When Kevin Hayes got off to a slow start with the Philadelphia Flyers, coach Alain Vigneault didn’t need to talk to him.
Assistants Mike Yeo and Michel Therrien took care of that. Because...
ST. LOUIS (AP) — Blues general manager Doug Armstrong had his staff produce a list of coaching candidates after firing Mike Yeo in November. He hasn't looked at it since January.
ST. LOUIS (AP) — The Blues made official Tuesday what everyone had expected the moment Craig Berube led St. Louis to a remarkable turnaround capped by the first Stanley Cup championship in...
Dead last in the NHL in early January, the St. Louis Blues looked like underachievers who cost their head coach his job and wouldn't remain together for long.
This is not Brayden Schenn's first rodeo with a lot of things this season.
It is his second time playing under Craig Berube as an interim coach and the third time his name has been prominent in trade speculation. For Schenn and the St. Louis Blues, those things are related.
ST. LOUIS (AP) — The struggling St. Louis Blues have placed backup goaltender Chad Johnson on waivers and called up Jordan Binnington to take his place.
The Blues put Johnson on waivers after recalling Binnington and sending forward Sammy Blais down to the American Hockey League's San Antonio Rampage. Johnson is 2-6-0 with a 3.54 goals-against average and .884 save percentage in 10 appearances this season.
ST. LOUIS (AP) — St. Louis Blues center Brayden Schenn is known for his offensive touch. He showed his physical side on Friday night.
Ryan O'Reilly, Schenn and Alex Pietrangelo finished with a goal and an assist, and the Blues snapped a three-game losing streak with a 6-2 victory over the Nashville Predators.
ST. LOUIS (AP) — The Blues will be casting a wide net in their coaching search.
General manager Doug Armstrong fired Mike Yeo after Monday's 2-0 loss to the Los Angeles Kings. Craig Berube is the interim coach while Armstrong assembles a list of candidates for the permanent job.
ST. LOUIS (AP) — Teammates and friends in the minors, Los Angeles Kings rookies Calvin Peterson and Matt Luff pulled off NHL firsts in the same game.
Peterson earned his first shutout and Luff scored his first goal, leading the Kings to a 2-0 victory over St. Louis on Monday night — hours before the scuffling Blues fired coach Mike Yeo.
ST. LOUIS (AP) — Rookie goalie Calvin Peterson earned his first NHL shutout and rookie forward Matt Luff scored his first goal for Los Angeles, as the Kings defeated St. Louis 2-0 Monday night, hours before the Blues fired coach Mike Yeo.
St. Louis general manager Doug Armstrong named Craig Berube as the team's interim coach. At 7-9-3, the Blues are in last place in the Central Division, and their 17 points rank next-to-last in the NHL, ahead of only Los Angeles.
ST. LOUIS (AP) — Amid a disappointing showing that fell well short of Stanley Cup expectations, the St. Louis Blues fired coach Mike Yeo a quarter of the way into the season and named Craig Berube as his interim replacement.
ST. LOUIS (AP) — Blues coach Mike Yeo expects fingers to be pointed after St. Louis' latest crushing defeat.
He was even ready to go first.
"Heck, my job should be in question," the second-year Blues boss said following a 7-4 loss to the Columbus Blue Jackets. St. Louis blew a two-goal lead for the second straight game, then kept its locker room closed for 23 minutes for a private meeting.
ST. LOUIS (AP) — David Perron likes his new line.
Perron scored his fourth career hat trick, Alexander Steen had a goal and an assist, and the St. Louis Blues beat the Calgary Flames 5-3 on Thursday night.
Joel Edmundson also scored and Brayden Schenn had three assists as the Blues won for the first time this season. Jake Allen made 31 saves.
Before the game, Blues coach Mike Yeo moved Perron up to the second line with Schenn and Jaden Schwartz.
WASHINGTON (AP) — Washington Capitals right winger Tom Wilson could face a suspension of six or more games for a blindside hit to the head of St. Louis Blues center Oskar Sundqvist during a preseason game on Sunday.
ST. LOUIS BLUES
LAST SEASON: 44-32-6, 94 points. Finished fourth in Central Division, one point shy of a playoff spot.
COACH: Mike Yeo (second full season, eighth NHL season).
ADDED: C Ryan O'Reilly, C Tyler Bozak, F David Perron, F Patrick Maroon, G Chad Johnson.
LOST: F Vladimir Sobotka, F Patrik Berglund, F Tage Thompson.
ST. LOUIS (AP) — Three days after missing the playoffs, the St. Louis Blues learned their star forward Vladimir Tarasenko will need surgery on Wednesday for a dislocated left shoulder.
Tarasenko was hurt in the first period of the regular-season finale on Saturday in Colorado. The Blues needed a point in the game to reach the playoffs, but lost 5-2.
CHICAGO (AP) — The playoff field for the Western Conference is almost set.
Patrik Berglund and St. Louis are going to Colorado to try for the final spot.
Berglund scored three times to help the Blues beat the Chicago Blackhawks 4-1 on Friday night, setting up a showdown with the Avalanche for the conference's last wild card.
