Craig Berube walked away from a press conference with reporters following the St. Louis Blues’ 6-4 loss to the Detroit Red Wings on Tuesday night, but there were still more obligations as the head coach.

Berube’s wife, Dominique, had arranged a meet-and-greet with a father and son, and then, per his normal routine, he was setting up Wednesday’s practice time with a staff member.

Advertisement

Then Berube went back to his office, where general manager Doug Armstrong would deliver the news that the club was firing Berube after starting the 2023-24 season with a record of 13-14-1.

“It wasn’t going through my mind that I was going to be let go,” Berube told The Athletic on Friday. “What’s going through my mind is trying to think about tomorrow and what we’re going to do differently to get better and start winning some games. But yeah, I went back in my office, and then Doug came in, and I just kind of figured then it might happen for sure.”

How did Armstrong break it to Berube?

“Just got to make a change,” he recalled. “I figured it might happen just because we weren’t very consistent. Those three games (against Columbus, Chicago and Detroit) were all winnable games and we didn’t win them.

“I just think he thought he needed to make a change. Probably he thought the players needed a different voice. Maybe that’s a way of waking them up a little bit. That’s kind of how it goes.”

GO DEEPER

Why did the Blues fire Craig Berube? What comes next? Doug Armstrong talks: 'Nothing can be off the table'

Before the official announcement of Berube’s dismissal came around 11:10 p.m. CT, he chatted with his assistant coaches and packed up a few of his belongings.

And with that, the only man to coach the Blues to a Stanley Cup stepped into his black SUV and drove home newly unemployed.

What was Berube thinking as his wheels rolled down the same roads they had the past six years after home games at Enterprise Center?

“I guess you’re just thinking about a lot of things,” he said. “It’s not so much, ‘Well, I should have done this or that.’ It was, ‘I’m not going to work tomorrow,’ and just thinking about the future a little bit. What’s in store? That kind of stuff.

“I’ve been doing this job for a long time as a player and a coach, and now it’s going to be a little different. I’m going to spend some great time with my family, which is great. But eventually, I’ll need to figure out what I want to do because I’m not ready to not do this.”

Advertisement

Berube might still be coaching the Blues if it weren’t for the peaks and valleys, ups and downs, ebbs and flows that Armstrong pointed to as a primary reason for making the decision to part ways.

When the Blues were beating top teams such as Vegas and Colorado, and losing to the likes of San Jose, Columbus and Chicago, Berube didn’t have a comprehensive answer as to why the team was so inconsistent. They never won more than three consecutive games, but never dropped more than two in a row until the four-game skid that led to the end for him.

Even three days removed, with time to reflect, Berube can’t completely put a finger on it.

“Inconsistent play can be a number of things,” he said. “We had a tough schedule that went on there, and I think that played a little bit of a role in that. But at the same time, those are winnable games that you need to win. We did a lot of good things in those games, but we made a lot of mistakes that cost us the hockey games.

“Now, the peaks and valleys? I really don’t have an answer for you, to be honest. Maybe we lacked a little identity of what we really were, or what we really wanted to be. Maybe I wanted them to be my identity, and maybe a lot of guys didn’t want to do that, or couldn’t do that.”

Which brings us to the question: Was this roster suited for Berube? While Armstrong did add some size to the lineup last offseason, trying to get back to a more forecheck-friendly style, it didn’t have the same look and feel that Blues teams under Berube have had in the past.

“Well, it’s not easy to do all the time,” he said. “But I don’t really want to get into that, to be honest with you. That’s not my place. I’m not the general manager. I don’t put the team together. I coach the team, and, you know, you’re hired to coach the team that’s put together and that was my job.”

Advertisement

That said, Berube admitted that he may not have gotten the most out of the group.

“I truly believe there’s more there,” he said. “How much more? I couldn’t answer that.”

GO DEEPER

Rutherford: Doug Armstrong's roster, not Craig Berube's coaching, is root of Blues' issues

It was well-documented that the Blues could just never get their power play going. The unit, which is coached by assistant Steve Ott, who remains on the staff, was 7-for-83 and ranked No. 31 in the NHL (8.4 percent) before Thursday’s game.

How is that even possible?

“Well, a lot of it, I think it’s chemistry,” Berube said. “We lost some real good power-play guys over the last year. Guys that, you know, a one-timer shot is important on the power play. A real good bumper guy is real important on the power play.

“We lost a couple of guys (David Perron and Ryan O’Reilly) that were a big part of the power play and the success it had. There were some good things about it, but when your scorers aren’t scoring, especially on the power play, that becomes a problem.”

But after letting Perron walk to free agency following the 2021-22 season, the Blues had a dramatic 28-point drop-off in the standings last season, which led to Armstrong dealing Vladimir Tarasenko and O’Reilly before the NHL trade deadline.

