St. Louis Blues fire head coach Mike Yeo after disappointing start

Jace Evans | USA TODAY

The St. Louis Blues have fired head coach Mike Yeo following a disappointing start to the season, the team announced late Monday night.

The move comes after Monday's 2-0 loss to the Los Angeles Kings – the worst team in the NHL – that dropped the Blues' record to 7-9-3.

Assistant Craig Berube was elevated to interim head coach. He previously served as head coach of the AHL's Chicago Wolves and the NHL's Philadelphia Flyers from 2013-15, where he compiled a 75-58-28 record and one playoff appearance in parts of two seasons.

Yeo had served as head coach of the Blues since 2017, when he was elevated to the top job after Ken Hitchcock was fired. He got the Blues to the playoffs that year, where they upset the Minnesota Wild in the first round, but missed the playoffs in 2018 with a loss to the Colorado Avalanche in the season finale.

BREAKING NEWS: Mike Yeo has been relieved of his duties; Craig Berube has been named interim head coach. https://t.co/LhzyOrLNNb #stlblues — St. Louis Blues (@StLouisBlues) November 20, 2018

Expectations were high for the Blues this season after the offseason acquisition of center Ryan O'Reilly. Despite the center's great year (23 points in 19 games), the team has underwhelmed, and it has cost Yeo his job.

He finishes with a 73-49-11 mark in St. Louis. He previously spent parts of five seasons with the Wild, putting up a 173-132-44 record.

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While Berube has experience as a head coach at the NHL level, him receiving the "interim" title will fuel speculation about a reunion with Joel Quenneville. The recently-fired coach of the Chicago Blackhawks served as Blues coach from 1996-2004. Quenneville remains the winningest coach in Blues history.