COLUMBUS, Ohio (AP) — The St. Louis Blues got things going early and put an end to the Columbus Blue Jackets' 10-game winning streak with a big victory over their own.
Jake Allen made 33 saves, Alexander Steen scored on St. Louis' first shot of the game, and the Blues beat the Blue Jackets 2-1 on Saturday night.
ST. LOUIS (AP) — Jaden Schwartz and the St. Louis Blues waited most of the season for some late-game magic.
They finally found it.
Schwartz scored his second goal of the game 30 seconds into overtime to give St. Louis a 2-1 victory over the Boston Bruins on Wednesday night.
It was the Blues' third successive come-from-behind win in overtime. They beat Chicago 5-4 on Sunday after a 4-3 extra period win over the New York Rangers a day earlier.
CHICAGO (AP) — St. Louis Blues forward Vladimir Tarasenko has been ruled for their game at Chicago due to an upper-body injury.
Tarasenko got hurt in the first period of the Blues' 4-3 overtime victory against the New York Rangers on Saturday night. Coach Mike Yeo says he is day to day.
The 26-year-old Tarasenko leads St. Louis with 27 goals. The Blues are competing for a wild card in the Western Conference.
ST. LOUIS (AP) — The St. Louis Blues got a much-needed two points against the New York Rangers. They hope they haven't lost leading scorer Vladimir Tarasenko in the process.
ANAHEIM, Calif. (AP) — The St. Louis Blues are less interested in identifying why they've suddenly turned things around than they are in simply extending their improved play.
After losing nine of 10 and fading in the playoff race, the Blues won their second consecutive game against a team they're pursuing in the Western Conference, beating the Anaheim Ducks 4-2 on Monday night.
St. Louis got goals from four players, two days after seven Blues scored in a 7-2 win over the Los Angeles Kings.
ST. LOUIS (AP) — St. Louis coach Mike Yeo turned to desperate measures to try and snap his team out of its roughest stretch of the season.
Yeo decided that the fourth line would start the game Wednesday against the Detroit Red Wings.
He told the players about his unorthodox choice minutes before they took the ice.
"It got a chuckle out of the guys," said Scottie Upshall, a member of the trio.
ST. LOUIS (AP) — St. Louis Blues center Brayden Schenn wasted little time in providing a much-needed spark on home ice.
Schenn scored twice and Vince Dunn had a career-high three assists to help the St. Louis Blues beat the Colorado Avalanche 6-1 on Thursday night.
Schenn's fight with Gabriel Landeskog three seconds into the game set the tone.
ST. LOUIS (AP) — Carter Hutton insists his recent run is not the result of a new strategy or a different outlook.
"I'm the same goalie, I'm just playing more," Hutton said.
And winning, too.
Hutton stopped 33 shots in his sixth straight start, helping the St. Louis Blues beat the Montreal Canadiens 3-1 on Tuesday night.
ST. LOUIS (AP) — Carter Hutton is making it hard for Blues coach Mike Yeo to take him off the ice.
Hutton made 36 saves, Brayden Schenn scored in his fourth straight game and St. Louis beat the Colorado Avalanche 3-1 on Thursday night.
Alexander Steen scored for the fourth time in his last five games, Paul Stastny also scored and Alex Pietrangelo had a pair of assists for the Blues, who have won four of five.
VANCOUVER, British Columbia (AP) — The Blues finally got a win in Western Canada.
Kyle Brodziak had a goal and an assist, and St. Louis snapped a three-game skid with a 3-1 victory over the Vancouver Canucks on Saturday night.
Patrik Berglund and Alexander Steen also scored for St. Louis, which got 30 saves from Jake Allen.
Brock Boeser got his team-leading 20th goal for Vancouver. Jacob Markstrom stopped 31 shots.
The Blues had dropped three straight in regulation on a trip through Western Canada.
ST. LOUIS (AP) — As a backup goalie, Carter Hutton knows he has to make the most of his rare chances to play.
Hutton did just that, making a career-high 48 saves to earn his ninth career shutout as the St. Louis Blues beat the Winnipeg Jets 2-0 Saturday night.
"Anytime we gave up something Hutton was there," Blues coach Mike Yeo said. "He was sharp right from the start. He was excited to get back in the net."
Vladimir Tarasenko and Vince Dunn scored for St. Louis, which snapped a two-game skid.
ST. LOUIS (AP) — Five days after his first child was born, St. Louis Blues defenseman Carl Gunnarsson left the rink with a special present for his daughter.
"I've got the puck," Gunnarsson said after scoring the game-winning goal Monday night in a 4-2 victory over the Los Angeles Kings.
Vladimir Tarasenko and Jaden Schwartz each had a goal and an assist to lead the Blues in a matchup between two of the NHL's top squads.
ST. LOUIS (AP) — Off to a strong start this season, the St. Louis Blues are getting contributions from everyone on the roster.
The Blues received another fine effort from goalie Jake Allen and a good performance from their fourth line Saturday night in a 4-1 win over the Columbus Blue Jackets.
