Sportsnet: Frank Seravalli on the St. Louis Blues this season. They’ve struggled, fired their head coach, and dealt with the comment from Jordan Kyrou.
** NHLRumors.com transcription
Jesse Fuchs: “All right now the Oilers season starting to turn around following that coaching change. I suppose it’s possible the same could happen in St. Louis. But boy Frank, that team is a mess.
What’s happened to the Cup Champs from just a few years ago? Can it be fixed and is the relationship salvageable with star players like Jordan Kyrou?
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Seravalli: “Yeah, I think the Kyrou situation Jessie was kind of taken a little bit out of context. I always view NHL players, especially when you get him at the morning skate on game day, as being so narrow-minded and singularly focused, almost with blinders on.
And when Jordan Kyrou answered that question, yeah, was the relationship with Craig Berube as great as it probably could have been? The answer is likely no. But he was also probably thinking on, the game ahead of him, a new coach, an opportunity to make a first impression under Drew Bannister. And the fans end up booing him right from puck drop, which was kind of an amazing scene.
But in terms of the overall 30,000 foot view of the Blues. The one thing that surprised me about this week’s turn of events with Craig Berube being shown the door, is that Doug Armstrong their GM acknowledged to me one month ago at the Hall of Fame, that this team is not prepared to compete for a Stanley Cup this year.
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That it’s going to be two to three years before they’re back in that window again after a sustained run of success in St. Louis. That for really a chunk of time from 2012 to 2022, had as good a chance as any team to win in the NHL. They’re not there right now. They’ve acknowledged it but I think Doug Armstrong wants to get back to putting a baseline of work and compete in place that they were missing, especially for chunks of this season.