ST. LOUIS (AP) — Hundreds of thousands of people are expected in downtown St. Louis Saturday for a parade and rally to honor the Blues, Stanley Cup champions for the first time in their 52-year history.

The Blues beat the Boston Bruins 4-1 Wednesday in Game 7 of the Stanley Cup Final. The Blues joined the NHL as an expansion team in 1967 and made it to the Stanley Cup Finals in each of their first three seasons, without winning a game. They hadn’t been back until this year.

A parade will travel down Market Street to the grounds of the Gateway Arch, where a massive rally is planned.

The last time St. Louis celebrated a sports championship was in 2011, when the Cardinals won the World Series over the Texas Rangers.

Photo: St. Louis Blues fans celebrate outside Busch Stadium in St. Louis, where a watch party had been held for Game 7 of the NHL hockey Stanley Cup Final between the Blues and the Boston Bruins in Boston, Wednesday, June 12, 2019. The Blues won the title. (David Carson/St. Louis Post-Dispatch via AP)