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WTF.

The acronym sums up the circumstances in Game 7, but it also sums up how the Blues got there to begin with — Walker, Toropchenko, Faksa. The “WTF Line” epitomized the identity of the 2024-25 Blues and pumped the blue blood into the team’s beating heart, though as seen on Nathan Walker’s face in Game 7, it lost a bit of blood along the way. And statistically, they absurdly overachieved in the series against Winnipeg.

Alexy Toropchenko, this torpedo on skates, is back next year, as is Walker. The team must lock in Radek Faksa, who should be affordable and worth every dollar.

The fourth line captured the hearts of fans and bullied the Jets. Their identity became the Blues’ identity: stingy, unafraid and confident, all while overachieving on both ends of the ice (until, you know, the final two minutes and overtime of the Game 7 loss). They checked with force and forechecked with authority. They play so well as a unit, it’s like they’re being controlled by some force (captain Brayden Schenn described their play, in a complimentary way, as “robotic”).

Faksa finished with five points in the series (a goal and four assists) and at plus-seven. He scored a vital Game 7 goal as the line activated its offense in transition.

Toropchenko tallied two goals and two assists and was plus-seven, too.

And Walker, incredibly, tied for a team-high three goals (and tallied one assist), while finishing the series plus-five.

Only one other forward, Jimmy Snuggerud at plus-two, finished higher than plus-one.

And the boys hit and hit and hit. While hockey has become such a speed-oriented game, a heavy game can win games. And the heaviness comes mostly from perhaps the Blues’ lightest player.

They say Walker is from another continent, but I say he’s from another planet. There’s just nothing like him — a fearless 5-foot-9 wrecking ball who feeds off trash talk from towering opponents. He’s Joe Pesci in a Scorsese film. This season, as the veteran turned 31, he set a Blues franchise record with 281 hits in a season (and he missed nine games!). And he naturally led all Blues with 40 hits in the seven-game series with Winnipeg, including nine in the marathon final game.

“There are so many unsung heroes, and we know how Nathan Walker's been,” Blues coach Jim Montgomery said. “I think he's a fan-favorite because he embodies what it means to be a Blue.”

And here’s thinking that Walker is currently blue and black.

Jake Neighbours finished second on ��ѿ��ý with 33 postseason hits, but Toropchenko earned the bronze of bruise with 27.

Oskar Sundqvist played on the famous fourth line in 2019, along with Alexander Steen and Ivan Barbashev, and the old pro finished fourth with 26 hits in this series. Faksa was fifth.

And of Radek’s 21, one left a lasting impression. He crashed into superstar Mark Scheifele, who was unable to play in Games 6 and 7. Rocked by Faksa.

“In a series, there is the game within the game,” Montgomery said. “They’re a load to handle. It doesn’t matter. They’ve scored goals against every D pairing, so they’re hard to handle down low. Over and over, it gets hard — and they’re creating that identity that we look for that allows us to get to net-fronts, to win races and get screened goals.”

Montgomery, of course, started games with the “WTF Line,” in efforts to set the tone or, as the coach said, “create chaos.” And the fellows accomplished their mission each shift, yet not with a lot of time to utilize. Fewer overall shifts. Maximized impact.

So yeah, it was incredible what this line accomplished — consider that Walker had as many goals as Jordan Kyrou. And that Schenn had three points — fewer than all three members of the fourth line. But this line was also so important during the improbable 12-game winning streak that catapulted ��ѿ��ý into the postseason conversation ... and then the actual postseason.

Look. Hockey teams need stars.

Must have stars.

But when you can put together an identity-defining line of affordable fourth-liners, then you’re ahead of the building curve. And so it sure seems like the Blues are.

There are quite a few things I’ll miss this offseason. There was, after all, a lot to like about the 2024-25 ��ѿ��ý Blues. But besides the post-break play of the imaginative Robert Thomas, I think I’ll miss watching Walker play the most.

Earlier this year, Darren Pang summed him up best. I talked to Pang because the former goalie and Blues broadcaster always called Walker and Walker-esque players as “little guys with gumption.”

Regarding Walker, Pang said: “You have a player that may not be the biggest guy, may not be the fastest guy, may not be the strongest guy, but he’s always in the middle of things. He’ll out-will somebody in a one-on-one battle — or prove people wrong. ...

“The first time I saw Walker at ice level in St Louis, he had the puck and was about to get crushed by a defenseman — and yet, he got the puck in the right spot (with a pass). He knew he was going to get drilled. That’s what I think about when I think about gumption. And, you know, I often use ‘little guy with gumption’ just because of my admiration for little guys that have bigger hearts than maybe some big guys. When I think of gumption, Nathan Walker is a perfect player that comes to mind.”

Really, it was a fourth line with gumption.

And a whole team growing up fast, thanks in part to its great gumption.