ONE YEAR AGO: Craig Berube becomes interim coach of St. Louis Blues

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ST. LOUIS (KMOX) - Craig Berube was introduced as the interim head coach of the St. Louis Blues, starting off by saying he and his fellow coaches will "be a demanding coaching group."

Berube: We were way to loose as a team early on. We’ve tightened up but right now we have to score some goals. #stlblues

— KMOXSports (@KMOXSports) November 20, 2018

Berube repeatedly stated that this is a "good team" with "good players," but that confidence is what has been missing lately. He was asked if any other changes need to be made moving forward. 

"It's nothing massive," Berube says. "It's tweaks here and there. Again, I'll bring it up, we've got to instill confidence back in this hockey team."

You can watch the full press conference here with Berube and president of hockey operations Doug Armstrong: 

Berube says some of his coaching techniques have come from former Blues coach Ken Hitchcock, who was hired by the Edmonton Oilers Tuesday morning. Berube has played for Hitchcok at the junior and pro level and coached along side him in Philadelphia. 

"Hitch was a demanding coach and I try to follow in the same lines," Berube says. "I'm demanding but fair. But my door is always open for the players to come and communicate, I communicate well with players and that's the kind of stuff I learned from Hitch." 

As Berube went to take charge of his first practice as interm head coach, as Armstrong stayed for a longer Q and A with media: 

Armstrong: As a GM the wins and losses fall on us and there’s things that need to be addressed. We’ve stayed patient with core group of player and now it’s at its thinnest point. #stlblues

— KMOXSports (@KMOXSports) November 20, 2018

Questions were asked about his faith in the "core group" of Blues players, including the captain Alex Pietrangelo:

"We've transferred into a different group, that group isn't three people, that group is eight or nine people in my opinion and they have to get us out of this," Armstrong says. "We need our best players to be our best players on a much more consistent basis."

Pietrangleo, who has now been the Blues captain through two head coach firings was asked about about his leadership role. 

"It starts with me and works its way down, it start with me and guys wearing letters," Pietrangleo says. "We've got enough guys that have been around a long time that we've got a pretty strong group here of veteran guys ... It's my job to be able to make sure we keep each other accountable.

"We're not going to change a whole lot, but we're going to change a few things and it's my job to make sure we keep guys on that and they understand what the plan is moving forward."

In terms of the search for the next head coach of the Blues, Armstrong did not comment on specific candidates. He did say they will "cast a wide net" and some candidates will have a lot of experience, some will be from Europe, and some from the college and junior hockey ranks. There's also a chance for Berube to win this job himself. 

Armstrong: It’s possible we would hire a permanent head coach mid season. #stlblues

— KMOXSports (@KMOXSports) November 20, 2018

"You would love to have a situation where enough is enough for our core group and they take charge of this team and Craig is at the helm of that, we have great success and move forward together." 

Forward Brayden Schenn was a player under Berube during his time in Philadelphia and believes he's a coach who can "bring the most out of guys." 

"He's not afraid to come up and tell you 'Good job,' or 'Bad job, we need more.' Players respect him a lot, guys like him around the locker room and guys are going to play hard for him," Schenn says. "I expect no different here than what it was in Philly." 

Schenn and forward David Perron talked about a "swagger" that the Blues need to bring back to their in-game performance. 

"We can definitely up our level," Perron says. "I think we need to bring some passion back to our game and get some swagger back in our game. Obviously that comes with winning but we can make sure we go on the ice and do the right things."

Goalie Jake Allen says he didn't hear about the news until Tuesday morning when he saw text messages sent late Monday night. He says Berube gave speech to the team before practice. 

"He's got a lot of energy, a lot of passion and you could tell right off the get-go that's what he wanted to bring to this locker room and try to bring a little bit more jump, little more passion, little more excitment to our game," Allen says. "Hopefully that leaves to other things."

This story was originally published on KMOX.com on Nov. 20, 2018, after Berube's promotion.
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