RALEIGH, N.C. (AP) — Dmitri Jaskin had spent some important minutes in the press box during the first 10 games of the St. Louis Blues' season.
But he showed on Friday night he can be up for some ice time.
Jaskin scored his first goal of the season and Brayden Schenn added the game-winner, giving the Blues a 2-1 victory over the Carolina Hurricanes.
Jaskin had been a healthy scratch in three of St. Louis' first 10 games, with one assist over that span.
ST. LOUIS (AP) — Jaden Schwartz missed the final seven minutes of the first period after taking a big hit and going head-first into the boards. He shook it off in a big way for the St. Louis Blues.
Back for the start of the second period, Schwartz ended up with his third career hat trick to help the Blues beat the Chicago Blackhawks 5-2 on Wednesday night.
"My toe pick caught a rivet on the ice," Schwartz said. "Just happened fast, head-first into the boards and couldn't get my hands up."
NEW YORK (AP) — The St. Louis Blues recognize that they've entered the new NHL season in a precarious position because of injuries to key players.
They're not letting that stop them from finding ways to win.
"Next man up is the mentality we have to have," coach Mike Yeo said after Carter Hutton made 16 of his 32 saves in the third period to help the Blues remain unbeaten with a 3-1 win over the New York Rangers on Tuesday night.
Vladimir Tarasenko told the St. Louis Blues he wants to lead them to another level.
After a sixth consecutive playoff appearance without a trip to the Stanley Cup Final, what is the next level for the Blues?
When the Boston Bruins fired Claude Julien in February, Joel Quenneville took over as the longest-serving NHL head coach.
Hired in October 2008, Quenneville enters his 10th season with the Chicago Blackhawks amid a continuously rotating cast of coaching peers. Seven teams hired new coaches this offseason, including the first head coach in the history of the league's 31st franchise, the Vegas Golden Knights.
NASHVILLE, Tenn. (AP) — The Nashville Predators finally get a new opponent in the postseason after their surprising sweep of the Western Conference's No. 1 seed.
ST. PAUL, Minn. (AP) — The St. Louis Blues were reveling in their Game 5 win at Minnesota to clinch the first-round series when coach Mike Yeo was greeted by a familiar face in the office inside the visiting team locker room.
Wild general manager Chuck Fletcher, who fired him just down the hall a little more than a year ago, stepped in to congratulate him on the 4-3 overtime victory .
ST. PAUL, Minn. (AP) — Minnesota had the upper hand on St. Louis for most of this series, controlling the play for periods at a time.
With goalie Jake Allen as their guide and coach Mike Yeo on their side, though, the Blues sure had the right formula for beating the Wild in the playoffs.
ST. LOUIS (AP) — Blues forward Paul Stastny skated for the first time in a month on Tuesday after missing the last 13 games with a lower-body injury.
Coach Mike Yeo said Stastny is day to day. St. Louis is up 3-0 in its first-round series against the Minnesota Wild, with Game 4 at home Wednesday night.
Stastny left a game at Colorado on March 21 after being hit in the foot by a Vladimir Tarasenko shot. He has 18 goals and 22 assists in 66 games this season.
ST. LOUIS (AP) — St. Louis Blues coach Mike Yeo said before the start of his team's series against the Minnesota Wild that one player wouldn't win or lose the series for his team.
Jake Allen is doing his best to prove his coach wrong.
The Blues' goalie was outstanding for the third consecutive game, making 40 saves and Jaden Schwartz had the go-ahead goal in the second period to give the Blues a 3-1 win over the Wild on Sunday for a 3-0 lead in their first-round playoff series.
ST. PAUL, Minn. (AP) — With Jake Allen as steady as ever in the net and those big defensemen crowding the ice in front of him, the St. Louis Blues again stymied Minnesota's attack.
All those misfires in the zone for the Wild added up to a wasted home-ice advantage.
Jaden Schwartz scored with 2:27 left during a disputed 4-on-4 situation and the Blues beat the Wild 2-1 on Friday night for a 2-0 lead in the first-round series.
The Dallas Stars are bringing back Stanley Cup-winning coach Ken Hitchcock, hoping to turn themselves back into a championship contender.
Hitchcock is returning to Dallas and will be named coach at a news conference Thursday. A person with direct knowledge of the situation confirmed the hire to The Associated Press on condition of anonymity Wednesday because the team hadn't announced it.
ST. PAUL, Minn. (AP) — This was not quite the plan the St. Louis Blues had for Mike Yeo.
He was supposed to take over as head coach next season, after Ken Hitchcock's retirement, not in the middle of this one. The plan certainly didn't include a first-round matchup for Yeo and the Blues against the Minnesota Wild, who fired him just last year.
A look at the NHL playoffs that begin Wednesday:
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WHO'S PLAYING
EAST: The NHL-leading Washington Capitals face the Toronto Maple Leafs and the defending Stanley Cup champion Pittsburgh Penguins have home-ice advantage against the rival Columbus Blue Jackets on the Metropolitan Division side. On the Atlantic side, the division champion Montreal Canadiens face the wild-card New York Rangers, and the Ottawa Senators have home ice against the Boston Bruins.