Berube preached his brand of heavy hockey and communication skills that have already begun by connecting with Maple Leafs players.
Berube preached his brand of heavy hockey and communication skills that have already begun by connecting with Maple Leafs players.
The hard work begins now for Craig Berube.
Introduced to the media on Tuesday after his hiring as the new Toronto Maple Leafs head coach became official on Friday, Berube said he's already been in touch with everyone on the roster, even meeting up with the players who live in the city during the offseason.
A step he feels necessary if he's going to demand the most from his players.
"To hold players accountable and for players to understand the accountability you have to form a partnership throughout, I think it starts in the summertime," Berube said. "Get to know these players them getting to understand what I'm all about and I'm going to coach each individual and the team and then when you have to hold the player accountable for whatever, it could be ice time. It could be whatever the situation. They understand it more and communication is huge."
Berube has developed a reputation in the NHL as a good communicator and that was much of what attracted the Maple Leafs to hire him.
"They know where they stand. Berube said. "I'm going to tell them when they're playing well. "I'm going to tell them when they're not playing well, I'm going to tell them with the things that need to be improved upon. There's all types of things. So accountability is accepted almost by your players when you have that partnership."
One of the biggest challenges will be getting the core to buy in and adapt their game to the way he sees fit. Berube represents Toronto's first outside hire in the coaching position since Mike Babcock was hired in 2015. Berube's predecessor, Sheldon Keefe, was promoted directly within the Toronto organization after serving as coach of the Toronto Marlies.
Berube brings a Stanley Cup-winning resume from his time as head coach of the St. Louis Blues in 2019. Toronto is his third stop, after starting his coaching career with the Philadelphia Flyers. He's got the offensive weapons, but it's up to Berube to maximize them when the playoffs come around.
In the meantime, he'll have an entire regular season to deal with as he moulds some talented pieces into his style.
"We don't want to get outworked ever. We want to be highly competitive every night and it's all about the team for me," Berube said. "That's one of the things I really focus on and that's part of building a team."
So what will be different under Berube?
Berube prioritizes strong defensive play and responsible, two-way hockey. His teams are typically known for their physical play and commitment to defensive responsibilities. The Leafs began to show signs of that toward the end of their 2024 Stanley Cup playoff run with low-scoring defensive victories against the Boston Bruins in Games 5 and 6 before falling in Game 7.
There will be less cute play with the puck as Berube attempts to prioritize an attack-the-net mentality.
"We want to play a north game. We want to play fast. We want to be a heavy team," Berube said. " When I talk about heaviness, it's not you know running guys through boards and fighting and all that stuff. The game has changed, but you still have to be strong on pucks. You got to win puck battles. Those are priorities for me and just playing predictable at north. And playing as fast as we can. Structure is huge and we've got to have structure in all three zones.
"That's going to be a priority."
Berube head coaching career follows a lengthy NHL playing career as an enforcer, suiting up 1,054 games while accumulating 3,149 penalty minutes. With several head coaching vacancies around the NHL, the 58-year-old was in demand. But he chose Toronto after Toronto chose him.
"There's some great players here and a great opportunity to build the team can move forward. Not better, but get over the hump a little bit," Berube said. "A Canadian-born kid, you get to get a chance to coach Toronto Maple Leafs, you know for me. I'm gonna jump on that."
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