SAINT LOUIS – Doug Armstrong, the general manager of the St. Louis Blues, fired head coach Craig Berube because he was tired of his team being viewed as a “punching bag” in the NHL.
“When you become the team that everyone enjoys playing against, the hamster starts to spin. It is not an enjoyable sensation,” Armstrong acknowledged on Wednesday.
Late on Tuesday night, roughly two hours after the Blues fell to the Detroit Red Wings 6-4, the general manager decided to fire Berube. Before the announcement of the decision, the two men shared a beer.
The general manager of the Blues since 2010, Armstrong acknowledged, “I feel that I am personally responsible for the situation we find ourselves in today.” Armstrong joined the team in 2008.
“It’s not a great day, but it’s a new day. From now on, we move forward. ”
At a press conference, Armstrong explained that he made the decision to make a coaching change after consulting with Blues owner Tom Stillman.
“These are not the players who came to me to ask to fire Craig Berube so that they can play better, but the level at which we are currently playing is not sufficient,” underlined the general manager.
“I think we have a better team than our level of play suggests. ”
The Blues’ loss to the Red Wings was just the latest in a bad stretch for the team. The St Louis team started the third period with a 4-3 lead, but ultimately suffered a fourth consecutive loss.
Now aged 57, Berube led the Blues to the Stanley Cup in 2019. He succeeded Mike Yeo on November 20, 2018 before leading a spectacular change of direction.
“We became friends over the years, he is a true professional. We chatted a little over a beer, we reminisced about good times for a while, but now my job is to look to the future,” Armstrong said.
“Craig will mind his own business. It will bounce back. ”
Drew Bannister, who led the Blues’ AHL farm club, will serve as interim head coach. Since he was on the road on Wednesday, he did not take part in the team’s training.
He will coach his first game Thursday when the Blues host the Ottawa Senators.
Although he holds the position on an interim basis, Bannister will be among the candidates to succeed Berube permanently, Armstrong said.
“I will begin the process to find a new permanent head coach,” he said. There is no timeline and there will be no updates during the process. We will announce it when we announce it. ”
The Blues currently find themselves in sixth place in the Central Division, nine points behind first place held by the Colorado Avalanche. In the Western Conference, the Blues occupy 10th place out of 16.
The team ranks 26th across the NHL in goals scored per game (2.82) and second-to-last in power play efficiency (8.4%).
Armstrong also announced that he had hired Brad Richards as a consultant, notably to provide advice for the power play. Richards, who retired in 2015, worked alongside Armstrong in the Dallas Stars organization.
