ST. LOUIS — The St. Louis Blues said it was time for a change and Craig Berube is the man to lead the charge.
That was the word from Blues General Manager Doug Armstrong Tuesday morning during a news conference with reporters.
Berube—who had been the associate coach under Mike Yeo—will lead the team in an interim head coach role.
“It’s a difficult time for sure,” said Berube. “Mike’s a good friend of mine, love working with him, coaching with him.”
But Berube acknowledged change needed to happen.
“We gotta move forward here and get better,” he said.
And how exactly will that happen?
“We’re working on that,” Berube said.
He noted that the Blues are a good hockey team, but he stressed that confidence needs to be instilled back in the team, and their focus will start on the ice before the puck drops—in practice.
“Doing things right in practice and demanding it in practice. It carries over to the game,” Interim head Coach Berube said.
Berube described his coaching style as demanding but fair, and said his door will always be open to communicate with the players.
GM Armstrong said the search for a permanent head coach is underway. Candidates will include current NHL head coaches, college coaches and even team leaders in European leagues.
“Our net is wide,” Armstrong said, without wanting to comment on anyone in particular.
Berube joined the Blues in June 2017. Before that, he spent one season as head coach of the American Hockey League’s Chicago Wolves. He also spent 11 seasons in various coaching roles for the Philadelphia Flyers—including serving as head coach for parts of two seasons.
Berube played in the NHL for 17 seasons with Philadelphia, Toronto, Calgary, Washington and the New York Islanders.
Head Coach Mike Yeo had a 73-48-11 record in his time as head coach in St. Louis. He replaced Ken Hitchcock in the middle of the 2016-17 season and led the Blues to the playoffs. The team won a first-round series against the Minnesota Wild before being knocked out by the Nashville Predators.
RELATED: Blues fire Head Coach Mike Yeo
In his only full season as the Blues head coach, the team finished 94 points but missed the playoffs.
The Blues made some offseason moves and were considered a team that would compete for a playoff spot. But coming into Monday night, they were last in the Central Division. They lost to the NHL-worst Los Angeles Kings 2-0.
The Blues announced the decision to fire Yeo about an hour later.
