Blues GM Armstrong opens up after firing Berube: 'We're not a successful franchise'

Doug Armstrong addressed the media Wednesday after the long-time St. Louis Blues general manager fired the team’s head coach, Craig Berube, late Tuesday.

Armstrong began by thanking Berube for his service but didn’t hold back when explaining his decision and expressing his overall disappointment in himself and the team’s current standing.

Berube and Armstrong had been colleagues since 2016, when Berube was brought on as an associate coach and helped lead the Blues to the franchise’s first Stanley Cup in 2019 after taking over as bench boss mid-season.

“We built a friendship over the years and it’s difficult to have that talk with him last night,” Armstrong told reporters. “He’s a true professional. We talked a little bit, we had a beer, we reminisced for a second, and now my job is to move forward, and Craig will now regroup and he’ll land on his feet. He’s too good of a coach not to be in this league.

“I feel personally responsible for the situation that we’re in.”

Armstrong said he tried to “extend as much latitude and rope as possible” for Berube because of how much he respects him but the team’s current losing streak, which is active at four games, was the breaking point.

“I would say I haven’t really slept much since the Columbus game, then the Chicago game was a sleepless night, and then you hope the Detroit game will be different but your mind starts to work when you’re everybody’s homecoming game,” he said. “It’s not a good feeling.”

The Blues remain in the Western Conference playoff picture but the team has looked flat in recent weeks and has not won more than three consecutive games at any point this season. They have been outscored 20-10 on their current skid.

“Last night’s game against a depleted Detroit team that was tired looked a lot like a depleted Columbus team that was tired and a depleted Chicago team,” Armstrong added, “and there just wasn’t a feeling that there was something that was going to change today if we just went back into work that would make tomorrow different.”

This was the fourth coaching change Armstrong has made since 2011.

Drew Bannister of the AHL’s Springfield Thunderbirds was named interim coach, and Armstrong announced Wednesday the team is bringing in Conn Smythe, Lady Byng and two-time Cup winner Brad Richards as a consultant to work with Steve Ott and help the team’s struggling power play.

Armstrong pointed out that, dating back to the beginning of last season, the team’s power play, penalty kill and point total are nowhere close to where he feels they should be and “at some point you have to make changes.”

Armstrong was later asked specifically what he felt “personally responsible for” and he didn’t pull any punches when expanding on his answer.

“That we're not a successful franchise,” he stated bluntly. “These are things you contemplate as an organization. You come to an organization because you want to make it better and you want to leave it in a better spot. When I got here in ’08, we were better for a long time (but) if I get fired in the next hour or if 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.”

Armstrong joined the Blues as director of player personnel in 2008 before being named general manager in 2010. In the 12-plus seasons he has served as GM, the Blues have 10 playoff appearances, three division titles and that 2019 championship, yet the team has won only one post-season series since then.

As to when Blues fans can expect to learn the team’s next permanent coach, Armstrong said he plans to start the process but there is no timeline and there won’t be updates as he goes through the process.

“We’ll announce it when we announce it,” he said, before adding he’s going to be open-minded when it comes to what he’s looking for in the next head coach.

The Blues will look to snap their losing streak Thursday at home against the Ottawa Senators.