St. Louis - Head Coach Craig Berube fired

[Miss Korea]

https://www.nhl.com/blues/news/blues-relieve-berube-of-coaching-duties

 

St. Louis Blues President of Hockey Operations and General Manager Doug Armstrong announced tonight the team has relieved Craig Berube of his coaching duties and named Springfield Thunderbirds head coach Drew Bannister as interim head coach.

 

Bannister will travel to St. Louis on Wednesday and serve his first game behind the bench on Thursday when the Blues host the Ottawa Senators.

 

Bannister, 49, has spent the past three seasons with the Blues’ AHL affiliate in Springfield, leading the team to a 93-58-19 regular-season record. The Belleville, Ontario, native has also guided the Thunderbirds to consecutive playoff appearances, including 2021-22, when they won the Eastern Conference and reached the Calder Cup Final. 

 

Bannister began his coaching career in the Ontario Hockey League (OHL), where he spent three seasons as an assistant with Owen Sound and three as head coach with the Soo Greyhounds. He also served as head coach of the AHL’s San Antonio Rampage and as an associate coach with the Utica Comets. 

 

As a player, Bannister’s career spanned over 20 years and included 164 NHL regular-season games between the Tampa Bay Lightning, Edmonton Oilers, Anaheim Mighty Ducks, and New York Rangers.

[Elias Pettersson]

Might be a good place for Boudreau…

[gwarrior]

Wow. Ok, I guess that happened.

[Rekker]

Didn't see that coming. 

[D-Money]

Berube isn’t the guy who let Pietrangelo walk so he could sign Faulk & Krug.

 

Blues have been mismanaged for a while. Think Berube will find a better team and be better off for it in the not-too-distant future.

[Rounoush]

I think the team has a talent problem, not a coaching one.

[Alflives]

Binnington is a puck sucker. 

[Bob Long]

7 minutes ago, Alflives said:

Binnington is a puck sucker. 

 

Angry puck sucker.

[PhillipBlunt]

As @D-Money already stated, the reason the Blues blow goats sits squarely on Armstrong. He should be canned. 

Edited December 13, 2023 by PhillipBlunt

[Miss Korea]

45 minutes ago, PhillipBlunt said:

As @D-Money already stated, the reason the Blues blow goats sits squarely on Armstrong. He should be canned. 

 

Some of the Red Wings who contributed to today's victory:

 

  

 

[Canuck You]

wasn't expecting this, They way I see it coaching is a cycle..You have a good team, You win..win a cup even but replaceable after the cycle begins..Coaches have a short shelf life.

[Rubik]

I see they are trying to replicate the 2018-19 season

[DrJockitch]

They just aren’t a very good team anymore.
They caught lightning in a bottle but that team got broken up. 

Binnington just isn’t that good a tender overall.  They should see if they can find a sucker like Edmonton or NJ to take him to start rebuild. 

[Coconuts]

This is what, the third coach now? Not even halfway through.

[Rekker]

Blues remind me of the 2011 Canucks, only they sealed the deal and won. A group of veterans that peaked and gelled at the right time. There time has past now. 

[PistolPete13]

12 hours ago, Alflives said:

Binnington is a puck sucker. 

Also one of the main reasons why Blues went on heater and won the cup. Back then Berube was coach of the year material.

 

Now that Binnington’s sucking pucks, Berube takes the fall for it.

Show me a great goalie and I’ll show you a great coach.

 

To add to that, Armstrong is overrated as a GM and has made some questionable decisions. If Blues don’t get a coaching bump from the new guy, Armstrong will get his pink slip next. 

Edited December 13, 2023 by PistolPete13

[AK-19]

The decision to sign Faulk for 6.5 mil instead of Petriengalo for 8.5 was unreal. Although the worst problems come from the GM side of things, Berube had his own faults too. I believe St. Louis would have beaten us in the COVID playoffs if Berube wasn't so insistent on playing Binnington when clearly Allen was playing better. 

Edited December 13, 2023 by AK-19

[HKSR]

15 minutes ago, AK-19 said:

The decision to sign Faulk for 6.5 mil instead of Petriengalo for 8.5 was unreal. Although the worst problems come from the GM side of things, Berube had his own faults too. I believe St. Louis would have beaten us in the COVID playoffs if Berube wasn't so insistent on playing Binnington when clearly Allen was playing better. 

No kidding.  Pietrangelo was and still is a world class top pair RHD.  You don't let those kinda guys go.  Way too hard to replace.

[King Heffy]

1 hour ago, HKSR said:

No kidding.  Pietrangelo was and still is a world class top pair RHD.  You don't let those kinda guys go.  Way too hard to replace.

First ballot hall of famer.  Best all around D other than Hedman.

Edited December 13, 2023 by King Heffy

[HKSR]

2 minutes ago, King Heffy said:

First ballot hall of famer.  Best all around D other than Hedman.

Can you imagine letting Hughes go and just thinking you'll find some cheaper replacement??

[Coconuts]

1 hour ago, AK-19 said:

The decision to sign Faulk for 6.5 mil instead of Petriengalo for 8.5 was unreal. Although the worst problems come from the GM side of things, Berube had his own faults too. I believe St. Louis would have beaten us in the COVID playoffs if Berube wasn't so insistent on playing Binnington when clearly Allen was playing better. 

 

1 hour ago, HKSR said:

No kidding.  Pietrangelo was and still is a world class top pair RHD.  You don't let those kinda guys go.  Way too hard to replace.

 

Blues keep Petro and maybe they win another cup, and Vegas probably doesn't 

[Kragar]

On 12/13/2023 at 6:38 AM, DrJockitch said:

They just aren’t a very good team anymore.
They caught lightning in a bottle but that team got broken up. 

Binnington just isn’t that good a tender overall.  They should see if they can find a sucker like Edmonton or NJ to take him to start rebuild. 

Oh man, can you imagine how bad Binky would be behind an Oiler D.

 

His head would explode.

[Master Mind]

On 12/13/2023 at 9:38 AM, DrJockitch said:

They just aren’t a very good team anymore.
They caught lightning in a bottle but that team got broken up. 

Binnington just isn’t that good a tender overall.  They should see if they can find a sucker like Edmonton or NJ to take him to start rebuild. 

 

Binnington will take a lot of the blame, and while he hasn't been the 2019 version of himself, he's been fairly good this year.

 

His save percentage is higher than Shesterkin and Oettinger, and his GAA is better than Sorokin.

 

The defense in front of him has been abysmal. Would help explain why he's so ornery.

[D-Money]

52 minutes ago, Master Mind said:

 

Binnington will take a lot of the blame, and while he hasn't been the 2019 version of himself, he's been fairly good this year.

 

His save percentage is higher than Shesterkin and Oettinger, and his GAA is better than Sorokin.

 

The defense in front of him has been abysmal. Would help explain why he's so ornery.

Colorado looked unstoppable on their cup run. But they were in real trouble against the Blues before Kadri injured Binnington. If St Louis still had Pietrangelo instead of Krug, decent chance they are the ones coming out of that series.

Edited December 14, 2023 by D-Money

[RJCF96]

1 hour ago, D-Money said:

Colorado looked unstoppable on their cup run. But they were in real trouble against the Blues before Kadri injured Binnington. If St Louis still had Pietrangelo instead of Krug, decent chance they are the ones coming out of that series.

I had the Blues as my dark horse to win the cup in 2022. I believe they could've pulled off the upset if Binnington was healthy for the whole series.