“I wish things would’ve changed last year at some point,” Berube said. “It was a tough year last year, especially coming off the year before. We had an opportunity to do some real damage. Who knows if (Jordan) Binnington doesn’t get hurt, we might’ve beaten Colorado, and then you move on. It was a good team, but last year was a tough year all the way around, and that was disappointing to me.”

The Blues went into a self-proclaimed re-tool going into the 2023-24 season. Armstrong went bargain-basement shopping for older players such as Kasperi Kapanen, Jakub Vrana and Kevin Hayes, and the team would also be turning to prospects such as Nikita Alexandrov, Scott Perunovich, Tyler Tucker and others.

Advertisement

“It’s tough because you’re probably working with guys that maybe aren’t quite ready to take on an everyday role in your lineup,” Berube said. “Then there’s other guys growing as players. They’re everyday players, but they still have some challenges.

“At the same time, you’ve got some veterans on this team that have been around and you’re really relying on them to do the job. So you’re kind of caught in between a little bit. I’m not saying that it’s not doable, but it’s tough.”

As a result, Berube had to push and push, and the production didn’t come and it seemed to create some resistance between him and the players. For his part, he said those relationships remained on the up and up.

“Yeah, I think they were good,” Berube said. “I don’t have an issue with guys. I’m pretty brutally honest with them, whether they like that or not. Not every player’s going to like you or like your style or like what you want from them.

“But in the end, I’m the coach and this is what I think is going to make us a good team, and for me, it’s all about the team. I focus on the team and what I think is best for the team, that’s how I go about my business, and I’ll never change that.”

In light of Thursday’s story, in which Blues forward Jordan Kyrou clarified his “no comment” when asked about Berube’s departure, the team’s ex-coach was asked about that relationship.

“Listen, for me personally, I don’t have an issue with it,” Berube said. “Jordan and I, when we talked, it was fine. It was never not fine. Maybe he didn’t say exactly what he wanted to say to me all the time, but it is what it is. Sometimes relationships can be rocky. They’re not always going to be great. But for me, I’m fine with everything. It is what it is.”

GO DEEPER

Rutherford: What led to Blues fans booing Jordan Kyrou, and to his tears afterward? Let me explain

But now those Blues connections are no longer, at least on a coaching level, and for that Berube is disappointing.

Advertisement

“I didn’t want to go anywhere,” he said. “I felt like going off last year, if you wanted to make a change, that was more understandable. But coming into this year, I think we did some good things and put ourselves in a good spot at one point. I know lately, it’s been a little bit rocky. Would I have liked to keep going? For sure.”

After waking up Wednesday without a job, Berube has spent the past couple of days in St. Louis visiting with friends he’s accumulated over the last eight seasons, which included two as an associate head coach.

“I have a lot of good people here, a lot of people that have been really good to me here, and I want to make sure that I say my goodbyes properly,” he said.

Berube’s wife flew to St. Louis from Philadelphia to help him pack, and he’s expected to leave town Monday or Tuesday. The ever-popular coach has been around the past couple of days, when most Blues fans have made it clear that his dismissal was the wrong decision.

“Well, it’ll go away soon,” Berube deadpanned. “Listen, I loved it here. People have been unbelievable to me here. I think when you have success, like we’ve had here, people love it. They’ve been waiting for a championship here for a long time and got one. I appreciate the fan support. It means so much to me. This town is special. It really is.

“It’s a blue-collar town, and I’m a blue-collar guy. I think people relate to that. I think this type of town relates to that. That’s really what they’re about, and that bodes well with me. I’ll miss that. I’ll miss St. Louis. I really will. But it’s time to move on.”

Berube doesn’t know what his next stop will be, but it will be in coaching.

“I’ve got to give it some thought,” he said. “I want to make sure I’m going to a good organization. You want to work with good people, and you always want an opportunity to win. I want to coach, but I want to make sure that it’s the right situation.

Advertisement

“If you get a call, and it’s this year, then you’ve got to look at it and assess the situation and really do your due diligence on things. So I’m open-minded right now, but at the same time, I’m going to take a back-step here for a little bit.”

St. Louis will certainly see Berube again because of what happened in 2019, a Stanley Cup that no one can take away.

“It was an amazing time,” he said. “When you win, that’s always going to be there for the rest of your life. It’s always going to be one of your best memories in the game, for sure. There was never a better feeling in the game that I’ve had in my life than hoisting that Cup over my head.”

(Top photo: Jonathan Kozub / NHLI via Getty Images)

ncG1vNJzZmismJqutbTLnquim16YvK57lGpraXFobnxzfJFsZmpqX2aCcK7LrpysZZOnrqqzjJucq62Smnqru9GdmKdlm66%2FsMGO