Confirmed with Link: Craig Berube named the 32nd Coach of the Toronto Maple Leafs

[Gabriel426]

It makes absolutely zero sense that 100% of the players underperform in the playoffs, and once they leave they are over a point a game during the playoffs.it has to be coaching. Whether that be the game style implemented, assignments, matchups or just awareness on who doesn’t have it on any particular night and who is going well.

Can you entertain the idea that it is both the players and the coach plus other reasons that our top guys just choke in playoffs.
Hyman was never used the way he is now with the Leafs. Just look at what AM and MM said last season when Calle got promoted to his line. A reporter asked him what’s the advice he gave to Calle, AM said just get the puck to him. That’s quote in itself said it all about their mentality.
Only this year with Bert and Domi that AM’s game changed.
Our top guys choked in playoffs. They are all talented players but the mix just ain’t right, both their styles and their caphit. It’s quite foolish to think, oh, JT will be gone in 25, let’s run it back bc trading away top guys will haunt them….
Everyone even Shanny knows his core failed, and the team need better fitted players to win the Cup.
Put it this way, you order steak(Stanley Cup) for dinner, but all you got were Lobster and Foie Gras. Still great food but they ain’t Steak. This is where the Leafs are at, AM, MM, Willie, Reilly and JT are not steak, they are lobster and Foie Gras. If you want steak(Stanley Cup), you go out there and get steak instead of pondering the thought of missing out on lobster and foie gras.

 

[GoonieFace]

I'm surprised more hasn't been made about the Leafs lack of thorough process in filling out the GM and coach positions.

Last summer once Dubas was gone, Treliving's name was out there within 24 hours. He was "their guy", they met, came to an agreement, and... that was it. No proper GM search. No exhaustive measures to try and fill the biggest seat in hockey. They talked properly to one guy, and gave him the job.

Fast forward 12 months, and once Keefe was gone, Berube's name was out there very quickly. He was "their guy", they met, came to an agreement, and... that was it. Berube got the job. No exhaustive or thorough coaching search involving discussions & interviews with several different candidates.

I don't necessarily think there's anything wrong with having a specific "profile" of the type of person you want to fill a particular role within an organization, and then going out and hunting for the person you feel is the best or closest fit for that role.

However, for an organization that has made a lot of disappointing decisions lately and suffered from a significant lack of success, it feels hasty and unwise to have gone this route without a proper, exhaustive search for either position, given how important these hires are. Feels like they formulated ideas in their head, and then used the interview process to confirm those ideals, rather than be open minded to new or dynamic ones.

I understand their organizational need to feel like they had to react quickly to grab Berube given the large interest in him league-wide. However, Craig Berube wasn't on anyone's list of top NHL coaches - it's concerning that they acted with such haste, again, just a year after they took on the same exact same steps to get Treliving in.

Time will tell whether these moves are right for the team. If they aren't, you simply have to look at their reluctance in conducting proper searches, and question their openness to new ideas versus simply confirming pre-conceived ones they already formulated.

This isn’t a blind date, they know the people available and what they bring. You don’t think these are internal discussions that take place well before someone is fired.

Berube by all accounts was also the best guy available.

You also have no clue how their search went anyway, repeating media drivel isn’t factual

 

[Tak7]

This isn’t a blind date, they know the people available and what they bring. You don’t think these are internal discussions that take place well before someone is fired.

Berube by all accounts was also the best guy available.

You also have no clue how their search went anyway, repeating media drivel isn’t factual

I'm not doubting that they are well informed of candidates before they meet them, but they still conducted a multi-day interview with Berube so clearly there was a bunch of stuff they wanted to learn.

I'm merely pointing out the fact that for 2 summers in a row, they really haven't had a proper exhaustive search - they've identified their target early, made the approach, got their man, and not done anything resembling a thorough search.

