Last week, we ranked the 11 starting goalies of the St. Blues since 2000. Today, we rank the seven head coaches the Blues have had since 2000.
Ranking The Head Coaches: Important Note
Right away, it needs to be noted that newly-named head coach Drew Bannister will not appear on this list. While Bannister was the interim head coach from December of last season until the end of the year, it does not seem fair to try and rank him among the others. Bannister’s sample size is simply too small to be able to fairly rank him. With the exception of Bannister, all other head coaches since 2000 will appear on this list.
What Factors Into The Rankings
Multiple things are looked at to determine rankings. Both positive and negative factors are considered to help differentiate. The following is the list of factors, in no particular order:
- Team rankings in wins
- Regular season standings
- Regular season team/player awards
- Success in the Stanley Cup Playoffs
- How the coach performed based on the talent of the team
Without further ado, let us rank the seven Blues head coaches since the 1999-2000 season.
Ranking St. Louis Blues Head Coaches Since 2000
Head Coach #7 Mike Yeo
The Blues hired Yeo to be the assistant coach for the 2016-17 season. The initial plan was that current head coach, Ken Hitchcock, would retire after the season and Yeo would become the head coach. In the second half of the season, the Blues were struggling. In an effort to shake things up, the Blues fired Hitchcock and promoted Yeo to head coach. The move seemed to pay off, as the Blues turned things around and finished the season with 99 points. The Blues made it to the second round of the playoffs before being eliminated.
The future seemed bright with Yeo as the head coach. However, the Blues would under perform immensely in 2017-18. The Blues core of players struggled. The Blues ended up missing the playoffs by a single point. The following off-season, the Blues brought back David Perron, signed Tyler Bozak, and traded for Ryan O’Reilly. The team looked like a Stanley Cup contender. Instead, the team continued to under perform. Yeo was fired in November.
What puts Yeo at the bottom of this list is that the Blues should have done much better with him as the head coach. Yeo had been successful with the Minnesota Wild. For whatever season, that success would not carry over to the Blues. Other coaches will show up on this list who had worse performances in the regular-season standings. However, losing when a team is expected to lose or at least struggle is different from losing with a team expected to win. The Blues were expected to win, but Yeo could not translate that onto the ice. For that, he sits at the bottom of this list.
Despite the struggles, Yeo does rank tenth in Blues history with 73 wins.
Head Coach #6 Mike Kitchen
Kitchen took over as the Blues head coach in February in 2004. The Blues found their footing with Kitchen. The Blues rallied to finish second in the Central Division with 91 points. However, the Blues would lose in the first round of the playoffs to the San Jose Sharks.
After the 2004-05 season was canceled due to the lockout, Kitchen returned as head coach. However, it was a new era of Blues hockey, and it was not a good one. The 2005-06 Blues finished last in the NHL with 57 points. Furthermore, the Blues streak of 25-consecutive playoff appearances ended. Kitchen’s time with the Blues ended in December of 2006 when he was fired.
The Blues struggles during Kitchen’s tenure was not a reflection of Kitchen’s coaching abilities. The team had traded Chris Pronger prior to the start of the season. The lockout has spawned the introduction of the salary cap, and the Blues front office wanted to shed salary.
It was simply not a good time in Blues history. For Kitchen, he has the misfortune of being the head coach for it.
Head Coach #5 Davis Payne
Payne became the Blues head coach in January 2010. The Blues were in the middle of an inconsistent season. They were coming off a Cinderella run to the playoffs in 2009 and were hoping to return in 2010. However, the Blues were inconsistent and were having trouble holding leads in the third period. Payne helped the Blues stay in the race, but they fell five points short of the last spot.
Despite trading for Jarsolav Halak, a breakout season by David Backes, and a blockbuster trade with the Colorado Avalanche, the Blues regressed in 2010-11. They finished with a respectable 87 points. However, they were still ten points out of the last playoff spot.
After another inconsistent start in 2011-12, Payne was fired in November and replaced by Ken Hitchcock. Payne had a similar tenure as Mike Yeo. Payne also had rosters capable of doing more than they did. Similarly, the Blues turned their season around after Payne’s firing, just like what happened with Yeo.
Head Coach #4 Andy Murray
Murray took over after the firing of Mike Kitchen in the 2006-07 season. Under Murray, the Blues finished the season strong and just missed out on the playoffs. The next year, behind an All-Star season from Manny Legace and a breakout season from Brad Boyes, the Blues remained in the playoff hunt before a late-season slump.
The 2008-09 season would be the best season in Murray’s tenure and a memorable one for the Blues. In January, the Blues were last place in the Western Conference. However, the Blues would turn their season around. The Blues went on a 6-2 run in February that brought them to a .500 record. Furthermore, the run put the Blues within the last five points of the last playoff spot. The Blues won 6 of 7 games in late March and early April to inch closer to the last spot.
Highlighted by a great rookie season by T.J. Oshie and an incredible run in goal by Chris Mason, the Blues made the playoffs for the first since since 2004. However, their run ran out of steam in the opening round of the playoffs. The Blues were swept by the Vancouver Canucks.
