Why head coach Craig Berube called out Blues top players: ’They’re not doing their job’
Blues head coach Craig Berube didn’t hold back Thursday night when he discussed his team’s performance against the Canucks.
“A lot of our best players don’t do the job,” said Berube. “I think they don’t care about the team, I don’t know.
“Our best players play without passion, without emotion and without any inspiration at all,” Berube later said. “They don’t play inspired hockey. You cannot play in this league without emotion, courage and inspiration.”
St. Louis fell 3-2 to Vancouver in overtime and gambled away a 2-1 lead with less than 30 seconds left before Elias Pettersson holed the OT winner for the Canucks.
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Why Craig Berube called out the blues’ top players
For the club, the defeat was the fourth in a row. The Blues are now 11 points behind the Avalanche for the final playoff spot in the Western Conference, with the Flames and Predators also ahead.
While the Blues picked up a point in the loss, the team was outplayed 41-22 and was sloppy with the puck, giving it away 13 times while the Canucks only did it once.
“They get paid a lot of money… and they don’t do their job, end of story,” Berube said of the performance of his top players.
Who was Craig Berube talking about?
After Ryan O’Reilly and Vladimir Tarasenko traded away from St. Louis, forwards Robert Thomas and Jordan Kyrou are the new top dogs, and they didn’t make it. The pair has just one assist during this loss.
Berube kept it simple when asked about the pair and their game.
“Not good enough. Not even close.”
Thomas walked The Opening Drive on 101 ESPN St. Louis the day after. He said Berube’s comments “couldn’t be further from the truth.”
“Of course it’s frustrating to hear that,” Thomas told Carey & Randy. “I’ve been a part of this team for a long time and what he said couldn’t be further from the truth. I know everyone in this room cares and it’s frustrating to hear.”
In addition to much criticism from the coach, Berube also praised some of his players. He paid tribute to goaltender Jordan Binnington (38 saves), rookie defender Tyler Tucker (one goal) and forward Pavel Buchnevich (one assist, four shots on target).
He also singled out forward Alexei Toropchenko, who had a man down and four blocked shots. Berube called his game “outstanding” and that others should follow the 23-year-old’s example.
“(Players) should be very, very happy that we have this guy on our team and that he’s putting it on the line,” Berube said of Toropchenko. “They should be inspired by it and they should go out and play inspired.”
Toropchenko is in his second season with the Blues. Thursday’s match was the Russian’s 73rd game of his NHL career, but he echoed Berube’s testimony of his teammates’ performances.
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“Even if we don’t make the playoffs, I will give everything,” said Toropchenko. “It’s a hockey game, you can’t go, especially when you’re playing in the NHL. You don’t play somewhere else in a beer league or something like that.
“You have to show something. You have to show heart and character and be strong everywhere. Just play from your heart.”
Blues General Manager Doug Armstrong addressed the comments made by Berube and Toropchenko on Friday, citing the game’s “raw emotion” as the reason for the remarks.
“I think[the comments]will become more relevant if we don’t address them directly,” Armstrong said. “I think the raw emotions after a game like this were evident from everyone involved. From a manager’s point of view, this is understandable.
“We’ve made some radical changes to this group over the past few weeks. Emotions are raw at the moment. What we really need to do is look at where we are as an organization and look at who we are now on our team and start building.”
The Blues are next in the national spotlight when the team takes on the Penguins at home on Saturday afternoon. Puck Drop is at 3:30 p.m. for the game, which will be televised on ABC.