 

[Confucius]

Can you entertain the idea that it is both the players and the coach plus other reasons that our top guys just choke in playoffs.
Hyman was never used the way he is now with the Leafs. Just look at what AM and MM said last season when Calle got promoted to his line. A reporter asked him what’s the advice he gave to Calle, AM said just get the puck to him. That’s quote in itself said it all about their mentality.
Only this year with Bert and Domi that AM’s game changed.
Our top guys choked in playoffs. They are all talented players but the mix just ain’t right, both their styles and their caphit. It’s quite foolish to think, oh, JT will be gone in 25, let’s run it back bc trading away top guys will haunt them….
Everyone even Shanny knows his core failed, and the team need better fitted players to win the Cup.
Put it this way, you order steak(Stanley Cup) for dinner, but all you got were Lobster and Foie Gras. Still great food but they ain’t Steak. This is where the Leafs are at, AM, MM, Willie, Reilly and JT are not steak, they are lobster and Foie Gras. If you want steak(Stanley Cup), you go out there and get steak instead of pondering the thought of missing out on lobster and foie gras.

You must be a mechanic. Rather than zero in on the problem just swap out everything. Hopefully then the problem is resolved.
Hyman and Kadri were chokers here but not when they moved on.

Can you consider if the 4 here had a different coach their playoff game as well would dramatically improve. And yes the way a player is used is do to coaching and contributes to the choker tag even though its out of the player's control.

 

[Evilhomer]

I'm not doubting that they are well informed of candidates before they meet them, but they still conducted a multi-day interview with Berube so clearly there was a bunch of stuff they wanted to learn.

I'm merely pointing out the fact that for 2 summers in a row, they really haven't had a proper exhaustive search - they've identified their target early, made the approach, got their man, and not done anything resembling a thorough search.

I think it falls in line with their "safe" approach. From the moment Dubas was turfed, the organization has taken the safe and conservative approach to every decision it has been made, including the few trades that Treliving made last season (all of which were very low risk). Makes me wonder if they can handle the risk of a Marner trade.

 

[Confucius]

Thanks.....I wonder if they are waiting for coaches that are still in playoffs.
Was mentioned that they were looking for a assistant with HC resume. Not sure who that would be.

When a club is so rich like the leafs ....it would be wise to have the best scouts and assistants etc as there is no cap to limit how many coaches etc they can have I believe.

At one point 8 or 9 years ago we had 5 xGM's on staff. Still the same oh same oh.

 

[Gabriel426]

You must be a mechanic. Rather than zero in on the problem just swap out everything. Hopefully then the problem is resolved.
Hyman and Kadri were chokers here but not when they moved on.

Can you consider if the 4 here had a different coach their playoff game as well would dramatically improve. And yes the way a player is used is do to coaching and contributes to the choker tag even though its out of the player's control.

Hyman was never used the way he is now when he was with the Leafs.
Kadri was getting better but his problem in the playoffs was being available for the team as he kept getting suspended.
You have to put into context.
As for our big four, it is not like they didn’t have PP, not like they didn’t have chance to shoot the puck. They choked bc they just don’t have it in them collectively to do it. I think it has been too long that when they are close to winning a series or game, they will find ways to lose it, as their mentality is-someone or something will cause us to lose the series instead of we can do this.
We can blame the coach all we want and I agree Keefe was not a good playoffs coach but to say that the top guys didn’t perform bc of Keefe and a new coach will get them going is wishful thinking at best.
For some reason you are married to the idea that the core 5 will win the Leafs a Cup or two instead of Leafs winning a Cup or two regardless who the players are.
If MM and JT are gone from the Leafs, potentially Leafs can sign Tanev(4.5mil), Pesce(5mil), Toffoli(4.5mil) and Marchessault(8mil) as their replacements.
I will bet that most if not all GMs would choose Tanev, Pesce, Toffoli and Marchessault over JT and MM.
and you can’t honestly tell me having this lineup
Bert-AM-Marchessault
Knies-Domi-Wilie
Calle-Holmberg-Toffoli
Dewar-Kampf-Revo

Reilly-Tanev
McCabe-Pesce
Beniot-Edmundson

Woll
Jones

Is not better and give you a better chance to win the Cup then

Bert-AM-Domi
Knies-JT-MM
Calle-Holmberg-Willie
Dewar-Kampf-Revo

Reilly-Liily
McCabe-Beniot
Edmundson-Timmins

Woll
Jones

 

[Jimmy Firecracker]

 

[Da Mash]

At one point 8 or 9 years ago we had 5 xGM's on staff. Still the same oh same oh.

