Craig Berube was fired as coach of the St. Louis Blues on Tuesday and replaced by Drew Bannister.
Bannister, who coached Springfield of the American Hockey League, will travel to St. Louis on Wednesday and serve his first game behind the bench Thursday against the Ottawa Senators at Enterprise Center.
Berube was in his sixth season as Blues coach and was behind the bench for their fourth straight loss, 6-4 to the Detroit Red Wings on Tuesday. St. Louis (13-14-1) is sixth in the Central Division and ranks 26th in the NHL in goals per game (2.82).
“We’re all professionals here,” Blues forward Kevin Hayes said after the loss. “… We’ve all got to show up and do our job, work at your job. No single guy is going to get us out of it. We have to do it together as a group.”
Berube, 57, replaced Mike Yeo as coach Nov. 20, 2018, and guided the Blues to their only Stanley Cup championship in 2019 and was 206-131-44. He is the third coach fired this season. The Wild hired John Hynes after firing Dean Evason on Nov. 27. The Edmonton Oilers replaced Jay Woodcroft with Kris Knoblauch on Nov. 12.
Bannister, 49, has spent the past three seasons as Springfield’s coach, going 93-58-19. He guided the Blues’ AHL affiliate to consecutive Calder Cup Playoff appearances, including in 2021-22, when it reached the Calder Cup Final.
Bannister also played 164 NHL regular-season games from 1995-2001 for the Tampa Bay Lightning, Edmonton Oilers, Anaheim Mighty Ducks and New York Rangers. A defenseman, he was selected by the Lightning in the second round (No. 26) of the 1992 NHL Draft.
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