most valuable player in the playoffs after potting eight goals and 23 points in 26 contests, as well as the Selke Trophy as the NHL's top defensive forward.
The 32-year-old served as captain for his final three campaigns in St. Louis up until his trade to the Toronto Maple Leafs in February. All told, O'Reilly amassed 97 goals and 269 points in 327 regular-season contests and 49 points in 51 playoff games as a Blue.
St. Louis honored him with a tribute video on Friday.
Former Blues captain Ryan O'Reilly watches his tribute video in his first game back in St. Louis since being traded last season. 👏 pic.twitter.com/XtoAq6qEZ6
— Sportsnet (@Sportsnet) November 24, 2023
Blues head coach Craig Berube sang his former player's praises prior to the contest.
"He was great to coach," he said. "I really enjoyed being around him and learned a lot from him. Just very professional."
O'Reilly missed out on his chance to face the Blues as a member of the Maple Leafs last season, so Friday was his first clash against them since February 2018. He hasn't been a member of the visiting team in St. Louis since December 2017.
"I'm excited. I think it'll be cool to be back," he said. "It's always very weird. I think playing in these games, you have so many good friends on the other team, guys you're still close with."
Prior to Friday's outing, O'Reilly had seven goals and 17 points in 26 career games versus the Blues.
The veteran signed a four-year, $18-million deal with the Predators as an unrestricted free agent in July. Heading into Friday's action, O'Reilly ranked second on Nashville with 17 points while tying for the team lead with nine goals in 18 outings.
