Craig Berube Named the 32nd Coach of the Toronto Maple Leafs | Page 72 | HFBoards - NHL Message Board and Forum for National Hockey League

Craig Berube Named the 32nd Coach of the Toronto Maple Leafs

Da chief is leading his troops well .. although we still have a big ice tilting problem on line 3 .. give Chief credit for fixing line 2 though .. and our D and G are playing lights out ,, we are learning ho to grind out playoff wins .. but we need to be even better .. have faith in da Chief
 
That's been so stupid from the beginning, though McMann seems to have forgotten he's an NHLer now. Great timing.
I mean yeah. He was cooking on the 2nd line the whole season. Then yanked him. Then we're end up with Holmberg somehow on the top 2 and 3C at the same time I feel like.
 
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Said this early in the season, Chief is Babcock wrapped in a Keefe skin suit. Stubborn in changing lines with the annoying players ass kissing attitude during pressers.
 
Okay thats enough of top line. Seperate them. If not, he's the same as the others.

Spoiler: He's the same as the others

Didn't predict that in any series in the playoffs he'd be down and need to switch up marner and matthews (Probably the entire org doesn't think they'll go deep)

So he just let them play all year together

Surprise Pikachu face when teams have figured us out in the postseason
 
I feel like Berube’s like a human Xanax pill trying to keep the core guys from registering any true emotions and hope the blinders stay on long enough for them to sleepwalk into success.

The over correction on defense and goaltending looks to be diminishing returns. Short circuited any offensive game and they’re springing leaks while the core guys run out of steam.
 
I feel like Berube’s like a human Xanax pill trying to keep the core guys from registering any true emotions and hope the blinders stay on long enough for them to sleepwalk into success.

The over correction on defense and goaltending looks to be diminishing returns. Short circuited any offensive game and they’re springing leaks while the core guys run out of steam.
The core guys have always done this, the difference is now the team D is actually solid.

No coach is going to ignite those guys it looks like. Matthews having the C is a joke too. There’s zero offence, like always.
 
I feel like Berube’s like a human Xanax pill trying to keep the core guys from registering any true emotions and hope the blinders stay on long enough for them to sleepwalk into success.

The over correction on defense and goaltending looks to be diminishing returns. Short circuited any offensive game and they’re springing leaks while the core guys run out of steam.
They've built a roster full of guys who like the puck on their sticks, and then hired a coach who seems hellbent on ensuring they spend as little time as possible with it.

The challenge I had all season with Berube was i just didnt think they played a brand of hockey that would be successful this time of year. It baffled me that they won the division, and it took until game 3, where they looked so poised and comfortable, to actually start believing this could work.

....it cant. The whole thing has felt completely at odds with itself.
 
This is where he has to earn his paycheque. Not the Xs and Os, not the schemes, not the lines, not the advanced stats and all that bullshit. It’s right here and now where the moment gets too big for this core and they choke.

This guy is supposed to be a motivator? He’s keeping his cool despite two losses? Ok. Great. Get these guys to wake up and to stop having the yips. Because right now all the past baggage and the anxiety of the fans is bearing down on them. They can say whatever they want in interviews but they feel it. We feel it. The Senators feel it. The Sens are playing with house money and if I were a gambling man I’d bet on them riding their home ice and fans to a game 6 win before finishing the job in game 7. They’ve got all the momentum and we know how these Leafs react when series get late and the pressure to close mounts.

But, that’s what Berube is here for. To get these guys to not panic. To get them to stop gripping their sticks so tight. To stop whiffing on shots. To stop flubbing passes. He’s here to keep these guys even keeled in the face of all this self-inflicted chaos and to get them over this (pathetically small) hump.

So get in there and do whatever it is you do. Give a speech. Put faith in players despite them not deserving it. Get them to focus and shutout the noise. Do whatever you can to get them to come out and execute in game 6. Because if they don’t, and this comes back here for game 7… well we know how that story ends.
 
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Bro Hes not different than the rest and I find it hard to believe shanny is forcing the coaches to all coach the same but even keefe would move marner off the line I don’t think he’s a better coach then keefe I’m sorry Hes had a better structured team to work with and has gotten worst results if your not gonna break up the first line swap holmberg with mcmann scratch patches for Robertson atleast for home games where we get last change and put woll in for stolie he failed on every single one of those hard to believe Hes a better coach then keefe if we’re being f***** honest
 
He's got the boys buying in so far at a level that I haven't seen sense 2002 when Gary Roberts, Alan McCauley, Jonas, Hoglund and a defense led by Nathan Dempsey and Karl Pillar somehow made the conference final.
 
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I'm not sure how you're predicting no major injuries, but that is irrelevant. He isn't going to win solely because of what the Leafs do. Toronto will be a 105-110 point team, but there will be a bunch of teams with that number of points. Berube will win because the hockey media loves him, and the Leafs will have a successful enough season that voters will give it to him absent a ridiculous record-breaking season from another team (i.e., Boston a couple of seasons ago). These awards are glorified popularity contests.

The media is going to fawn over berube all season.

Again, I don't disagree, as that is the type of coach that usually wins. My argument here, however, is that Berube will win because the hockey media is in love with the guy. I appreciate that no one believes it after a whopping three losses in a row, but the Leafs will finish top-5 in the league, and their record combined with how much the media loves this guy will result in him winning the award. It may not even necessarily be deserved, but that isn't how these awards are generally chosen anyway.


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oopsie

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Full credit to him. He kept calm and that attitude bled to the players. You can hear it in interviews and especially postgame with Auston’s speech to the team. This team didn’t panic despite the outside noise and they pulled through. And him trusting his gut and keeping Pacioretty in paid off handsomely.

Very interested to see how he preps this team for a nasty, skilled, suffocating Florida team.
 
He’s the best coach they’ve had since Pat Burns. Quinn was missing the defensive side of coaching. Just relying on goaltending isn’t going to get you past the likes of New Jersey and Philly back in the day. And they never did
 
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One thing that has surprised about him, is just how calm and chill he always is.
I was expecting him to have some sort of spat or pop off at reporters this season but from start to now he's just been very laid back.
 
One thing that has surprised about him, is just how calm and chill he always is.
I was expecting him to have some sort of spat or pop off at reporters this season but from start to now he's just been very laid back.
He's got a knack for being calm and chill while also looking like he might kill somebody.

Maybe it's the bubble gum.
 
Leafs home record in the playoffs under Berube is 4-1.

Leafs home record under Sheldon Keefe over 5 postseasons?

2020 1-2
2021 1-3
2022 2-2
2023 1-5(!)
2024 1-2
Overall: 6-14


Nice that home ice advantage is an actual advantage again for this club.
 
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