The curse is strong in TO ......the media are the witches

 

[Confucius]

Hyman was never used the way he is now when he was with the Leafs.
Kadri was getting better but his problem in the playoffs was being available for the team as he kept getting suspended.
You have to put into context.
As for our big four, it is not like they didn’t have PP, not like they didn’t have chance to shoot the puck. They choked bc they just don’t have it in them collectively to do it. I think it has been too long that when they are close to winning a series or game, they will find ways to lose it, as their mentality is-someone or something will cause us to lose the series instead of we can do this.
We can blame the coach all we want and I agree Keefe was not a good playoffs coach but to say that the top guys didn’t perform bc of Keefe and a new coach will get them going is wishful thinking at best.
For some reason you are married to the idea that the core 5 will win the Leafs a Cup or two instead of Leafs winning a Cup or two regardless who the players are.
If MM and JT are gone from the Leafs, potentially Leafs can sign Tanev(4.5mil), Pesce(5mil), Toffoli(4.5mil) and Marchessault(8mil) as their replacements.
I will bet that most if not all GMs would choose Tanev, Pesce, Toffoli and Marchessault over JT and MM.
and you can’t honestly tell me having this lineup
Bert-AM-Marchessault
Knies-Domi-Wilie
Calle-Holmberg-Toffoli
Dewar-Kampf-Revo

Reilly-Tanev
McCabe-Pesce
Beniot-Edmundson

Woll
Jones

Is not better and give you a better chance to win the Cup then

Bert-AM-Domi
Knies-JT-MM
Calle-Holmberg-Willie
Dewar-Kampf-Revo

Reilly-Liily
McCabe-Beniot
Edmundson-Timmins

Woll
Jones

I have more faith in the scientific approach, change one variable at a time to come to an accurate conclusion.

 

[keonsbitterness]

MLSE needs to retire 'Blueprint' as a Leafs descriptor.

 

[Jimmy Firecracker]

MLSE needs to retire 'Blueprint' as a Leafs descriptor.

I’d welcome a a whole rebranding. I wish we more like the Bruins’ “Behind the B.” It’ll never happen because MLSE is too corporate and sanitized but a raw episodic format with the occasional mic’d up moments of the games where we can hear the chirps would be great. Leafs players are never mic’d up or if they are nothing that could be construed as “offensive” ever gets out.

 

[DarkKnight]

Great story...

 

[colchar]

I'm surprised more hasn't been made about the Leafs lack of thorough process in filling out the GM and coach positions.

Last summer once Dubas was gone, Treliving's name was out there within 24 hours. He was "their guy", they met, came to an agreement, and... that was it. No proper GM search. No exhaustive measures to try and fill the biggest seat in hockey. They talked properly to one guy, and gave him the job.

Fast forward 12 months, and once Keefe was gone, Berube's name was out there very quickly. He was "their guy", they met, came to an agreement, and... that was it. Berube got the job. No exhaustive or thorough coaching search involving discussions & interviews with several different candidates.

I don't necessarily think there's anything wrong with having a specific "profile" of the type of person you want to fill a particular role within an organization, and then going out and hunting for the person you feel is the best or closest fit for that role.

However, for an organization that has made a lot of disappointing decisions lately and suffered from a significant lack of success, it feels hasty and unwise to have gone this route without a proper, exhaustive search for either position, given how important these hires are. Feels like they formulated ideas in their head, and then used the interview process to confirm those ideals, rather than be open minded to new or dynamic ones.

I understand their organizational need to feel like they had to react quickly to grab Berube given the large interest in him league-wide. However, Craig Berube wasn't on anyone's list of top NHL coaches - it's concerning that they acted with such haste, again, just a year after they took on the same exact same steps to get Treliving in.

Time will tell whether these moves are right for the team. If they aren't, you simply have to look at their reluctance in conducting proper searches, and question their openness to new ideas versus simply confirming pre-conceived ones they already formulated.

Do you actually believe this tripe, or do you post it just to complain about stuff?

If you think they only started identifying candidates when Keefe was fired, then you are unbelievable naive. And just because some media members made educated guesses as to who they would hire, does not mean we were told who it would be right away. Those people guessed, correctly as it turned out, but they were still guessing. And how many people would they have needed to contact/interview to satisfy you? They have stated that they dealt with nine candidates, and that they kept coming back to Berube so they chose him. Is nine not enough for you?

 

[Steve Yzerlland]

Not sure if you recall the incident but Keefe was severely undermined, by Kid Blunder the Dumbass.

