So why not fly?
"He likes to log the miles," Joel said. "Growing up we took a family trip from Brandon down to Florida and we drove all the way down there. He says you miss everything when you're up in the air. He likes hopping in a vehicle and he's not afraid to put in the miles to support me."
"A lot of Canadian kids grow up playing hockey and dreaming about it, right?" Bob says. "It goes true for the parents, too. With the opportunity to play in the NHL, that can be very short-lived, and you want to take advantage of it when you can… We know there is a fine line between being (in the NHL) and being there consistently and not being there at all.
"We're enjoying it every day."
About that fine line - Bob's son has turned himself into a being-there-consistently-type of player. Joel has played in all 53 of the Blues' games so far during the 2017-18 season. He's cemented himself in the Blues' top six defensemen and has set a new career high in goals (6) and has tied his career high in points (15).
Bob has been there to see a lot of it. He expects to see 16 Blues games in person this season, including the three games this week (vs. Montreal, at Boston and Buffalo). Although he drove all the way to St. Louis for the start of this week's dads' trip, he's been flying first-class with the Blues ever since.
"It's been pretty special," Joel said of having his dad on the road. "He's been to a lot of games over the past three years, but now he gets to come around the dressing room and be around us in the hotel, experience the meetings and the lifestyle. He's pretty pumped about it. It's special for him and I always like to bring him.
"I think it's a great time for all the dads," Joel added. "We're trying to include them in everything we can… You can see the smiles on all their faces and they're just happy to be here. They're living their son's dreams with us. They helped us get here, so we want to include them in everything."
While Bob says he's proud of his son's accomplishments on the ice, he's even more proud of the person he's become.
"As much as we're proud with him being part of the team at this level, when people come up to us and say he's quite a respectable kid, it's more important to us," Bob said. "Because that will go a lot further than just the hockey career."
