Rutherford: What led to Blues fans booing Jordan Kyrou, and to his tears afterward

ST. LOUIS – The automatic doors to the locker room of the St. Louis Blues opened Thursday around 11 am, and the media did what we always do after morning skate on game day, spreading out to different players and doing some interviews.

I saw Jordan Kyrou sitting alone in his booth.

It’s been just over 24 hours since the Blues fired Craig Berube and brought in Drew Bannister. Kyrou was someone Berube pushed and encouraged to produce, which can often lead to a contentious relationship between players and coaches. As a reporter who is around the team a lot, I’ve been asked about this particular relationship on a number of occasions.

Several of the Blues spoke about Berube’s departure and how they took the news. I haven’t read or heard anything from Kyrou, so I decided to talk to him about it myself.

What were your thoughts on the coaching change? Does it seem like a fresh start?

Then came the third question.

There is so much about the relationship between you and Berube. Is there anything you’d like to say about that?

“I have no comment,” Kyrou replied. “He’s not my coach anymore.”

I told Kyrou I understood and we moved on to a different topic. The conversation lasted three minutes, I said “Thank you” and left.

Sometimes when a player says something that people are extremely interested in, you post it on social media relatively quickly. But it was three hours before I was back at my laptop, typing the comments from the morning practice.

I thought Kyrou’s comment might evoke a response? Certainly. I’ve been at X, formerly Twitter, since 2009, and I cover a professional sports team for a living. I know fans are passionate and reactive. I’ve sent a few quotes over the years that have created a stir, and as long as you’re 100 percent sure of the accuracy, it’s part of the job.

What unfolded Thursday, however, was different: Kyrou was trending on X, national television networks were creating charts, and when the Blues’ game against the Ottawa Senators began, many in the crowd of 18,096 at Enterprise Center booed him when he was announced. in the starting lineup and then every time he touched the puck.

Even though Kyrou said what he said, I watched from the press box wishing it would stop. I realize fans can do what they want, but I’m just being honest about how I felt.

After the Blues wrapped up a 4-2 victory in which Kyrou assisted the fourth goal, the club’s public relations department said he would speak to reporters again in the locker room. One by one Robert Thomas, Pavel Buchnevich and Kyrou appeared.

I felt the responsibility to ask the first question and give Kyrou a chance to say whatever he wanted, be it an explanation or whatever.

“Obviously I respect Chief,” he said. “He’s been my coach the whole time I’ve been here, hasn’t he? So, I respect everything he’s done here. He did a great job. He won a cup. All I really meant is I’m just trying to focus on my future and focus on what I can do to help my team win. That’s what I really meant.”

Kyrou said he found out about the backlash when he woke up from his afternoon nap. He said he didn’t know what the reaction would be on the road. But he quickly found out.

“Yeah, I definitely heard those,” Kyrou said. “That’s not easy, obviously. But I see where they are coming from, with my comments on it. That is certainly difficult. I love playing here. I love playing in front of the fans.”

Kyrou was asked what he would say to those fans.

“Sorry if it sounded bad,” he said. “I’m really trying to focus on the future here and focus on what I can do to help our team win and get wins for the boys.”

Kyrou did help on Thursday. Along with his assist, he was plus-3 and directed nine shots on net in 17:27 of ice time.

But later, he admitted, “It’s definitely the hardest game I’ve probably played, to be honest.”

At that point, Kyrou became emotional and was asked about those raw feelings.

“I mean, it’s just hard,” he said, breaking down a little. “I really like playing here. It’s just hard to hear the fans booing me out there.”

I asked Kyrou one more question, about this maybe being a bump in the road and fans loving him again soon.

“Like I said, I just want to focus on my future, focus on trying to be a more complete player and what I can do to help the team win,” he said. “That’s my goal now.”

I have a goal too. To make sure I provide more context when I post comments on social media. Sometimes I do, and sometimes I don’t, and this is one that could definitely use some. It is often difficult to describe someone’s tone. Was it complicated? Was it malicious? For anyone who’s still wondering, and I’ve listened to the audio again many times, it’s not so much disrespect as it is matter-of-fact and moving on.

Some fans on social media suggested to me that Kyrou said what he meant and explained it just because of the backlash. That is your right, but I will choose to believe that when he was given the opportunity to elaborate, he did, and he chose his words well.

“He helped me in a lot of ways,” Kyrou said of Berube after the game. “He really helped me complete my game, try to be a more complete player. I respect him as a guy, don’t hate him at all.”

On Thursday, there was someone in the press box who knows all about hazing in St. Louis, so I contacted him about the situation.

In 1995, Chris Pronger was acquired by then-Blues GM Mike Keenan from the Hartford Whalers for fan favorite Brendan Shanahan. Pronger was booed by the hometown fans, not because of anything he said, like Kyrou, but, well, because he wasn’t Shanahan.

I asked Pronger what that was.

“It’s not pretty,” he said. “It’s nice when you’re on the road and getting booed because it means you’re doing your job. But when you’re on a budget at home, whether it’s the team not playing well or you not doing your job, or if it’s a trade that, frankly, had nothing to do with me or whatever, the (fans) will get it. over it.

“When you’re done, you need to put on your big boy pants. You get paid a lot of money to produce, and you get paid to win. When you don’t, and you don’t perform up to the expected level, emotions are a big part of it – from the fans to ownership, management, coaches, media, all the way down. So it can be a bit contentious at times, but in today’s environment, the page will be turned and they’ll go to a new story. It may play in St. Louis for a few more days, but NHL Network is going to go to ‘so and so got hurt.’ They’ll always move on to the next story.”

However long that takes, hopefully this can be a lesson for both a player in a high-profile position and a reporter who has a major responsibility. I know it will be for me.

(Photo of Jordan Kyrou defending against the Senators’ Brady Tkachuk during the second period Thursday: Dilip Vishwanat/Getty Images)