Jeremy Boyer | |
|---|---|
 Boyer in 2017 | |
| Born | May 12, 1980 Potosi, Missouri |
| Occupation | Organist • Church music director |
| Organization(s) | St. Louis Blues, NHL St. Louis Cardinals, MLB |
Jeremy A. Boyer (born May 12, 1980) is an American musician best known for being the stadium organist for the National Hockey League's St. Louis Blues. [1]
Boyer was born and raised in Potosi, Missouri. [2] He was a self-taught organist as a young man and then studied under St. Louis organist Ernie Hays. [1] Boyer is a 1998 graduate of Potosi High School and an inaugural member of the Potosi Trojans Hall of Fame. [3] He attended Mineral Area College from 1998-2000.
He first played for sports teams when he was a student at Southeast Missouri State University, playing for their baseball team's games. [1] He participated in the Southeast Show Band while in college and attributes that experience with helping him learn "what kinds of music got the crowd going." [4] When he graduated in 2004 with a Bachelor of Music Education, his first musician jobs were working as an organist and music director at local schools and churches. [1] [5] He lives in Kimmswick, Missouri and has three daughters. [1] [5]
Boyer's first professional stadium organist job was working for the Memphis Redbirds. [1] A person from the St. Louis Blues organization saw a video of his work and offered him a tryout. He performed “Come On Eileen” by Dexy's Midnight Runners and “Holiday” by Green Day. [1] His first Blues game was on January 19, 2008. [1]
Boyer had worked in Busch Stadium for the Cardinals since 2011; he wears a Cardinals 2013 National League championship team ring. [6] [7] [8] He plays occasional Retro Nights for the Kansas City Royals, who otherwise do not have a live organist; and he has played for the St. Louis Ambush in the Major Indoor Soccer League. [9] [10] [11]
The Blues were in last place in the NHL at the beginning of 2019. [12] During their comeback in this season, the song “Gloria” by Laura Branigan became associated with them doing well. [13] Boyer recorded the song for the team and put it on YouTube for them to hear during the playoffs and regularly played it for every team win, calling it part of his "victory playlist," retiring it after the Blues won the Stanley Cup. [5] [14] He played for the St. Louis Blues’ 2019 Stanley Cup Championship, the first Stanley Cup in franchise history. [13]
Boyer played the organ during "watch parties" held at Enterprise Center during the 2019 playoff season, and regularly plays at watch parties at Ballpark Village in St. Louis when the team is on the road. [11] [15] [16] He is active on social media with his cover songs played on this organ. A video he posted to TikTok of him playing Rage Against the Machine's "Killing in the Name" during a game received over two million views. [17]
During the COVID-19 pandemic, the Blues played in the Western Conference quarterfinals against the Vancouver Canucks at Rogers Place in Edmonton because of the NHL's "bubble plan." [15] Boyer worked with the team's management pre-recording music that could be played to give the game a "home feel" from a distance. [15] Boyer said, "I put it in a Dropbox and sent it to the Blues and they shared it with the NHL.... it’s cool to be 1,500 miles away and seeing yourself playing in Edmonton on the big screen." [15] He is the second-longest tenured organist in the St. Louis Blues franchise history, behind his teacher Ernie Hays. [18] He played for the 2017 NHL Winter Classic at Busch Stadium and the 2020 NHL All-Star Game at Enterprise Center. [1]
Boyer feels his music is also a form of prayer and a way of getting closer to God, saying, "At times, we can get stuck in ruts and go through the motions in praying, saying the same prayers over and over. Through music, you can pick a different piece or song and it gives you a chance to really express yourself in a different way or keep you focused in a different way." [19] In addition to his stadium organist work, Boyer is also music director for St. Francis of Assisi Catholic Church in Oakville, Missouri. [11] When Pope John Paul II visited to St. Louis in 1999, Boyer was selected to sing for him. [18]
The Tampa Bay Lightning are a professional ice hockey team based in Tampa, Florida. They compete in the National Hockey League (NHL) as a member of the Atlantic Division in the Eastern Conference. They play their home games at Amalie Arena in Downtown Tampa.
Darren Robert Pang is a Canadian former professional ice hockey goaltender. He played his professional career with the Chicago Blackhawks of the National Hockey League.
Patrick Daniel Kelly was a Canadian-born sportscaster best known for his radio play-by-play coverage of the St. Louis Blues of the National Hockey League, from 1968 until his death 21 years later, as well as for his national television work on NHL telecasts in both the United States and Canada.
Jamie Rivers is a Canadian professional broadcaster and former professional ice hockey coach, executive and former player. He currently serves as the color commentator for St. Louis Blues broadcasts on Bally Sports Midwest, as well as a co-host on the 101 ESPN St. Louis radio program The Fast Lane. Rivers was the head coach and General Manager of the Central Hockey League's St. Charles Chill. Rivers played 454 games in the National Hockey League (NHL). He last played in Europe for KHL Medveščak. He is Huron First Nations.
Robert Bryant Plager was a Canadian professional ice hockey defenceman who played in the National Hockey League (NHL) for 14 seasons from 1964 until 1978, primarily for the St. Louis Blues. Plager spent over half a century with the Blues organization in various capacities.
