After the St. Louis Blues announced that forward Dylan Holloway was unavailable because of an ankle injury, they called up forward Otto Stenberg from the AHL's Springfield Thunderbirds, and he would skate in his first NHL contest on Wednesday evening against the Winnipeg Jets at Enterprise Center.
Not only did Stenberg get the traditional rookie lap to begin the pre-game warmup, but his parents, David and Cecilia Stenberg, made the trek from across the globe from Sweden to St. Louis in time to watch their son play in hockey's top League.
They were interviewed during an in-game segment and shared their pride in their son accomplishing his dream.
“It's a dream come true, of course,” David said via X. “It's been his dream since he was five years old, so it's really big.”
“We got the information half past 9 (o'clock) in Swedish time yesterday, so we've been on the road for 24 hours now,” he added.
Said Cecilia:
“It's been his dream since he was four or five years old, so it's big for him and for us as a hockey family, of course.”
Prior to being called up, Stenberg had scored three goals with five assists in 21 contests with the Thunderbirds.
Blues head coach Jim Montgomery liked what he saw from Stenberg
Stenberg ultimately skated in 13:38 of ice time, and while he didn't register any points as part of the Blues' 1-0 win over the Jets, Blues head coach Jim Montgomery spoke approvingly of how he played.
“I thought he was really responsible and had good puck support,” Montgomery said via NHL.com. “His intelligence keeps the team connected, and we don’t get too spread apart. He puts the brakes on. He has really good habits, stops, comes right back to the house. He made some really good reads on our penalty-kill and in our D-zone coverage, too. I thought it was a really good start to his career.”
Stenberg, a native of Stenungsund, Sweden, was selected in the first round (25th overall) by the Blues in the 2023 NHL Draft.
