St. Louis Blues Head Coach Craig Berube Shreds His Team After Overtime Loss

Things haven't been going spectacularly for the St. Louis Blues this season, and now, head coach Craig Berube is calling out his players.

Nothing lights a fire under the boys — or turns the entire locker room against you — quite like that.

Berube laid into his team after the Blues lost in overtime to another team that's having an even worse year, the Vancouver Canucks. It was the team's fourth loss in a row, and over that stretch, they were outscored 18-6.

“Our best players don’t play with any passion, no emotion, no inspiration at all,” Berube said “They don’t play inspired hockey. You cannot play in this league without emotion, grit, and being inspired."

"They’re getting paid lots of money and they’re not doing the job. End of story. That’s it. That’s what it boils down to.”

When asked why he thought they weren't doing their job, Berube had an answer.

“I don’t know, you’ll have to ask them," he said. "I guess they don’t care about the team, I don’t know.”

Jeez, Chief. Tell us how you really feel.

Berube also ripped Jordan Kyrou and Robert Thomas. That's not a coincidence as both signed eight-year, $65-million extensions during the offseason.

He said their play — which has yielded one combined assist over the four-game losing streak is "Not good enough, not even close."

St. Louis Blues center Robert Thomas hit back at his coach's claim that he doesn't care about the team. (Photo by Dilip Vishwanat/Getty Images)

Thomas Responds To Berube As The Blues Try To Get Things Back On Track

As you might expect, his comments didn't sit well with some of his players, especially Thomas.

It may be a bit too late for the Blues to right the ship, but it looks like Berube might be trying.

So is GM Doug Armstrong.

The Blues have been some of the biggest sellers one week out from the trade deadline. They dealt former captain Ryan O'Reilly to the Toronto Maple Leafs and Vladimir Tarasenko to the New York Rangers. Both were massive parts of the Blues team that won the Stanley Cup in 2019.

You don't do that if things are going swimmingly. The Blues are currently sitting 11 points out of the second wild card spot in the Central division.

However, the thought is that the Taransenko and O'Reilly moves are less about rebuilding the entire team and more about getting draft picks to use in beefing up their defense.

It's been reported that the Blues are interested in striking a deal for Sharks defenseman Timo Meier.

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