But can he cure the Blues?

Andy Murray showed up to his first day as St. Louis Blues coach with course curriculum in hand -- a four-page memo detailing his philosophy that was distributed to players and the media.

This brought more than a few chuckles from players in the Kings’ dressing room.

“Oh, I’ve seen that before,” center Derek Armstrong said.

But Armstrong also said, “I think it is great that Andy is back. He helped me become an NHL player. I got nothing bad to say about him.”

The feeling, it seems, is mutual.

Asked what he learned during his time with the Kings, Murray said, “I am not going to do things a lot different. I am what I am as a coach and I have a way that I believe you do it, and that’s to ask the players to work hard and to give them direction. I’ve got nothing but good things to say about my time there.”

So the I’m-OK-with-you pleasantries are now out of the way, as the Kings prepare to meet their old boss tonight in St. Louis.

Murray spent six seasons with the Kings, where he compiled the most victories -- and most losses -- in team history. His departure was abrupt near the end of last season, when he was fired while the team was collapsing.

The exit came after players had grown weary of Murray’s heavy-handed ways.

Murray was hired as a consultant by the Montreal Canadiens, then last week landed the job with the woeful Blues, who are last in the Western Conference and have a 1-2 record since he took over.

The Kings, though, were not putting too much emphasis on facing their former coach.

“It’s not weird at all,” defenseman Mattias Norstrom said. “That’s the business. I sat next to Rob Blake for years. He was my roommate and my partner on the ice. Then he gets traded, and a week later, we’re facing each other. I just have gotten used to the way things are in this league.”

Besides, Dustin Brown said, facing an ex-coach is different than facing an ex-teammate.

“If it was a player, you could find yourself in the corner hitting them,” he said.

*

The Kings do remember all the homework Murray assigned. The night before every road game, he would have scouting reports, complete with college-like inspirational messages, tucked under the door of each players’ room.

“You’d have to study them too, because he was always testing you,” Brown said.

Said Armstrong, “I think Andy knew who was really reading them and always called on them.”

TONIGHT

at St. Louis, 5 PST, FSNW

Site -- Scottrade Center.

Radio -- 1150.

Records -- Kings 12-18-5; Blues 8-19-6.

Record vs. Blues -- 1-0-0.

Update -- The Kings play 28 of their last 47 games on the road, including five of the next six.

chris.foster@latimes.com