St. Louis Blues owner’s letter celebrating Stanley Cup win is published a tad early

St. Louis Blues majority owner Tom Stillman remembers exactly where he was when his team won its first Stanley Cup ... which is quite impressive since the team hasn’t actually done it yet.

But somehow or another a letter from Stillman to Blues fans — which contains such lines as “All of us will remember where we were, what we did and how we felt when the Blues brought the Cup home” — appeared in the Sunday e-edition of the St. Louis Post-Dispatch. So did a couple of ads congratulating the Blues on winning the Stanley Cup.

There are a couple of problems with that. First, all of the congratulatory statements appeared hours before the Blues even had a chance to clinch the title in Game 6 of the Stanley Cup Final against the Boston Bruins.

And then, the Blues went on to get blown out by the Bruins 5-1 to necessitate a decisive Game 7. So Stillman’s sentiments — such as “And now, together, we can finally say ‘We won the Cup for St. Louis” and “We look forward to celebrating with you as we parade the Cup down Market Street” — will not be apropos until Wednesday, if at all.

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(As we all know, athletes and sports fans tend to be a bit on the superstitious side, leading some to believe that the Blues are now jinxed and have no chance of winning the Cup. As Deadspin put it in its succinct-but-perfect headline about the goof, “Oh no.”)

The Post-Dispatch apologized Sunday for the gaffe.

“In preparation for the outcome of the Stanley Cup Final, some of our readers got a sneak peak at what our advertisers are hoping to say to the Blues, the fans and St. Louis,” the paper tweeted. “We apologize for the sneak peak and hope to share their messages with everyone very soon!”

Toronto-area newspapers might want to take note, with the Raptors one win away from clinching their first NBA title.

charles.schilken@latimes.com

Twitter: @chewkiii