“So nobody could get to rink, and Kennan just gave it to me,” Caruso said, laughing.
Some members of the traveling party slept three to a room at the hotel, and Caruso’s bunkmates were assistant coaches Bob Berry and Ted Sator. As a gag, Berry and Sator swiped Caruso’s dress shoes and mailed them back to St. Louis, leaving Caruso with only tennis shoes — which wouldn’t do while on duty.
Caruso went to a local store, which had only size 6½ and 12½ shoes. So Caruso made it through the week with his size 9 feet crammed into the 6½s.
“But it was good,” he said. “It was fun. It’s what this is. It was team building, team bonding. You got to know everybody pretty well. Hockey’s such a great fraternity.”
Caruso and head athletic trainer Ray Barile are the only members of the Blues’ organization still around from that trip . That just happened to be the week that owner Georgia Frontiere announced she was moving her Rams football team to St. Louis from Anaheim.
The Blues had a team dinner on Wednesday night at Elway’s in Vail Village. On Tuesday night, the entire team — players, coaches, and staff — headed to a sports bar and grill to take in the season-opening NHL games on television and consume malted beverages. The team’s food and beverage bill was $1,700 including a generous tip.
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