St. Louis Blues press release,
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.
from Jeremy Rutherford of The Athletic,
This was bound to happen at some point.
But not 28 games into the 2023-24 season. Not two months after general manager Doug Armstrong, who, when asked in October if this was a playoff team, replied: Id love to get third place in the Central Division. Not when the No. 1 reason the clubs record is 13-14-1 in mid-December is because players on long-term contracts arent performing.
This was an executive issue and an execution issue not a coaching issue.
The problems didnt start when the Blues couldnt score at the start of the season, or when they got blitzed by the San Jose Sharks. They began when Alex Pietrangelo wasnt re-signed, and player after player was brought in to try to build back the roster, which led to a lineup that was never as good as it once was and finally caught up to them last season. They continued against Detroit on Tuesday when the Blues couldnt defend the front of their net, nor hang onto the puck on a six-on-four power play that turned into an empty-net goal and a 6-4 loss to the Red Wings.
It was the Blues season-high fourth straight defeat, and they dropped five out of six, including recent losses to Columbus and Chicago with both at the bottom of NHL standings.
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I am really surprised by this.
It also kind of makes me feel a little... Less excited about the wings considering this came after a loss to the wings. Was last night going to be the last straw regardless?
The Wings' trail of coaching carnage continues...
I agree with The Athletic- this is a front office problem. Berube will take a break and be back somewhere in no time.....
Coaches with Stanley Cup street cred will not be unemployed for long. I just don't see enough of STL games to comment much further.
I don't think it was the Wings game alone that caused this firing. It's their horrific play in the last 10 games. Losing to Chicago and Columbus in the same week doesn't help.
Yeah, as much as I'd like to gloat the Wings victory played a part, the fact the announcers mentioned of them having as many or more shorthanded goals as power play ones was very telling.
I think the Vrana saga probably played a bigger part.
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