Blues GM says he fired Berube because 'things weren't changing'

St. Louis Blues general manager Doug Armstrong had a lot of sleepless nights in the days leading up to his decision to fire head coach Craig Berube.

"I haven't really slept much since the Columbus game (on Friday)," Armstrong admitted in a press conference Wednesday. "Then the Chicago game (on Saturday) was a sleepless night, and then you hope that (Tuesday's) Detroit game will be different. But your mind is starting to work when you're everybody's homecoming game. It's not a good feeling.

"The last three games, I shared with the leadership group that when you get up and you read the clippings the next day, the players from the opposition, the coaches, are (saying) 'What a character win, what a gutsy win, I can't believe we did that last night, we're undermanned, we played the night before against a rested team.' So if they feel that way about their performance, how would we feel about our performance?"

The Blues announced they'd fired Berube hours after Tuesday's 6-4 defeat at the hands of the Red Wings, the latest loss in a four-game skid that has St. Louis sitting in sixth place of the Central Division with a 13-14-1 record.

For Armstrong, one of the main factors missing from the Blues' game is consistency.

"It's uncomfortable when you go to the arena every night and you're not really sure what your team is going to look like. ... That's something we haven't felt here for a long time," he said.

Dating back to the beginning of the 2022-23 campaign, the Blues are 25th in points (108) and points percentage (.491), while their power play (16.5%) and penalty kill (74%) rank within the bottom five.

Berube piloted St. Louis' turnaround in 2018-19, which led to the team's unlikely Stanley Cup championship. Despite that success, Armstrong felt a shakeup was necessary.

"The definition of insanity: Keep doing the same thing and think things are going to change," he said. "It cost a great man his role on the team because things weren't changing."

The executive didn't absolve himself of any wrongdoing, saying he feels "personally responsible" for the Blues' current situation.

"You come to an organization because you make it better and you want to leave it in a better spot. ... If I get fired in the next hour or I get hit by a bus in the next hour, I don't feel today I've left it any better than where I found it, and that's an awful feeling," he said.

Drew Bannister is currently serving as the interim head coach. Armstrong said there's no timeline on finding a permanent replacement for Berube, but he'll be looking for candidates who compete and exemplify accountability.

The GM also announced the Blues have brought in former NHLer Brad Richards as a consultant to help out with their sputtering power play.

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