The St. Louis Blues fired Craig Berube on Tuesday night, hours after their 6-4 loss to the Detroit Red Wings.
The man who led the team to the first Stanley Cup in its history in the spring of 2019 is the National Hockey League's third head coach, following Jay Woodcroft, who was fired by the Edmonton Oilers, and Dean Evason, who was fired by the Edmonton Oilers , who lost his job this season with the Minnesota Wild.
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Berube, a former track strongman, had been in office since November 20, 2018, when he replaced Mike Yeo. He led his team to great success, even though they were in the basement of the overall standings at the beginning of January 2019. However, this time the organization judged that he could not solve the team's problems.
“I feel personally responsible for the situation we find ourselves in,” general manager Doug Armstrong said at a news conference Wednesday. It’s not a great day, but it’s news and we need to move forward.”
“I would like to thank Craig. […] Over the years we have developed a friendship and it is difficult to have a discussion like last night. He is a real professional. He'll land on his feet, he's too good not to be a leader in this league.
As for the players, some had already expressed regret at their questionable performance at the end of the last defeat.
“We are all professionals here. We have to show up to do our job. He's not just someone who bails us out. “You have to work as a group,” forward Kevin Hayes told NHL.com.
“To win big games, you have to pay the price,” defenseman Torey Krug said at a news conference. Several pucks ended up in our goal and I don't know if we fought enough in front of our goal. […] Tonight was a taste of our season.”
Substitute
The Blues announced that Drew Bannister will replace Berube on an interim basis. Bannister previously managed the Springfield Thunderbirds, the Blues' AHL farm club. He helped them reach the 2021-2022 Calder Cup Final.
In addition, Brad Richards was also hired as a consultant.
Due to their fourth straight loss, the Blues now have a record of 13-14-1, which puts them in sixth place in the Middle Section. They have lost seven of their last ten meetings.
Berube's contract was valid until the end of the 2024-2025 season.
St. Louis hosts the Ottawa Senators on Thursday.