The St. Louis Blues lost to the Los Angeles Kings 2-0 last night at Enterprise Center. General manager Doug Armstrong had seen enough. The team has not been playing well this season, and now are just one loss away from being in the league basement with a current 7-9-3 record. Doug Armstrong fired head coach Mike Yeo after last night’s game and replaced him by naming assistant coach Craig Berube the interim head coach.
Why Did Doug Armstrong Wait This Long?
Doug Armstrong most likely waited so long to pull the trigger on Yeo in part to see what Joel Quenneville will decide to do. Lots of people were expecting Yeo to get fired after the Blues under-performed on their seven-game home-stand earlier this year. Or, after there sub-par three-game western road trip.
The loss Monday night against Los Angeles was the Blues third shutout loss in their past four games. There has been some speculation that the Blues players had stopped listening to Yeo. Whether that is the case or not, only the players and coaching staff know for sure. If in fact true, The reality remains the same, the Blues have had the same core group of players for the better part of the last 5-10 seasons. Guys like Pietrangelo, Steen, Allen, Bouwmeester, and Gunnarsson have now managed to get two coaches fired. First Ken Hitchcock (hired today by the Edmonton Oilers), and now Mike Yeo. It could be time for a shake-up within the locker room. That could be on the way as well.
In a post-game interview last night, which was his last as head coach of the Blues, Mike Yeo said; “It is maddening that we can’t find ways to win right now.”
Craig Berube Profile:
Blues new interim head coach Craig Berube is known for his communication with his players. Berube has been a head coach in the NHL before, coaching the Philadelphia Flyers before he was fired on April 17, 2015. The Blues general manager Doug Armstrong hired Berube on June 2,9, 2016 to be the head coach of the former AHL affiliate of the Blues, the Chicago Wolves. Berube then received a promotion to the role of associate head coach under Mike Yeo on June 15, 2017.
The Blues need to start winning now. Enough is enough. If they do not answer the bell, then the question becomes: When does Doug Armstrong get fired? You only get so many head coaches as a general manager before you too get fired. Armstrong has been through four head coaches if you include Berube since taking off as general manager in 2010.
The bottom line here is that the Blues haven’t been playing up to the standard set by management, and quite frankly, the city of St. Louis. If play doesn’t improve soon, there could be a trade, or trades made.
Doug Armstrong said that there is no current timetable for the coaching search. Berube is their coach for now, but things could change if Joel Quenneville is willing to come back and coach in St. Louis again.
Main Photo:
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