(St. Louis) St. Louis Blues general manager Doug Armstrong was fed up with his team being considered a “punching bag” in the NHL, hence his decision to fire his head coach Craig Berube.
“The hamster starts spinning when you become the team that everyone is happy to play against. It’s not a pleasant feeling,” Armstrong admitted on Wednesday.
The general manager made the decision to fire Berube late Tuesday night, about two hours after the Blues lost 6-4 to the Detroit Red Wings. The two men had a beer together before the decision was announced.
“I feel that I am personally responsible for the situation we find ourselves in today,” admitted Armstrong, who has been part of the Blues organization since 2008 and who has been its general manager since 2010.
“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 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 entered the third period with a 4-3 lead, but ultimately suffered a fourth straight loss.
Now 57 years old, Berube led the Blues to the Stanley Cup in 2019. He took over from Mike Yeo on November 20, 2018 before leading a spectacular change of direction.
“We’ve become friends over the years, he’s a true professional. We chatted for a bit over a beer, 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 on 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 of finding 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 section, nine points behind first place held by the Colorado Avalanche. In the Western Conference, the Blues are 10th 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.