Craig Berube, a former Blues coach, joins the Maple Leafs
On May 9, following their third postseason exit in the first round in Keefe’s four full seasons in charge, the Leafs fired head coach Sheldon Keefe. According to Toronto general manager Brad Treliving, the team is looking for a new perspective that will enable it to realize its full potential.
Regarding moving on from Keefe, Treliving remarked, “In our business, the message ceases hitting home over a period of time.” “Knowing why a message might not be reaching its intended audience is just as important as just replacing the staff. Therefore, our current goal is to identify such person [to be our next coach].
Berube is in his third season as head coach of the NHL. Before being let go in 2014 after the Flyers’ dismal sixth-place Metropolitan Division finish the previous season, he had been the team’s bench boss in Philadelphia from 2013 to 2015. He had led the team to a playoff appearance in 2014.
In 2016–17, Berube, then 58, took on the role of coach for Chicago’s American Hockey League affiliate of the St. Louis Blues. The Blues promoted Berube to assistant coach under Mike Yeo at the conclusion of that season.
Following Yeo’s dismissal in November 2018, Berube was designated the struggling Blues’ interim head coach. St. Louis was a miserable 15-18-4 and lowest in the league in January 2019. Under Berube, the Blues came together to win St. Louis’ first Stanley Cup and advance to the postseason as the third seed in the Central Division.
With the New Jersey Devils in 2000, Larry Robinson became the first interim head coach to win a title, and Berube became only the second in league history to do so.
Berube signed a three-year contract with the Blues in June 2019, after which the team lifted his interim tag. In February 2022, he signed a new three-year contract with St. Louis that would keep him until the 2024–2025 campaign. After Berube’s early years there, St. Louis never achieved the same level of success, and in December 2023, the Blues sacked him.
As an NHL coach, Berube now has a 281-190-72 record when he joins the Leafs.
The product of Alberta, Canada, spent 17 seasons in the league, making 1054 appearances while scoring 159 points and 61 goals. During his career, he also participated in 40 games for the Leafs, where he finished the 1991–92 season with five goals and twelve points.
