Blues legend Brett Hull revealed what it was really like to play for Mike Keenan in St. Louis. Hull did not mince words when explaining how Keenan would conduct himself.
Keenan joined the Blues organization as general manager and coach in 1994. He brought championship pedigree as he was just months removed from leading the New York Rangers to a Stanley Cup.
Keenan was brought in to help the Blues get over the hump and contend for a Stanley Cup. However, he was not well-liked in the locker room, particularly by Hull.
Hull has been open about not getting along with Keenan during his time in St. Louis. He doubled down on his criticism by calling out his former coach for his treatment of other players.
Brett Hull Reveals What It Was Really Like to Play for Mike Keenan
Brett Hull revealed that Mike Keenan went out of his way to treat the players poorly. Hull noted that while Keenan never took accountability for his strategies not translating to success.
The Hall of Famer pointed to a particular incident involving the power play. After Keenan criticized the Blues’ power play, Hull fired back by telling the media that the team never practiced it.
“[Mike] Keenan’s just the meanest, spiteful [person]. It’s like he’s so unhappy with his own life, he took it out on everybody else. And honestly, he was not a good coach. He’d be that guy where you’d lose 4-2 and the power play would go 0 for three or four, and he’d blame it on the power play,” Hull told Gloves Off: The Enforcer Code podcast.
“The media would come to me and go, ‘Well, you know, Coach Keenan, he says the power play is not working.’ And I’d go, ‘You go back in there and you ask Mike when the last time we practiced the power play was and if he says he did, he’s a filthy liar, because we haven’t practiced the power play in a month'”
He continued:
“Don’t blame the power play. Blame it on the coach that doesn’t practice the power play. And that’s the type of guy he was. We won, you guys lost, and I hated that.”
Hull Reveals Keenan Treated Blues Players Poorly
Hull also revealed that Keenan went out of his way to treat the players poorly.
“[Keenan] treated people terrible. He treated really good people terrible, like Brendan Shanahan and ‘Cujo’ really poorly. And it’s like he got off on it,” Hull told Gloves Off: The Enforcer Code podcast.
Hull noted that while Keenan was rude to players, he was generous with his staff in order to gather more information.
“He treated the staff really well. Mike did not treat the staff poorly at all and probably because he would get them to do stuff for him. Listen to the players and let me know what you hear kind of [expletive].”
Blues Legend Brett Hull Reveals What It Was Really Like Playing for Mike Keenan