Berube and four other players were traded from Toronto to Calgary in early 1992 for five players, including Gilmour.
Toronto Maple Leafs head coach Craig Berube remembers being traded to the Calgary Flames like it was yesterday.
In the spring of 1991, Berube was coming off his fifth year in the NHL, which, to that point, was spent with the Philadelphia Flyers. The Calahoo, Alberta-born forward stacked up 16 goals, 26 assists, and 948 penalty minutes in those first five seasons, which spanned 235 games.
Little did Berube know that once the 1990-91 season concluded, his career would go on a quick rollercoaster ride.
On May 30, 1991, Berube was part of a multi-player trade to the Edmonton Oilers, which saw the Flyers move several players to add Jari Kurri, Corey Foster, and Dave Brown. Before even getting into a game with the Oilers, Berube was traded to the Maple Leafs, with Glenn Anderson and Grant Fuhr, for Peter Ing, Luke Richardson, Scott Thornton, and Vincent Damphousse.
Berube began that season with the Maple Leafs, and actually appeared in the lineup with the club. He tallied five goals, seven assists, and 109 penalty minutes in 40 games. That was until the Maple Leafs shipped him and four other players to Calgary in early January 1992 in exchange for five players, including Doug Gilmour.
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Gilmour would go on to play 393 regular-season games with the Maple Leafs, from 1992-96 (plus one game in 2003), and scored 452 points (131 goals, 321 assists). In 52 playoff games with Toronto, Gilmour scored 17 goals and 60 assists for 77 points.
He also captained Maple Leafs from 1994-97.
On Tuesday morning, ahead of the Maple Leafs' first game against the Flames this season, Berube was asked about the trade, which landed Toronto a historic player.
"Well, I was upset at the time because I really liked Toronto, and things were going well for me here," Berube said.
"I know the team was different then, and we weren't very good, and they had to do something. So, you get Doug Gilmour, doesn't matter who you're trading back, does it? It was tough. I mean, like I said, I loved it here, and loved playing here."
Following the trade, Berube spent one-and-a-half seasons in Calgary before being traded to the Washington Capitals. He spent six seasons in Washington before bouncing around between the Flyers, Capitals (again), New York Islanders, and Flames (again).
He finished his playing career with 1,054 games played, 61 goals, 98 assists, and 3,149 penalty minutes, the seventh-most in NHL history.
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