Kirchhoefer was born and raised in St. Louis, and ever since she can remember, she's been a fan of the Blues. She might not have been able to attend all the games, nor catch every broadcast back in the day, but she never supported a hockey team other than the one born in her hometown.
Kirchhoefer raised her family to be Blues fans. She loves to watch games with her grandchildren, and especially with her grandson who has a Blues goal light that makes her ecstatic whenever it goes off. While she hasn't been to a Blues game in a while, she says she loves to see her family members get dressed up in their Blues gear and go to the games.
Kirchhoefer's age might make it difficult for her to attend games at Enterprise Center, but that doesn't stop her from having every game on television during the season.
"I love to watch the way they skate on the ice," she said. "And if they score 1, 2, 3, I know they got them (beat)."
Last week, Kirchhoefer had a watch party at her house for Game 6 of the Western Conference Final. She lives alone, but because she's part of the Visit-A-Bit program provided by The Visiting Nurse Association of Greater St. Louis, she had some company as volunteers from the organization spent time with her to watch the game.
"There was a storm that night and we were in the basement watching the television," she recalled. "Everybody then started yelling (once the Blues won) and we had champagne to celebrate. It was fun."
Kirchhoefer is thrilled to once again see the Blues compete in the Stanley Cup Final.
"It would mean everything," Kirchhoefer said when asked about the possibility of the Blues winning the Stanley Cup. "We love the Blues, we'd go ecstatic, but I can't get too excited because I don't think my heart could handle it."
Kirchhoefer says her favorite players are Robert Thomas and Vladimir Tarasenko. For Game 6 of the Western Conference Final, she was rooting for Thomas to score but was happy to see him get an assist.
With the Blues in the Stanley Cup Final, Kirchoefer had a few words of encouragement for the team. She hopes that the team knows how proud St. Louis is of them and that they need to hang in there, that they have a lot of heart and soul and need to keep going to win one for all that have loved and rooted for them.
The team, she says, holds a special place in her heart. After after all the years she's lived, she's hoping that the team fulfills her dream and wins their first Stanley Cup of her lifetime.
