Central Division soap opera

Hey there, time traveller!
This article was published 15/12/2023 (663 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current.

Doug Armstrong had no interest in handing Craig Berube his walking papers.

Ultimately, the general manager of the St. Louis Blues felt he had no choice, which is why earlier this week, he fired the only head coach to lead the franchise to the Stanley Cup.

Armstrong had been searching for answers and that process will be ongoing, as he explained in a press conference that lasted nearly 40 minutes.

Trades were considered, but nothing out there would have made the Blues a better team.

After giving the Blues some additional time to respond to Berube — who guided the Blues to the top of the mountain in 2019 — Armstrong felt it was time to take action, so he summoned Drew Bannister from the Springfield Thunderbirds of the American Hockey League to take over on an interim basis.

Berube finishes his tenure with the Blues with a record of 206-132-44, good for a points percentage of just under .600 during parts of six seasons, qualifying for the post-season in four of five seasons — the exception being 2022-23.

It stands to reason Berube will be getting another shot, perhaps even this season, for a team looking to change its fortunes.

As for the Blues, the roster Armstrong constructed doesn’t resemble the hard-nosed, stingy defensive group that went 16-10 on its way to winning the Stanley Cup in 2019.

The Blues are too loose defensively and will need to rectify that if they want to force their way back into the playoff picture.

As he spoke to reporters in St. Louis, Armstrong was adamant the Blues were a playoff team and hinted he wouldn’t shy away from making difficult decisions to change the roster’s composition.

Just last spring, Ivan Barbashev was the biggest prize at the NHL trade deadline, helping the Vegas Golden Knights capture the Stanley Cup.

The Blues have several players who will attract attention should they hit the trade market at some point this season, including versatile forward Pavel Buchnevich, who is under contract through the 2024-25 season with a contract that has an AAV of US$5.8 million (though his contract pays him US$6.9 million this season and US$6.3 million next season).

The Winnipeg Jets were among the teams believed to be interested in Buchnevich when he was dealt to the Blues by the New York Rangers in July of 2021 and they would make sense as a suitor again, even if the player has a 12-team no-trade clause.

Buchnevich, who can play all three forward positions, has 10 goals and 23 points in 26 games with the Blues this season.

Another player who could have some appeal for the Jets is right-handed shooting defenceman Colton Parayko, though he is under contract through the 2029-30 season and also has trade protection.

Around the glass

The dysfunction doesn’t stop in St. Louis. In fact, much of the Central Division is one big headline-making mess over the past week. Save for a few exceptions, including right here in Winnipeg where it’s sunshine and rainbows compared to some of their closest rivals.

Let’s shift to Denver, where there’s a chill in the air these days that has nothing to do with the mountain temperatures.

Ismo Lehkonen is a Finnish hockey analyst who recently spoke publicly about a mini-slump Colorado Avalanche star Mikko Rantanen had been in. He suggested it’s because the veteran forward “didn’t have a terribly swell summer” when it comes to getting himself in shape for the current campaign.

Normally, the player would probably brush off this type of criticism. However, the elephant in the room here is that Lehkonen’s son just happens to be Rantanen’s (currently injured) teammate, Artturi. That’s a little awkward, don’t ya think?

Not only did Rantanen come out firing the next game – a goal and two assists, including feeding Nathan MacKinnon for the game-winner in a 6-5 comeback over the Calgary Flames – but he fired a few verbal slappers through the media.

“It feels good. It’s actually one thing where I got a lot of extra energy,” he said following the game. “One of our Finnish NHL player’s dad was talking (expletive) about me in the media, that I didn’t train last summer like I used to do. (He) was making things up. That was for him. If you talk (expletive), it’s going to come back at you.”

Spicy.

The Avalanche are in Winnipeg to face the Jets Saturday.

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Over to Minnesota we go, where the recent firing of coach Dean Evason and the hiring of John Hynes has the Wild faring a bit better on the ice lately. Issues continue to swirl off it, with The Athletic reporting this week general manager/president of hockey operations Bill Guerin was investigated for allegations of verbal abuse made by a team employee, who handles various player services issues.

According to the report, there was a second “code of conduct” probe running at the same time, although details of that weren’t disclosed. All the Wild would say publicly is the organization took “appropriate steps” to deal with the matters.

Earlier this week, in a surprising move, the Wild announced they were “mutually parting ways” with assistant GM Chris O’Hearn.

The Jets and Wild will face each other in a home-and-home series later this month, on Dec. 30 and 31.

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Let’s head down to the desert, where an NHL/NHLPA investigation is now underway into allegations that Arizona Coyotes defenceman Juuso Valimaki was left without care at a Dallas hospital for several hours after taking a slap shot to his mouth in a game and suffering a gruesome, painful injury.

The report from Daily Faceoff says Valimaki’s wife, angry that her husband had been dropped off by ambulance at the Dallas hospital and told he’d have to wait a significant amount of time to be seen because of higher-priority incidents, ultimately got the player’s union involved, which expedited matters.

Valimaki was even urged to leave the hospital, check himself into a nearby hotel and return a couple of days later for oral surgery – a move doctors later told him could have caused him to choke on his own blood.

Valimaki ultimately was diagnosed with significant internal bleeding, a hole in his mouth, a broken bone and several lost teeth, requiring oral surgery and 55 stitches to close.

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Last, but certainly not least, we go to Chicago, where the mystery surrounding Corey Perry’s sudden contract termination continues.

According to Elliotte Friedman, the NHLPA is still considering filing a grievance over the matter, worried about the precedent it may set. This is despite the fact it doesn’t appear the veteran forward is pounding the table for them to do so.

As Friedman wrote this past week, “that would be unprecedented territory and a very big deal within the association as it is supposed to work with and for the player, not against their wishes.”

The Blackhawks never publicly revealed what exactly Perry did beyond a cryptic statement that read, in part, “he engaged in conduct that is unacceptable, and in violation of both the terms of his Standard Player’s Contract and the Blackhawks’ internal policies intended to promote professional and safe work environments.”

Since then, additional reporting has suggested an alcohol-fuelled incident at a team function involving a team employee may have precipitated Perry’s departure.

There you have it, folks. You’re all caught up on the latest storylines in As The Central Division Turns.

 

ken.wiebe@freepress.mb.ca

X: @WiebesWorld

mike.mcintyre@freepress.mb.ca

X: @mikemcintyrewpg