Here’s a story that will have you hOWLing.
As the St. Louis Blues reported to Centene Community Ice Center for the start of training camp this week, they were greeted by an owl perched just outside the player entrance to the facility.
Last season, while the team was on a road trip, Blues General Manager Doug Armstrong entered the practice rink and found two pigeons flying around the players’ gym, leaving feathers and, well… you know else what birds leave everywhere.
The maintenance team at Centene Community Ice Center was able to get the birds to fly away, but Head Athletic Trainer Ray Barile had a solution to prevent that scenario from happening again - a fake plastic owl decoy that he had at home.
Now, each morning, Blues Director of Performance Ryan Podell places the owl outside the team’s gym. Sometimes, he even moves it to a slightly different location to keep the pigeons from figuring out the owl isn’t real.
So, there you have it. Now you know HOO (get it?) put it there … and why.
