The St. Louis Blues fell to the Detroit Red Wings in front of their home fans on Tuesday night. It was a brutal loss that saw the Blue Notes drop their fourth game in a row. St. Louis currently sits in sixth place in the Central Division after Tuesday night's contest. After the game, the team announced the firing of head coach Craig Berube.

Springfield Thunderbirds head coach Drew Bannister has been named the interim head coach. Bannister will join the team on Wednesday. His first game in charge of St. Louis takes place on Thursday against the Ottawa Senators.

Bannister has spent the last three seasons as the bench boss of Springfield, the AHL affiliate of the Blues. The 49-year-old Ontario native led the Thunderbirds to a 93-58-19 record during that time. In 2022, Springfield won the AHL's Eastern Conference and made an appearance in the Calder Cup Final.

Craig Berube's Stanley Cup legacy with Blues

Berube joined the Blues in 2017 as an assistant head coach to Mike Yeo. In 2018, he assumed the interim head coach role when Yeo was fired. During the 2018-19 season, Berube oversaw a resurgent St. Louis team that went on a 30-10-5 run to make the Stanley Cup Playoffs. And they went on to win it all, defeating the Boston Bruins in the 2019 Stanley Cup Final.

The Blues removed the interim tag, making Berube the permanent head coach after their victory. Unfortunately, St. Louis never found that magic again under the Alberta native. St. Louis made the playoffs three out of the next four seasons but only advanced past the first round once.

Craig Berube recorded a record of 206-132-44 as bench boss in St. Louis. He becomes the third head coach fired this season. The Edmonton Oilers parted ways with Jay Woodcroft last month. And the Minnesota Wild relived Dean Evason of his duties, as well.

St. Louis has decided to make a change now in hopes of turning things around. Let's see if this coaching change can help the Blues climb their way back into contention for the Stanley Cup Playoffs.