Blues Head Coach Craig Berube Not Happy With Calls Against His Team

After watching his team allow four powerplay goals on four Bruins powerplays and shots in a 7-2 loss to the Boston Bruins in Game 3 of the Stanley Cup Final Saturday, St. Louis Blues head coach Craig Berube expressed frustration to the media Sunday over what he feels has been an unfair ratio of penalties favoring the Bruins through the first three games of the series. The Bruins have had fourteen powerplays and are 6-for-14 on the man advantage thus far in the Final. The Blues have been called for 17 penalties total in the series and while the Bruins been called for 12.

“I don’t agree with all the calls,” the Blues coach said. “We were the least penalized team in the league in the first three rounds. Now, all of a sudden, we’ve taken 17 penalties in one series. We were the least penalized team in the playoffs coming into this round. Now all these penalties.”

The Blues actually had more power plays than the Bruins last night but were not even close to their perfection on the man advantage going 1-for-5. Berube thinks his team was a lot closer to winning than the score may have indicated and that the referees played a role in that.

“We don’t feel it was a 7-2 game. I mean, it was, but listen, our team is confident,” Berube said. “That game last night, it’s a hard one to evaluate. The penalties, they get four power-play goals out of it. Just 5-on-5, I didn’t think we were bad in the game. But, you know, the game gets out of reach.”

Berube also disputed the notion that his team unraveled emotionally in Game 3 like in Game 3 when they admittedly did and lost 4-2.

“I don’t buy into all of that, to be honest with you,” Berube said. “I think that we could definitely be more composed after the whistle. I think we’ve let some frustration get in there where we maybe do too much after the whistle. So, we’ll clean that up, for sure. But like I said, we were the least penalized team in the league coming into this series. I mean, they make calls and don’t really give us explanations why.”