Dubas made Keefe call a impromptu presser to walk back some things he said about the team being soft after a typically horrid early season performance. With one stroke Dubas made Keefe look like a total weiner in front of the entire hockey world.

The players pretty much lost respect for him and slowly but surely he got tuned out by some guys.

No I wasn't aware of this. I never liked Dubas that guy is a pompous POS...

 

[Daisy Jane]

I'm merely pointing out the fact that for 2 summers in a row, they really haven't had a proper exhaustive search - they've identified their target early, made the approach, got their man, and not done anything resembling a thorough search.

who else is available? who was intriguing you?

from what i've read they interviewed several people and picked Berube (which seems is the best of those people). several teams are wanting a coach. and if Berube is the best of what was available did it not make more sense to get him quickly? (and if they did interview several people and Gallant for example was better why do you feel they wouldn't have gotten him instead?)

Brind'Amour has stated he wanted to stay in Carolina (and you couldn't really wait to see if talks fell flat and who knows what is going on with Cooper). Boudreau would probably have quit his job in an instant i suppose, and Quenneville is a hot button topic. [and still not eligible anyway].


I guess arguably the same thing could be said about Treliving. I could see them ensuring that they had a GM in place before July 1st. thus you needed to rush a bit. but who else was available that makes you go "gee, I wish they took their time to get them"?

 

[Tak7]

who else is available? who was intriguing you?

I liked the Gerard Gallant option, personally. I also would have kicked heavy tires on Quenneville to ensure that if the league wasn't clearing him yet, that publicly everyone knew why.

Admittedly it's not a great list of candidates, which is precisely why I would have waited. I simply don't understand the rush / urgency in trying to get this done. The Devils for example, have been without a permanent head coach since March and are showing no signs of rushing the decision.

from what i've read they interviewed several people and picked Berube (which seems is the best of those people). several teams are wanting a coach. and if Berube is the best of what was available did it not make more sense to get him quickly? (and if they did interview several people and Gallant for example was better why do you feel they wouldn't have gotten him instead?)

They interviewed two - Berube and McLellan, per LeBrun and Friedman.

I guess arguably the same thing could be said about Treliving. I could see them ensuring that they had a GM in place before July 1st. thus you needed to rush a bit. but who else was available that makes you go "gee, I wish they took their time to get them"?

The exact same principle applied with the rush to get Treliving in too - he wasn't allowed to work the draft floor as Leafs GM, so unless you were trading Marner before his NMC kicked in (which they had 0 appetite of doing, seemingly), then the rush to get it done just confuses me.


These moves might work and everything might be great. But it reeks of a club that has chosen to ignore due process in favor of making rushed, hasty decisions.

Do you actually believe this tripe, or do you post it just to complain about stuff?

If you think they only started identifying candidates when Keefe was fired, then you are unbelievable naive. And just because some media members made educated guesses as to who they would hire, does not mean we were told who it would be right away. Those people guessed, correctly as it turned out, but they were still guessing. And how many people would they have needed to contact/interview to satisfy you? They have stated that they dealt with nine candidates, and that they kept coming back to Berube so they chose him. Is nine not enough for you?

They only properly interviewed two candidates - it's not really tripe if that's the extent that they went, is it?

 

[ToneDog]

I liked the Gerard Gallant option, personally. I also would have kicked heavy tires on Quenneville to ensure that if the league wasn't clearing him yet, that publicly everyone knew why.

Admittedly it's not a great list of candidates, which is precisely why I would have waited. I simply don't understand the rush / urgency in trying to get this done. The Devils for example, have been without a permanent head coach since March and are showing no signs of rushing the decision.


They interviewed two - Berube and McLellan, per LeBrun and Friedman.



The exact same principle applied with the rush to get Treliving in too - he wasn't allowed to work the draft floor as Leafs GM, so unless you were trading Marner before his NMC kicked in (which they had 0 appetite of doing, seemingly), then the rush to get it done just confuses me.


These moves might work and everything might be great. But it reeks of a club that has chosen to ignore due process in favor of making rushed, hasty decisions.


They only properly interviewed two candidates - it's not really tripe if that's the extent that they went, is it?

Berube was the best available coach as he believes in the same vision Tre believes in. Sounds like a no brainer but Tre did say he interviewed 9 candidates.

