Craig Berube named Blues’ interim head coach

Craig Berube will be running an NHL bench again.

Following the St. Louis Blues' shutout loss to Los Angeles Monday night, the team announced that head coach Mike Yeo was relieved of his duties and named Berube the interim coach.

Berube spent seven of his 17-year playing career with the Flyers and 11 more in various coaching positions with the club at the AHL and NHL level, including two seasons as its head coach from 2013-2015.

The Flyers went 75-58-28 with Berube at the helm, making the playoffs in 2014 after recovering from an 0-3 start that led to the firing of Peter Laviolette and Berube's corresponding promotion. The team struggled the next season, missing the playoffs after finishing 33-31-18. Ron Hextall, then in his first year as general manager, fired Berube shortly after.

Berube spent the 2016-17 season serving as the head coach for the AHL's Chicago Wolves, then joined the Blues as an associate coach last summer.

Yeo was hired as an associate head coach by St. Louis in 2016 with the intention of having him succeed Ken Hitchcock, another former Flyers coach, after he retired at the end of the 2016-17 campaign. Hitchcock didn't make it that far. The Blues fired him in Feb. 2017, and Yeo took over early.

St. Louis advanced to the second round of the playoffs that year, but missed the playoffs last season. The Blues' struggles only got worse this year, with their 7-9-3 record after Monday night's loss putting them at the bottom of the Central division.

The Blues will hold a press conference Tuesday morning with Berube and general manager Doug Armstrong to discuss the move.