'Play Gloria!' St. Louis Blues fans celebrate Stanley Cup win at South Philly Mummers club

PHILADELPHIA -- It felt more like St. Louis, Missouri than South Philadelphia Wednesday night at Jacks New Years Brigade.

The private Mummers club was a destination for St. Louis Blues fans to watch their team win their first Stanley Cup championship.

The Blues defeated the Boston Bruins 4-1 in Game 7, giving former Philadelphia Flyers player Brayden Schenn and coach Craig Berube the Cup.

"Once we pulled it together, we were tough to beat," said Berube, who took over when Mike Yeo was fired in November.

He is the fourth coach in the past 11 years hired in midseason to lead his team to the NHL title.

The Blues' turnaround from worst to first can be traced back to January 6 at that bar in South Philly.

It was the day the Philadelphia Eagles met the Chicago Bears in the NFL playoffs (the double-doink game).

Five Blue players, Robby Fabbri, Robert Bortuzzo, Alexander Steen, Joel Edmundson and Jaden Schwartz, were invited to the Jacks bar by a friend.

When they walked in, there was no doubt they were in Philly. The Eagles game was on and they heard plenty of chants of 'Let's Go Flyers,' who the last-place Blues were playing the next day.

Besides the chants, the players also heard Laura Branigan's 1982 song "Gloria" - over and over again.

The hit pop song was the anthem for the Jacks club as they prepared for the Mummers Parade on New Year's Day. After the club won first place in their division, the celebration began - and it continued five days later, complete with that song playing on repeat.

"If we don't win first place, we're probably not having an Eagles party like that five days later and 'Gloria' would have probably died because it got on our nerves so much from the summertime," club co-founder Mike Montecalvo told the Associated Press.

Rookie goalie Jordan Binnington shut out the Flyers the next day in his first NHL start.

Since they won the game after listening to 'Gloria,' the Blues took it as their anthem, too.

"They weren't looking for a song that night," Jacks NYB member Jerry Foschini told the AP. "This is one of them things that never in a million years could be planned. It's serendipity."

Soon, Jacks NYB members were watching every Blues playoff game in their jerseys and hats.

The club also made their own "Play Gloria!" shirts (they've trademarked the phrase). After the Stanley Cup win, they unveiled a Championship version.

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The "Gloria" effect continued to work during Game 7, as Binnington stopped 32 shots and almost shut out the Bruins.

"Binnington's a beast. What a team to be a part of," Schenn said.

Some fans actually traveled from St. Louis to South Philly to watch the game in the now famous Jacks club.

The Mummers say they have been invited to the Blues' championship parade.

"Gloria" will no doubt be playing many times during the route.

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The Associated Press contributed to this story.