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Where did Jobu come from?

“He just showed up,� the standard reply goes.

At home, that means occupying a stall in the center of the Blues’ horseshoe-shaped dressing room sandwiched between rookies Dalibor Dvorsky and Zack Bolduc. On the road, his locker assignment varies as legend goes that he picks his own placement, according to multiple Blues staffers.

Jobu is the replica figurine (not a bobblehead) of the character in the 1989 movie “Major League,� where he is worshipped by the Cuban voodoo-practicing Pedro Cerrano to help him hit a curveball. He has dark skin, white hair that provides his head a halo, white clothes accented by green, purple and orange necklaces, plus a red belt. He’s barefoot and holds a rolled up piece of white hockey tape in his mouth to replace the original cigar he smokes in the movie.

Jobu has a nameplate both at home and on the road. He was in the team photo that included the entire organization — in the front row between Colton Parayko and Brayden Schenn, and in the hands of Bruce Affleck. The Post-Dispatch noticed him in the dressing room after the Seattle game on Feb. 25, but his definite origin is not known. While the Blues have gone 16-2-2 since the 4 Nations break, including their current 10-game win streak, Jobu has been there to watch.

“I like seeing him around the room for sure,� Blues goaltender Jordan Binnington said. “He puts you at ease. You look at him, and everything is all right. Just enjoy the moment. … He’s really laid back, got some great stories. He’s seen a lot.�

Jobu has been a topic of conversation in the Blues dressing room for more than a month now.

He took his first road trip in late February to Washington, cozying up to a stall immediately next to Bolduc, like he does at home. When the Blues went to Los Angeles the next week, he was in a different stall further away from Bolduc, which led to a discussion in the room about where he should go.

And all the Blues know where Jobu is in the room, including Jake Neighbours and Tyler Tucker.

“I’m a huge fan of Jobu, just the vibes that he brings to the squad,� Neighbours said. “Tucks made a joke the other day that half the time Jobu gets a better stall on the road than Tucks does. That just goes to show how high up the hierarchy Jobu is.�

There have been no public discoveries of explosives in the dressing room to wake up sticks and no evidence of a shot glass of rum, but Jobu is still getting recognition.

After the Blues beat the Avalanche 2-1 on Saturday to run their win streak to nine games, Binnington spoke with reporters. He mentioned how so many little moments during this run have turned into big ones. Any little moments in Colorado stick out?

“Jobu’s second intermission speech,� Binnington said. “Got us going, I think. … He brought a vocal element to the room.�

What did he say? Well, it’s unclear.

“You’ve got to understand his language if you want to know what he says,� Binnington said.

Robert Thomas, who had just completed his fourth straight multi-assist game, said of Jobu’s apparent speech: “I think we all felt it, yeah.�

Neighbours described Jobu as “pretty mellow,� but when “he does speak up, it’s important,� even if his presence is felt “all the time.�

“You always know where he is,� Neighbours said. “Everybody greets Jobu every morning. What’s up Jobu? He’s one of the boys.�

Jobu has plenty of fans inside the room.

“Love Jobu,� Schenn said. “He’s a good guy, good to be here with us.�

Dylan Holloway: “Honestly, he just kind of chills there. It’s a good omen for us, and everyone likes having him around.�

Cam Fowler: “He’s one of the leaders in the locker room, that’s all I’ll say. … He’s been a part of this run for us, so we’ll give him the credit (for Tuesday’s 2-1 overtime win vs. Detroit). A little bit of Jobu magic that’s helped keep this thing alive.�

Jordan Kyrou: “I guess he’s doing well for us right now. Good mojo for the boys.�

Jim Montgomery: “One of my favorite sports movies of all time, especially comedies. I wish we could get Charlie Sheen to do an ad for us. I thought that would be great.�

Alexey Toropchenko: “Jobu is great. Great teammate. Like Binner said, sometimes he can pick up the guys, just say something between the periods.�

Toropchenko is responsible for the other craze inside the Blues dressing room: staring down television cameras that enter the room before games. It started March 15 in Minnesota, the first game of the team’s 10-game heater. Let Toropchenko explain.

“Cameraman came to me probably because I scored in Pittsburgh,� Toropchenko said. “I am just always thinking about this: What if I just look straight into the camera without emotion or anything, just seriously? So I start doing it in Minnesota, and all the boys just went laughing. I don’t know, because they probably have never seen it before, or never even think about it. They were ‘Look, look, look, look what he’s doing.’ So I did it for the whole time, not smiling even. The boys loved it, and just start doing it every game.�

After Toropchenko, the camera bopped around the Blues room in following games: to Kyrou to Holloway to Tyler Tucker to Nathan Walker to Dvorsky to Justin Faulk to Holloway again (with Schenn staring down a secondary camera) to Pavel Buchnevich to Jimmy Snuggerud. The Blues won each game.

Neighbours was sitting next to Buchnevich when it was his turn Saturday in Colorado. How did he keep it together with Buchnevich’s stare down happening directly to his left?

“I would say probably just because I’m used to him being an idiot like that,� Neighbours said. “I just watch everybody do it, so you get a little bit desensitized. It’s still hilarious, though. … Everybody’s excited like ‘Who’s going to do the stare today? Who’s the camera going to?’ It’s kind of like a fun little game going on.�

Montgomery said he personally likes it since “it shows their personality, and it also shows the fun that they have amongst themselves.�

“I think it’s caught fire,� Montgomery said. “I saw something on social media, and Holloway is not very good at it.�

Holloway: “The Russians seem to be good at it. I didn’t think I was that bad. I got to lock in a bit more, I guess. Good stare, you can’t smile. I guess guys aren’t blinking, too, so I think I was probably blinking. If I get one tonight, I’ll try not to blink.�

Faulk drew praise from Toropchenko for the seriousness he brought to the stare, but Toropchenko was quick to say, “I think everyone was great.�

“It feels like it brings energy to the room,� Toropchenko said. “After somebody’s doing it, all the boys are just clapping and like ‘Yes! Yes!’ Just extra emotions.�

Unorthodox rallying points have a history in ÃÛÑ¿´«Ã½ sports. In 2019, everyone had the song “Gloriaâ€� on repeat as the Blues turned around their season and won the franchise’s first Stanley Cup. In 2011, there was the Rally Squirrel that preceded the Cardinals World Series championship.

“It creates a little side story, a little bit of fun,� Binnington said.