Andy Murray Out and Davis Payne In

Per the St. Louis Post Dispatch and the Blues Official Website Coach Andy Murray has been fired and Peoria Riverman Coach Davis Payne is now the Interm Head Coach.

Blues Interm Coach Davis Payne - Image via pjstar.com

Payne, 39, has a career 62-44-3-6 record with the Blues AHL affiliate in Peoria. This season Peoria is 19-13-1-2 in 3rd Place in the AHL’s Western Conference, West Division. They are tied with three other teams with 41 points, which are the 5th, 6th, and 7th spots on the Conference standings. Last season Payne returned the Riverman to the AHL playoffs after missing two straight. Payne also coached the Blues ECHL affiliate Alaska Aces to a ECHL Championship in 2006.

Former Coach Andy Murray - Image via blues.nhl.com

Murray’s time in St. Louis has been a mixed bag, full of high and low points. When he came to the team on December 11th, 2006 the Blues were in sad shape. Mike Kitchen was just fired as the team began its full scale rebuild. Andy Murray was brought in to maximize the veterans onteh roster while the organization was reshaped. The goal was a team more geared for post lockout styles and rules. Murray lead the Blues to a second half surge, but finished out of the play offs. In the 07-08 season the Blues were still a rebuilding team that Murray was working hard with. Instilling fundamentals anda solid work ethic with newer players. This trend continued to the 08-09 season where he orchestrated a history book like second half run to get the Blues in to the playoffs despite losing Erik Johnson, Eric Brewer, Paul Kariya, and Andy McDonald over long stretches. Expectations were heightened for the 09-10 camping based on returning players and Murray’s Jack Adams Nomination. The team has largely struggled this season, posting a 17-17-6 record with 40 points leading to a 4th place ranking in the Central Division and 12th in the Western Conference.

A fairly good synposis of Payne’s coaching style can be found here.

Please allow me to temper expectations Blues fans. I’ve seen some fans liken tis to the Penguins firing Michel Therrien and bringing in Dan Bylsma. As a huge Pens fan I can shed some light here. Dan did a good job because he understood what he had to work with and relates well to the younger players while still having respect of the veterans.  The high end talent level the Pens have pushed that team over the top. Please, do not put unrealistic expectations on Davis Payne because of Dan Bylsma (or Joe Sacco even). Payne did coach some of the players on the Blues roster, but not many. He will have to work hard to establish himself and that may take time. Do not expect a 5-0 thrashing of the Blackhawks tonight.

Expect some changes in ice-time since Payne is not a match-up intensive coach. Payne likes to be aggressive and forecheck and get the puck north (similar to Byslma, I know, but that’s the new style). I would say expect a high energy game, maybe not the best results to start, but the Blues should be bringing some heat.

I will not be able to get around to a Gameday, I don’t think. I am going to catch Chicago at the Fox today before the Blues game. Please stay tuned to Jeremy Rutherford and Andy Strickland on their websites and Twitter today for updates. We have links to their homes online on our Links Page.

Its a dawning of a new era Blues fans. Right or wrong, both the players and Murray are at fault for the mess that this season has become. As much as I like Murray (and I honestly do), he is just not the coach to take this young team forward. Blues fans had to question if he was able to adapt to the new styles of the post lockout game. From what we can see, he cannot change under adversity. Hopefully Payne can bring his “new school” approach and ramp this teams level of play up like Bylsma, Sacco, and Boudreau have for their teams.