Berube on Kyrou: 'He got caught off-guard and didn't know what to say'

Former St. Louis Blues head coach Craig Berube said he has no problems with winger Jordan Kyrou, who was booed by home fans for his initial response to Berube's firing. 

Berube told The Ray & Dregs Hockey Podcast that Kyrou was simply caught off-guard when first asked about his dismissal.

"He reached out, for sure. Listen, I've got no issue with him," Berube said. "He got caught off-guard and didn't know what to say. He's young, a lot of these young guys get asked questions at the time and they're not thinking like they should think and it's tough for them.

"I was happy for Jordan, he came back and had a good game against Dallas, a very good team, so he's performed well. He'll be fine."

Kyrou was booed from the first time he took the ice, and every time he touched the puck in the Blues' first game after Berube firings – a 4-2 win over the Ottawa Senators last week.

Earlier that day, Kyrou was asked about Berube, saying, "I've got no comment. He's not my coach anymore.”

The 25-year-old forward was emotional when addressing the media post-game as he was asked about the response from fans.

"I definitely heard those," Kyrou said on the boos. "It's not easy. I see where they're coming from with my comments on it."

"I obviously respect Chief [Berube], He's been my coach the whole time I've been here," Kyrou continued. "I respect everything he's done here. He's done a great job; he's won a Cup.

"All I really meant was I'm just trying to focus on my future and focus on what I can do to help my team win."

Kyrou, who had an assist in the win over Ottawa, had a breakout performance in the Blues' next game, posting a goal and three points against the Stars. He has six goals and 21 points in 31 games this season after posting a career-high 37 goals and 73 points in 79 games last season.

Berube addresses firing

Berube was fired last week with the Blues off to a 13-14-1 start to the season.

The 58-year-old, who led St. Louis to a Stanley Cup after taking over from Mike Yeo during the 2018-19 season, said he saw the writing on the wall prior to his dismissal. 

"For sure. Especially when you go into Columbus and then to Chicago and you lose those two games," Berube said. "Where you're at, you need to win those games. Those are winnable hockey games. And then you come home, and you lose to Detroit, you think about it a little bit, but it really doesn't cross my mind that much. I'm just trying to focus on the games and what we've got to do to win hockey games.

"But, you do have a little bit of a feeling that it could come to an end for sure."

The Blues fired Berube after a 6-4 loss to the Detroit Red Wings which extended the team's losing streak to four games. 

St. Louis is 2-1-0 under interim head coach Drew Bannister since the coaching change.