Struggles in 2009-10 led to Murray’s firing. Despite this, Murray brought the Blues back to a competitive state for the first time since the lockout. It can be argued that Murray helped the Blues perform better than the talent on their roster. Furthermore, Murray ranks fifth in wins by a Blues coach with 118.
Head Coach #3 Ken Hitchcock
Hitchcock took over following the firing of Davis Payne. Under Hitchcock, the Blues finished the 2011-12 season with 109 points. Furthermore, the Blues won the Central Division. Hitchcock’s Blues were led by the Jennings Trophy-winning duo of Jaroslav Halak and Brian Elliott. The Blues won a playoff series for the first time since 2002. Hitchcock also won the Jack Adams Award that season as the league’s top coach.
A second-round loss to the Los Angeles Kings ended up being the first in a series of consecutive eliminations by the Blues in following seasons. From 2013-2015, the Blues lost in the first round. Furthermore, the Blues struggled to score in each series. The Blues did have regular reason success, however. The 2014 team earned 111 points before a late-season slump cost them the Central Division title. Unlike 2014, the 2015 Blues would hang on to win the division title. However, their success went no further than that.
However, things changed in 2016. Under Hitchcock, the Blues reached the Western Conference Final for the first time since 2001. The Blues were six wins away from winning the Stanley Cup when the team was eliminated. Regardless of the elimination, it was a run that still lives fondly in the memories of Blues fans.
In 2017, Hitchcock became the first Blues coach to coach in a Winter Classic game for the team. The 2017 Winter Classic game at Busch Stadium would be the final great moment for Hitchcock as the Blues coach. Hitchcock was fired in February following the team’s continued struggles.
Hitchcock has the second-most wins by a Blues coach with 224.
Head Coach #2 Joel Quenneville
Quenneville has been in the news for the wrong reasons the last few years. With that being said, the new millennium started with Quenneville being one of the best coaches in the league with the Blues.
In 2000, the Blues won the President’s Trophy. Furthermore, Chris Pronger won the Hart Trophy as the league’s MVP. Pronger also won the Norris Trophy as the league’s top defenceman. The late Pavol Demitra won the Lady Byng Trophy. Adding to the list of of awards, Quenneville won the Jack Adams Award. However, the Blues lost in the first round of the playoffs. Despite this, 2000 is considered one of the best seasons in Blues history.
The 2001 season saw more success from Quenneville’s Blues. The Blues earned 103 points. While this was underwhelming compared to the 2000 President’s Trophy, the Blues found success in the playoffs. The Blues won their first two series to reach the Western Conference Final. The following season, the Blues earned 98 points and advanced to the second round of the playoffs.
In 2003, the Blues earned 99 points. Under Quenneville, the Blues also had a rather impressive award recipient. Defenceman Barret Jackman won the Calder Trophy. He did so as a defensive defenceman. Jackman was able to outshine offensive players such as Rick Nash and Henrik Zetterberg to win the award.
Unfortunately for Quenneville, his time with the Blues ended in the 2003-04 season when he was fired. Quenneville is the winningest coach in Blues history. The only thing missing from Quenneville’s breakable time with the Blues was a Stanley Cup.
Head Coach #1 Craig Berube
The slumping Blues made a coaching change in November 2018. Mike Yeo was fired and replaced by Berube. Things did not change right away, however. The Blues entered January last in the league. We know where the story goes from here.
Jordan Binnington earned a shutout in his first NHL start. From the on, he and the Blues were on a roll. The Blues ended the regular season with 99 points.
The magical regular season was followed by a magical run in the playoffs. On June 12, 2019, Berube became the first Blues head coach to lift the Stanley Cup. Berube’s role as the head coach was a key component in the Blues championship. Berube was awarded with a contract extension that summer.
In Berube’s first-full season as the Blues head coach, the Blues won the Central Division title. The shortened season due to COVID-19, however, appeared to stall the Blues momentum. After the five-month break, the Blues struggled in the playoffs and were eliminated in the first round. In an alternative universe, Berube may have won back-to-back Stanley Cups with the Blues.
Berube’s success continued over the next two seasons. The Blues made the playoffs both seasons. In 2022, Berube coached the Blues in the 2022 Winter Classic. In the 2022 Stanley Cup Playoffs, the Blues won their first playoff series since 2019.
Things went wrong for the Blues in 2023. Things started off no better for the Blues in the 2023-24 season. After a loss to the Detroit Red Wings on December 12, the Blues fired Berube. The decision was very controversial among fans, which increased after Jordan Kyrou’s “not my coach” comments.
Berube’s time in St. Louis ended with him as the third-winningest coach in Blues history. However, the Blues will always remember him as the coach who won the first Stanley Cup in team history.
Thank you for everything, Stanley Cup champion Craig Berube. #STLBlues pic.twitter.com/OQdvSR0i3H
— Blues Views (@STLBluesViews) December 13, 2023
Main Photo: Jeff Curry-USA TODAY Sports
