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Huge Announcement: Toronto Maple Leafs Pin Playoff Hopes on Craig Berube! Is This the Turning Point?
TORONTO: Craig Berube, a Stanley Cup winner, was appointed head coach of the Toronto Maple Leafs on Friday in an attempt to help the illustrious team snap its longest NHL championship drought.
In 2019, Berube led the St. Louis Blues to the Stanley Cup. Since 1967, when there were only six teams in the league, the Maple Leafs have not won. Brendan Shanahan, the president of Toronto, and Brad Treliving, the general manager, acted swiftly to appoint Berube as Sheldon Keefe’s replacement after another early playoff elimination.
Under Keefe, the Leafs have fallen in the first round four times in five years, during which they have only won one series.
In seven seasons, Berube (58) guided the Blues to five postseasons and five series victories. Berube was fired by the Blues in December after receiving a midseason promotion and winning the lone championship in the team’s history.
In the US, he has been working for TNT on television. This is the third NHL head coaching position for the Calahoo, Alberta native, who previously spent two seasons (2013–15) with Philadelphia.
After Keefe and Mike Babcock, he is the third coach for the Maple Leafs since the team assembled the core group of Auston Matthews, Mitch Marner, William Nylander, and John Tavares.
Due to his Native American ancestry, Berube was affectionately known as “Chief.” He played 1,143 games in the league between 1987 and 2003 before transitioning into coaching.
That included playing for the Leafs for half of the 1991–1992 season before being traded to Calgary as part of the nine-player deal that sent Doug Gilmour to Toronto.
“Welcome back coach,” the team wrote with images of Berube wearing a Toronto uniform on social media. On Tuesday, he will be presented at a press conference.
