2020-2021 St. Louis Blues: Generic Thread Titles Be Damned (Part III)

[Hrkac Circus]

Will Hofer dress I wonder? How would it feel to be a 20 year-old skating out for warm-ups in the big leagues for the first time? Probably not I suppose, just in case an injury happened and actually put him into the game.

 

[Stealth JD]

If the Blues feebly fall in 5 or 6 games, is Berube on the hot seat?

The Athletic sure seems to think so:

Craig Berube, head coach, St. Louis Blues
There is certainly lots of reasoning and rationalizing you can do in explaining a wildly up and down season for the Blues. And it sure isn’t Berube’s fault that Alex Pietrangelo signed in Vegas and that Torey Krug struggled to find a groove with the Blues and then got hurt. And it’s not Berube’s fault that pretty much everyone else in the Blues lineup, and especially among the defense corps, took turns in sickbay. But this team is flat out too good to be as inconsistent and at times disinterested as they were. And they’re lucky the West Division is chock-a-block with floundering teams or they might have missed the playoffs. This is basically the same team, with Krug swapped out for Pietrangelo and minus Jay Bouwmeester, that beat Boston in Game 7 of the Stanley Cup Final two years ago. They looked passive in losing to Vancouver in the first round in the Edmonton bubble last summer and if that style of play leads them to another lackluster first-round exit, can’t see how GM Doug Armstrong, never afraid to make the hard call, doesn’t look for someone else to try and get this deep, talented Blues roster back on track.

 

[Linkens Mastery]

If the Blues feebly fall in 5 or 6 games, is Berube on the hot seat?

The Athletic sure seems to think so:

Yeah, I don't see Berube being on the hot seat, especially 2 years removed from a cup win. With all the injuries, the covid guidelines being ridiculously strict, and everything else this year. I really don't see them clamping down on Berube.

 

[BlueDream]

Yeah, I don't see Berube being on the hot seat, especially 2 years removed from a cup win. With all the injuries, the covid guidelines being ridiculously strict, and everything else this year. I really don't see them clamping down on Berube.

Agreed. That would be a huge mistake.

He got the team into the playoffs. Last year was completely whack with the bubble and this year the team still had to deal with Covid and a ton of injuries.

Berube is a good coach. Next season things should finally be more back to normal, and it’s the last year of his contract. He deserves another shot and then we can re-evaluate in 2022. But I like him a lot.

 

[The Note]

Yeah I don't think they're firing Berube after this year. They're going to be significant underdogs in their first round and if they lose in 5 would it really shock anyone? Now next year -- assuming there's a relative return to normalcy -- if we're still seeing disjointed play, particularly getting outplayed for large stretches of 5 on 5 and they bow out in the first round/miss I think you can start exploring other options. But I can't imagine them losing in 5-6 in a first round series no one is really expecting them to win anyway is going to determine his future.

 

[Frenzy31]

Yeah I don't think they're firing Berube after this year. They're going to be significant underdogs in their first round and if they lose in 5 would it really shock anyone? Now next year -- assuming there's a relative return to normalcy -- if we're still seeing disjointed play, particularly getting outplayed for large stretches of 5 on 5 and they bow out in the first round/miss I think you can start exploring other options. But I can't imagine them losing in 5-6 in a first round series no one is really expecting them to win anyway is going to determine his future.

If the Blues feebly fall in 5 or 6 games, is Berube on the hot seat?

The Athletic sure seems to think so:

This is likely the biggest bunch of Bunk we have ever seen. Doug doesn't fire at the drop of the hat, he game Hitch an extra 1-2 seasons, Yeo was give extra time to try to right the ship. I dont see him dumping the guy who helped create the biggest turn around in Blues history and helped win them the cup.

 

[The Note]

This is likely the biggest bunch of Bunk we have ever seen. Doug doesn't fire at the drop of the hat, he game Hitch an extra 1-2 seasons, Yeo was give extra time to try to right the ship. I dont see him dumping the guy who helped create the biggest turn around in Blues history and helped win them the cup.

I'm not saying to fire him this year, or even next year. I am saying that if they lose in the first round this year, then hem and haw their way through next year and don't do much of anything next playoffs -- when his contract is up, mind you -- I think you have to at least consider what other options are out there. There is a lot to be decided between now and then. My point is that, regardless of how these playoffs go, I don't think he is or should be fired.

