Yeo fired as coach of Blues, replaced by Berube on interim basis

Mike Yeo was fired as coach of the St. Louis Blues on Monday.

Yeo was replaced by associate Craig Berube, but general manager Doug Armstrong said Tuesday it's possible he could hire another coach before the end of the season.
"The interim tag [on Berube] is based on a decision made last night," Armstrong. "He did a very good job with our American Hockey League affiliate, he's got experience, he's going to be given that opportunity, but as a manager, you have to multitask. ... I'm going to throw my full support behind Craig and his staff right now as we try and cauterize the wound and get back into the playoff picture."
The move was announced about an hour and a half after the Blues (7-9-3) lost 2-0 to the Los Angeles Kings at Enterprise Center. It was the second straight game they were shut out and third time in four games.
"Ultimately it comes back to our record," Armstrong said. "... Mike is paying for the sins of our collective group. It's not all on Mike but ultimately as the head coach, he's held accountable. ... You never make these decisions in a vacuum or quickly and it was something that I felt and shared with ownership that it was time to make a change to see what we can accomplish for this season."
Yeo, 45, went 73-49-11 as St. Louis coach after he replaced Ken Hitchcock on Feb. 1, 2017. The Blues went 44-32-6 last season and failed to qualify for the Stanley Cup Playoffs.
Armstrong said there is no rush to name a permanent coach.
"We're going to start the process of putting together a list of head coaches," he said. "There's going to be experienced head coaches on that list, there's going to be European head coaches on that list, there's going to be college head coaches on that list. ... we're not going to minimize or limit the scope that we are going to look at but this is not something that is going to be done over the next day or two."

Berube, 52, first joined the Blues as associate on June 15, 2017. Prior to joining the Blues, he was coach of Chicago in the American Hockey League for the 2016-17 season.
"A difficult time for sure. Mike is a good friend of mine and I loved working with him and coaching with him," Berube said. "But we've got to move forward and we've got to get better. That's the plan. ... I'm demanding but fair. My door is always open to players who come in and communicate."
Berube coached the Philadelphia Flyers to a record of 75-58-28 from 2013-15. He was an assistant for the Flyers prior to that and helped them reach the Stanley Cup Final in 2010.
"I think there's been times where it's looked really good and we don't get that on a consistent basis," Berube said of the Blues play this season. "That's something we've got to figure out. We're working on that. We've got ideas we're working on right now. We've definitely got to instill some confidence back in this hockey team. It's a good hockey team, we've got good players and we've got to get moving in the right direction."
Armstrong also announced that Hall of Fame defenseman Larry Robinson, who has coached the Kings and New Jersey Devils, will join the coaching staff.
"I think having Larry coming in to give Craig someone to talk to that has been there, done that is going to be good for him in that process, Armstrong said. "Craig and I will talk about maybe some people to come in and work with him until we decide which way we're going to go as far as the head coach, the permanent head coach. I'm just excited to have someone with Larry's experience around our group."
NHL.com correspondent Louie Korac contributed