Craig Berube 2.9

Craig Berube signed a three-year contract with the St. Louis Blues on Wednesday that will run through the 2024-25 NHL season.

The 56-year-old coach was in the final season of a three-year contract he signed with the Blues on June 24, 2019, after coaching them to their first Stanley Cup championship. He is 133-71-30 in four seasons.
"There's no other place I'd rather be," Berube said Thursday. "I've enjoyed the relationship I've had with (general manager) Doug [Armstrong], workingwise and personal. I think it's grown over the years and it's really in a good spot right now. I enjoy St. Louis and I enjoy the team. … I think we've got a real good hockey team here going forward, and we can do some damage. So I'm excited."
St. Louis (26-13-5), which is fourth in the eight-team Central Division, has qualified for the Stanley Cup Playoffs in each of Berube's previous three seasons but has not won a series since winning the Cup.
"As an organization, we're excited to have Craig continue as our head coach," Armstrong said. "Obviously coming in a few years ago and the success we had in the playoffs in 2019 and then the regular season success over the last couple of years has been very good. We like our team this year, we like where it's heading, and I think we have the perfect coach for this group."
Berube, who joined the Blues as an associate coach June 25, 2017, replaced Mike Yeo as coach Nov. 19, 2018. The former NHL forward coached the Philadelphia Flyers from 2013-15 and was 75-58-28.
"I had a number of different coaches throughout my (playing) career and players and leaders that I've learned from over time," Berube said. "But also just as a coach, the more years you coach and the more experience you get, you learn a lot more about things you're talking about, when to push buttons and certain buttons. I think the game's changed over the years. … Back when I played, there wasn't a lot of communication between a coach and a player and nowadays it's all about that."
Blues captain Ryan O'Reilly said he was glad to see Berube get rewarded.
"What I like about him a lot is his pulse that he has on the game and seeing what our group needs at different times," O'Reilly said. "I guess another way of saying it is just his timing, the way he delivers it. There's so many things, the way he steps back and just analyzes the game for us and seeing what our group needs. It's very impressive. For myself, it's been a really fun thing to be able to see and be a part of as well."
Defenseman Torey Krug agreed with O'Reilly.
"He's a guy that we obviously trust and we all love playing for him," Krug said. "He's got a great pulse on the room and fun to play for a guy like that. So obviously it's congratulations to him and we're excited that he's locked in.
"He's great, and it's also a guy that would love to be sitting right next to you in the locker room and going to battle with you. That resonates with guys, and obviously you want to show up for him."
NHL.com independent correspondent Lou Korac contributed to this report