St. Louis Blues frustrated coach Craig Berube rips struggling team, admits overall attitude is ‘just not good’

The St. Louis Blues have dropped seven of their last nine games. 

Their latest defeat, a 5-2 loss to the Winnipeg Jets on Thursday, left head coach Craig Berube noticeably frustrated.

“If everybody doesn’t come to the rink ready to really compete and move your feet and do things right and be detailed and attentive, we’re not going to go anywhere,” Berube told reporters. “That’s the bottom line.”

Berube went on to say that is his job to put the players in the best position to succeed, but it’s the player’s responsibilities to execute.

“As a coaching staff, we’re preparing them, we tell them what they need to do against this team, look for it, this is what you’ve got to do, but we can’t go out and play for them. They have to go out and play, as a team, and right now, we’re not doing it. We’re not doing it enough, we’re not consistent enough 100 percent. You lose in this league.”

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The Blues seem to be struggling with multiple aspects of the game. The team has been outscored by a margin of 46-27 over its last nine games.

“It’s everything,” center Robert Thomas said. “We gotta clear guys in front of our net. Forwards gotta stop turning the puck over and be better in the D-zone. Neutral zone we’re soft. But there’s so many things that we’ve continued to talk about all year. It’s the same thing.”

St. Louis is currently in the sixth sport in the Central Division in the Western Conference with a 12-15 record. 

The Blues are trailing Calgary by five points for the conference’s second wild card spot.

Berube seems to be grasping at straws, but he acknowledged that the team’s attitude needs to change.

“If they don’t come to the rink and think about the team and put the team first, we’re not going anywhere, and right now, I don’t see that happening,” he said. “I think it’s just the attitude of the team right now. It’s creeped in here, and it’s just not good right now.”

Berube does have a track record of turning things around, most notably during his tenure as an interim coach in the 2018-19 season, when he took the Blues from last place to Stanley Cup champions.