 

[Frenzy31]

I'm not saying to fire him this year, or even next year. I am saying that if they lose in the first round this year, then hem and haw their way through next year and don't do much of anything next playoffs -- when his contract is up, mind you -- I think you have to at least consider what other options are out there. There is a lot to be decided between now and then. My point is that, regardless of how these playoffs go, I don't think he is or should be fired.

I don’t disagree with you.

But the concept of him being on the hot seat, based DA willingness for fire people as stated in the article is a bit of a joke given his past history. He tends to give coaches a chance to dig out of there hole.

 

[Stupendous Yappi]

If the Blues feebly fall in 5 or 6 games, is Berube on the hot seat?

The Athletic sure seems to think so:

Is this uncredited? Who wrote this? Doesn’t sound like JR.

 

[Stupendous Yappi]

Is this uncredited? Who wrote this? Doesn’t sound like JR.

Found it. Scott Burnside. This is meaningless.

 

[BlueKnight]

If the Blues feebly fall in 5 or 6 games, is Berube on the hot seat?

The Athletic sure seems to think so:

I've said it before and I still stand by it, Berube doesn't deserve to be fired. But if Army fires Berube then Armstrong should be heading out the door as well.

 

[Meatball]

If the Blues feebly fall in 5 or 6 games, is Berube on the hot seat?

The Athletic sure seems to think so:

If ownership and management collectively go insane perhaps.

 

[The Note]

I don’t disagree with you.

But the concept of him being on the hot seat, based DA willingness for fire people as stated in the article is a bit of a joke given his past history. He tends to give coaches a chance to dig out of there hole.

Yes, I think we are largely on the same page. I would be stunned if Berube were fired if the Blues lose in the first round and I think there's virtually no shot it happens.

 

[Brian39]

I think that Berube's seat might be a bit warmer than most guys who are less than 2 completed seasons removed from a Cup win. But I don't think there is much chance that he is gone before next season. We were the 2nd best team in the regular season last year, so it isn't like we've struggled since the moment we won the Cup. We can debate correlation vs causation, but all the failure to meet expectations have occurred within the weirdness of COVID protocols (playoff bubble, round robin return to play, division-only schedule, 7 game series vs the Yotes, etc). There has also been a healthy dose of injuries along with the team being hit with COVID before playoffs last year. Again, we can debate about whether these are excuses, whether he should have had the team better prepared, etc. But I think it would be foolish to fire a coach who has demonstrated clear success in times of "normalcy" based only on his failures in times of non-normalcy.

If we get smoked in round 1, I won't be surprised if Berube is on a pretty short leash next year. But I'd be very surprised if he isn't given the chance to show that he can get the team back to winning with a normal camp, starting at roughly the normal time and playing a largely normal 82 game season.

 

[Celtic Note]

This article was a year too early at best IMO.

 

[Meatball]

The thought of Berube's seat being anything else except ice cold is nuts. I can't think of a coach who'd do a better job at this point.

 

[Vincenzo Arelliti]

I don't think anyone can look at this year compared to that cup year and say that the reason we are no longer that good is Berube. I think it's much easier to argue that Berube and Binnington were the reasons we were ever that good in the first place. We've already tried winning without Berube and saw how that went. Now that we're less talented, we're going to try and remove him as well? If that were the case, we should have traded Pietrangelo, Bouwmeester, Edmundson, and Maroon when we cut Yeo, and then not have promoted Berube -- we could have tried this supposed strategy two years ago and won the cup much more efficiently. Dumb take.

 

[Bobby Orrtuzzo]

Brad Shaw is available

 

[Vladys Gumption]

Brad Shaw is available

I would be thrilled to have him running the defense again. The man knows how to orchestrate a good defensive system.

 

[Vincenzo Arelliti]

Brad Shaw is available

PLS. We should have never let him go. I am a huge Brad Shaw fan.

 

[Stealth JD]

So we're ready to fire Mike VanRyn to get Brad Shaw?

 

[Blueston]

So we're ready to fire Mike VanRyn to get Brad Shaw?

MVR is supposedly on candidate list in Glendale.

 

[BlueDream]

Yeah let’s not forget we won a Cup with Van Ryan’s defense.

Shaw was good too but letting him go worked out.

 

[AjaxManifesto]

I think the Ex-Stars coach would get slotted into MVR position if he left

 

[Ranksu]

Yeah let’s not forget we won a Cup with Van Ryan’s defense.

Shaw was good too but letting him go worked out.

Let's not forgot we won Cup with Pietro, Jbo and healthy Gunnar and Edmundson.