Craig Berube is a Canadian professional ice hockey coach and former player. Nicknamed "Chief", Berube played 17 seasons in the National Hockey League (NHL) for the Philadelphia Flyers, Toronto Maple Leafs, Calgary Flames, Washington Capitals and New York Islanders. After retirement, Berube served as head coach of the Flyers for two seasons, and the St. Louis Blues for parts of six seasons, winning the Stanley Cup in 2019 as then-interim head coach. Berube additionally served as national team scout for Canada at the 2016 World Cup of Hockey, under Blues general manager Doug Armstrong.
The Enterprise Center is an 18,096-seat arena located in downtown St. Louis, Missouri, United States. Its primary tenant is the St. Louis Blues of the National Hockey League, but it is also used for other functions, such as NCAA basketball, NCAA hockey, concerts, professional wrestling and more. In a typical year, the facility hosts about 175 events. Industry trade publication Pollstar has previously ranked Enterprise Center among the top ten arenas worldwide in tickets sold to non-team events, but the facility has since fallen into the upper sixties, as of 2017.
The city of St. Louis, Missouri, in the United States is home to a number of professional and collegiate sports teams. The Sporting News rated St. Louis the nation's "Best Sports City" in 2000 and the Wall Street Journal named it the best sports city in 2015.
Christopher Robert Pronger is a Canadian former professional ice hockey defenceman and a former advisor to the Florida Panthers of the National Hockey League (NHL).
Vladimir Andreyevich Tarasenko is a Russian professional ice hockey right winger for the Ottawa Senators of the National Hockey League (NHL). Prior to playing in the NHL, he played in the system of Sibir Novosibirsk organization, first playing for the senior team in the Kontinental Hockey League (KHL) in 2008–09. He spent a total of three seasons with Novosibirsk before being traded to SKA Saint Petersburg in 2012. Tarasenko was selected in the first round, 16th overall, in the 2010 NHL Entry Draft by the St. Louis Blues, joining the team for the 2012–13 season. He spent parts of 11 seasons in St. Louis, becoming one of the franchise's leading scorers, playing in three NHL All-Star Games, and winning the Stanley Cup in 2019. Tarasenko was then traded to the New York Rangers in February 2023.
The St. Louis Blues are a professional ice hockey team based in St. Louis. The Blues compete in the National Hockey League (NHL) as a member of the Central Division in the Western Conference. The franchise was founded in 1967 as one of the six teams from the 1967 NHL expansion and is named after the W. C. Handy song "Saint Louis Blues". They play their home games at the 18,096 seat Enterprise Center in downtown St. Louis, which has been their arena since moving from St. Louis Arena in 1994.
The Blackhawks–Blues rivalry is a National Hockey League (NHL) rivalry featuring two teams in the league's Western Conference Central Division, the Chicago Blackhawks and the St. Louis Blues. Since 1970, the two teams have been in the same division. It is the most intense rivalry in terms of penalty minutes and fighting, and at the height of the rivalry during the Norris Division days, it was common to go to a Chicago vs. St. Louis game and see a brawl break out.
Jordan Binnington is a Canadian professional ice hockey goaltender for the St. Louis Blues of the National Hockey League (NHL).
Harry Ornest was a sports entrepreneur who once owned the St. Louis Blues of the National Hockey League (NHL) and the Toronto Argonauts of the Canadian Football League (CFL). He also played minor league baseball, was a linesman in the NHL, and a referee in the American Hockey League.
Ville Husso is a Finnish professional ice hockey goaltender for the Detroit Red Wings of the National Hockey League (NHL). He has also played for the St. Louis Blues.
Joel Edmundson is a Canadian professional ice hockey defenceman for the Washington Capitals of the National Hockey League (NHL). He previously played for the St. Louis Blues, Carolina Hurricanes and Montreal Canadiens.
The 2017 NHL Winter Classic was an outdoor ice hockey game played in the National Hockey League (NHL) on January 2, 2017, at Busch Stadium in St. Louis, Missouri. The ninth edition of the Winter Classic, it matched the St. Louis Blues against the Chicago Blackhawks; the Blues won, 4−1. The game was announced on March 9, 2016, after news of the matchup had been leaked on February 7 before the details had been finalized, and was one of four outdoor regular season games during the 2016–17 NHL season.
CityPark, stylized as CITYPARK, is a 22,423-seat soccer-specific stadium in St. Louis, Missouri, United States. It is the home of St. Louis City SC, the city's Major League Soccer (MLS) franchise. The stadium is next to Union Station in the city's Downtown West neighborhood, and was completed in November 2022, ahead of the 2023 MLS season. The stadium is also the home of St. Louis City SC 2 of MLS Next Pro.
The 2019 Stanley Cup Finals was the championship series of the National Hockey League's (NHL) 2018–19 season and the culmination of the 2019 Stanley Cup playoffs. The Western Conference champion St. Louis Blues defeated the Eastern Conference champion Boston Bruins four games to three in the best-of-seven series. It was the Blues' first championship, in their 51st season of play, ending what was then the third-longest championship drought in league history. The Bruins had home-ice advantage in the series with the better regular season record. The series began on May 27 and concluded on June 12. The Blues' Stanley Cup–winning run of 26 playoff games tied the 2014 Los Angeles Kings for the longest of any Stanley Cup–winning team in history.
The 2020 National Hockey League All-Star Game was held on January 25, 2020, at the Enterprise Center in St. Louis, Missouri, the home of the St. Louis Blues. The city previously hosted the NHL All-Star Game in 1970 and 1988 at the former St. Louis Arena. For the fifth year, the All-Star Game used a 3-on-3 format, with teams representing each of the league's four divisions competing in a single-elimination tournament.