The St. Louis Blues moved on from head coach Craig Berube on Dec. 12 this season. With the move, they brought up Drew Bannister from the American Hockey League (AHL) to serve as the club’s interim head coach. The Blues were 13-14-1 under Berube before making the call. They were coming off of a brutal loss to the Detroit Red Wings. General manager Doug Armstrong is more to blame for the Blues’ struggles over the past two seasons, but firing Berube was an easier move to make in the middle of the season.
Under the leadership of Bannister, the club has improved quite a bit in a lot of areas. They still aren’t a Stanley Cup contender, but they are far more in the playoff mix now than they were in mid-December. Let’s get into where the club has improved under a new head coach.
Numbers Have Improved Under Bannister
There is zero doubt that the team numbers under Bannister have improved greatly in a lot of areas. They still have some no-show performances, but overall, the team has been better for longer stretches. The Blues are 16-9-1 since making the move and have a plus-6 goal differential. They are 3-2-0 since the All-Star break with two rough performances against the Toronto Maple Leafs and Nashville Predators. However, they’ve been fairly consistent since Jan. 20 with a record of 8-3-0 and a plus-10 goal differential.
There are many cases throughout the NHL where a head coach firing has gotten teams on the right track. The Edmonton Oilers are 29-9-0 since firing Jay Woodcroft and bringing in Kris Knoblauch. Another one is the Minnesota Wild, who are 20-13-2 since firing Dean Evason and hiring John Hynes. The Blues should know this better than anyone after they fired Mike Yeo in 2018-19 and won the Cup with Berube in the same season.
Source: Hockey Reference
The Blues have been better under Bannister in just about every important category. One huge difference is how much better the power play has been since Brad Richards was brought in as a power play consultant. A better power play leads to more wins and a better record. The numbers over the past two months would be even better without a couple of really bad performances. Once again, I don’t think Berube deserves the majority of the blame for what happened in the first 28 games. The team needed a new voice within the locker room.
Blues Could Make the Playoffs
As of right now, the Blues are fourth in the Central Division and in the second Wild Card spot behind the Los Angeles Kings. They have 60 points, which is two points ahead of the Predators in that race. The Blues have the most regulation plus overtime wins (ROW) out of any team in the Wild Card race with 27. However, they are fourth in goals in the race and have a minus-8 goal differential for the season. Their schedule in the New Year has been as hard as anybody’s with several playoff-level teams on the schedule.
I’m not sure it would be the best thing for the Blues’ future if they made the playoffs, but they have a real shot to do it. It’ll be interesting to see how Armstrong approaches the trade deadline. I don’t think he should operate like he has a playoff team, but being open to anything would be wise. Either way, the Blues have been a much better and more consistent team with Bannister at the helm and he deserves a legitimate chance to get the full-time gig once the 2023-24 season concludes.
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