VORHEES, N.J. — Craig Berube doesn’t strike you as the sentimental type. Nonetheless, Monday’s practice had to been a little strange for the Blues’ head coach.
The Philadelphia Flyers had a Presidents Day matinee game Monday against the Carolina Hurricanes, so the Wells Fargo Center wasn’t available to the Blues. Instead, they used the Flyers’ practice facility in South Jersey — a place where Berube spent hundreds, maybe thousands, of hours late in his career in the Flyers’ organization.
“I spent a lot of time here obviously over the years as a player and a coach,” Berube said, speaking of the facility in particular and Philadelphia in general. “It’s always great to come back here. It’s been a while since we’ve been back here obviously. But a lot of memories. And really got my start as a player and a coach here, in this city.”
As a player, Berube was signed by the Flyers as an undrafted free agent in 1986. He had two stints with the them as a player, with stops all over the NHL sprinkled in between during a 17-year playing career.
His coaching career began in 2003 as a player-coach for the Philadelphia Phantoms, then the Flyers’ minor-league affiliate. He got his first bite of the apple as an NHL head coach in 2013-14, taking over three games into the season and leading the Flyers to a 42-27-10 record and a playoff berth.
But he was fired the next season after a 33-31-18 non-playoff campaign. And he wondered if he’d ever coach again. Berube, you see, never was the politician. He’s not a back-slapping, how-you-doing kind of guy.
“Leaving Philly, I really hadn’t made too many connections outside of Philly,” Berube said. “I’m a pretty quiet, like, I don’t approach a lot of people. I don’t approach a lot of people on other teams.
“Basically, when I was here in Philly, I was with Philly. When you leave, you get fired — teams are not gonna hire you usually unless they really know you, a lot of times. That’s a big part of it. I mean, I get it that some coaches that don’t have jobs and have very good coaching records — won a Cup maybe, or whatever — they get another look because of their past. I didn’t have a lot of experience as a head coach.”
And he didn’t have a lot of connections. But former Flyers players and executives Bobby Clarke and Paul Holmgren always were in Berube’s corner. (Holmgren also coached the Flyers.) One thing led to another and he ended up getting hired by Blues general manager Doug Armstrong to do some scouting. One thing led to another, and here we are.
“When I took over as the Flyers head coach, ... I was myself,” Berube said. “I never strayed from that, just being myself and being very brutally honest about everything I do and my approach with my players, coaches, anybody. Management. I mean, I think that’s really what I continue to do.”
But he was fired the next season after a 33-31-18 non-playoff campaign. And he wondered if he’d ever coach again. Berube, you see, never was the politician. He’s not a back-slapping, how-you-doing kind of guy.
“Leaving Philly, I really hadn’t made too many connections outside of Philly,” Berube said. “I’m a pretty quiet, like, I don’t approach a lot of people. I don’t approach a lot of people on other teams.
“Basically, when I was here in Philly, I was with Philly. When you leave, you get fired — teams are not gonna hire you usually unless they really know you, a lot of times. That’s a big part of it. I mean, I get it that some coaches that don’t have jobs and have very good coaching records — won a Cup maybe, or whatever — they get another look because of their past. I didn’t have a lot of experience as a head coach.”
And he didn’t have a lot of connections. But former Flyers players and executives Bobby Clarke and Paul Holmgren always were in Berube’s corner. (Holmgren also coached the Flyers.) One thing led to another and he ended up getting hired by Blues general manager Doug Armstrong to do some scouting. One thing led to another, and here we are.
“When I took over as the Flyers head coach, ... I was myself,” Berube said. “I never strayed from that, just being myself and being very brutally honest about everything I do and my approach with my players, coaches, anybody. Management. I mean, I think that’s really what I continue to do.”
“So it was a tough situation at the time (replacing Yeo in St. Louis). It really was.”
Perhaps because of all that time spent in the Flyers’ organization, Berube’s permanent residence is in Bucks County, Pa., about 40 miles north of Philly. After the team arrived from Toronto, he got to spend Sunday with girlfriend Dominique Pino and the kids. They have five children through previous relationships. It’s not the Brady Bunch — call it the Berube Bunch.
“Spent the day there with the kids, which was great, and the family,” he said. “I don’t get to see ’em a whole lot, so it was nice. I enjoyed it.”
It’s the first time he’s seen them since the Christmas holidays and the Winter Classic.
“They’re getting big. Time flies, I’ll tell you,” Berube said. “You miss a lot as a coach. You know, it’s part of it all. That’s the sacrifice you gotta make as a coach, I think more than anything, it’s just time spent with family — not spending enough time with the family and being around ’em.”
