Little over a week after the anticipated firing of Sheldon Keefe, the Toronto Maple Leafs have reached an agreement with a new head coach to take over the position starting next season.
The Leafs announced on Friday, May 17, the franchise’s hiring of Craig Berube as the club’s new head coach. The former Leafs player becomes the 32nd coach in Toronto’s history, according to the official statement released by the organization.
Introducing the 32nd head coach of the Toronto Maple Leafs, Craig Berube 🔵⚪️
The Leafs announced Keefe’s firing releasing an official statement on May 9. Toronto’s PR team wrote “The organization will immediately begin the search for a new head coach,” and eight days later, the official appointment was confirmed by the Leafs across their social media platforms and team website.
According to a league source informing The Athletic’s Jonas Siegel, Jeremy Rutherford, and Pierre LeBrun, Berube has signed a four-year deal with the Leafs.
Elliotte Friedman, First to Break Leafs’ Hiring of Craig Berube
Berube was named the “odds-on-favorite” by many analysts just a few hours after the Leafs made Keefe’s firing official.
On May 17 the rumors turned into reality with NHL Insider Elliotte Friedman breaking the news of Berube’s appointment ahead of the official announcement made by the Leafs organization.
“Nothing is finalized, but multiple sources indicated Friday that the Toronto Maple Leafs and Craig Berube are far down the road on the process of becoming the team’s next head coach,” Friedman wrote. His sources fed him the right information.
Craig Berube Brings Stanley Cup Pedigree to Toronto Maple Leafs
Berube is the first head coach hired by current Leafs General Manager Brad Treliving, as he inherited Sheldon Keefe when he was appointed as the GM of Toronto and kept the coach in place.
In the statement that made Keefe’s firing official, the Leafs said they “determined a new voice is needed to help the team push through to reach our ultimate goal.”
Berube most recently coached the St. Louis Blues after getting the nod back in November 2018. In his initial season coaching the Blues, Berube led them to their first and only Stanley Cup championship.
Before getting that job, Berube spent two seasons with the Philadelphia Flyers. Through 543 regular-season games, Berube has posted a 281-190-72 record with a winning percentage of .584.
BREAKING NEWS: Craig Berube has been relieved of his coaching duties and a new interim coach has been named. #stlblues
DETAILS ➡️ t.co/NHh9g2JTnt
This season, however, the Blues and Berube parted ways early with the franchise firing the long-tenured head coach on December 12. Berube had accrued a 13-14-1 record and 27 points with the Blues at the time of his firing.
Following his dismissal, Berube told The Athletic’s Jeremy Rutherford on December 16 that he was planning on keeping coaching in the NHL while willing to wait for an optimal opening.
“I want to make sure I’m going to a good organization,” Berube said. “You want to work with good people, and you always want an opportunity to win. “I want to coach, but I want to make sure that it’s the right situation.”
Berube will be tasked with doing what no other Leafs coach has done since Punch Imlach in 1967: leading Toronto to their first Stanley Cup in more than 55 years and the 14th overall in franchise history.
17-Year Pro Craig Berube Played for the Maple Leafs in 1992
Berube arrives in Toronto with a few seasons worth of coaching experience and a cup under his belt. The new Leafs coach was also a winger throughout his 17-year playing career, with a brief stop in Toronto playing for his new team during the 1991-92 season.
The winger appeared in 40 games for the Leafs back then. Career-wide, Berube hung his skates after breaking the 1,000-game barrier, playing a mammoth 1,054 games in which he scored 61 goals and 98 assists.
Welcome back, coach!
As those numbers indicate, Berube was never a flashy, top-of-the-line forward throughout his career, but rather a strong bottom-six winger with minimal impact on the scoring front but a physical presence on the ice.
Berube racked up a ridiculous amount of penalties in minutes, becoming one of only nine players to log more than 3,000 minutes inside the penalty box. The winger amassed 3,149 PIM between 1986 and 2003, the seventh-most in NHL history, according to Hockey-Reference.
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Leafs Hire Former Toronto Player, Stanley Cup-Winning Coach