 

[GoonieFace]

I liked the Gerard Gallant option, personally. I also would have kicked heavy tires on Quenneville to ensure that if the league wasn't clearing him yet, that publicly everyone knew why.

Admittedly it's not a great list of candidates, which is precisely why I would have waited. I simply don't understand the rush / urgency in trying to get this done. The Devils for example, have been without a permanent head coach since March and are showing no signs of rushing the decision.


They interviewed two - Berube and McLellan, per LeBrun and Friedman.



The exact same principle applied with the rush to get Treliving in too - he wasn't allowed to work the draft floor as Leafs GM, so unless you were trading Marner before his NMC kicked in (which they had 0 appetite of doing, seemingly), then the rush to get it done just confuses me.


These moves might work and everything might be great. But it reeks of a club that has chosen to ignore due process in favor of making rushed, hasty decisions.


They only properly interviewed two candidates - it's not really tripe if that's the extent that they went, is it?

Seems like whining just to whine. Kicking tires heavily on Quenville to make sure everyone knew why he wasn’t cleared? What does this even mean and have to do with anything

 

[colchar]

I liked the Gerard Gallant option, personally.

Which explains why teams aren't beating down your door to hire you as GM.

I also would have kicked heavy tires on Quenneville to ensure that if the league wasn't clearing him yet, that publicly everyone knew why.

Apparently they did inquire, and if the league isn't clearing him that is a league issue and not one the Leafs are able to reveal.

Admittedly it's not a great list of candidates, which is precisely why I would have waited.

For how long? And what if nobody new came on the market, what then? Had they taken everyone else's leftovers you would be crying about that too.

I simply don't understand the rush / urgency in trying to get this done. The Devils for example, have been without a permanent head coach since March and are showing no signs of rushing the decision.

So the Leafs should do what the Devils are doing? Why?

They interviewed two - Berube and McLellan, per LeBrun and Friedman.

You have no idea who they interviewed. I have also heard that they interviewed Gallant. There are probably others as well, that we will never hear about.

These moves might work and everything might be great. But it reeks of a club that has chosen to ignore due process in favor of making rushed, hasty decisions.

No, it really doesn't.

They only properly interviewed two candidates - it's not really tripe if that's the extent that they went, is it?

Again, you have no idea who they did or did not interview. I read somewhere that they also interviewed Gallant. And if they were going through a list of candidates it makes sense that they would only interview those who they thought they might hire, and not everyone on the market. Companies do not interview everyone who applies for a job, they interview those on their short list, this is what the Leafs did.

So, since the facts prove your position wrong, why are you continually crying about this?

 

[TorMapleJays]

Seems like whining just to whine. Kicking tires heavily on Quenville to make sure everyone knew why he wasn’t cleared? What does this even mean and have to do with anything

politicing.

 

[Daisy Jane]

Admittedly it's not a great list of candidates, which is precisely why I would have waited. I simply don't understand the rush / urgency in trying to get this done. The Devils for example, have been without a permanent head coach since March and are showing no signs of rushing the decision.

again wait for what? they knew who they wanted, so they got him. now again - MY choice would be Quennville. and I would have pushed Bettman to make a decision but we're not having this debate. because they aren't. you wanted Gallant - but they interviewed Gallant. so obviously they interviewed everyone and they picked their best person.

Now i am a cautious person by nature so i take my time and weigh things out. but if I KNOW what i want is available, and i interviewed several people and the person i want is still kicking ass - what exactly what I am waiting for? if you don't like Berube that's fine but if they took their sweet ole time and everyone got snapped up and we're coming into training camp with Guy Boucher becuase we took too long are you going to say "it's fine because we waited?"

 

[HockeyVirus]

https://x.com/i/web/status/1793389919835951312

 

[thinkblue]

Happy for keefe, that's the best situation of all the vacancies.

 

[myleafs]

This is all the more reason to take your time, hold an open minded search, and embrace new ideas. If, at the end of that process, you feel like you want to circle back to your original choice, great. And if the Leafs are still a huge draw, that choice should still be waiting.


A professional hockey organization, desperately needing to get these 2 last hires right, absolutely should not be operating in this manner.

Bottom line, not many think its a bad hire and most think its a good one so why look for problems when they dont exist?. If in 2-5 yrs we still suck and Berube and Tre are duds then have at it, I ll be right there with you but for now I don't see the need to overthink it.