Berube has ‘moved on’ as Maple Leafs coach, eager to help end Stanley Cup drought

CALAHOO, Alberta -- Take a 30-minute drive northwest of Rogers Place, the home rink of the Edmonton Oilers, and you arrive at the hamlet of Calahoo, a dust speck on the Alberta map.

According to the most recent census of Statistics Canada, its population as of 2021 was 143.

Most, it seems, with the last name of Berube.

Just call it Berubeville, the hometown of Toronto Maple Leafs coach Craig Berube. Unofficially, of course.

As such, during a late May drive, in the midst of the Oilers’ run to the Stanley Cup Final, a first-time visitor is struck by one overwhelming observation.

That is, is everyone in this place named Berube?

“I can’t give you an exact number, but there’s a lot,” Craig said with a laugh. “I mean, my dad had six brothers and a sister growing up. And with all of them, I think they had 18 or 19 kids all together. And then they had kids and, well …

“They all pretty much still live there. I’m the only one who ever left.”

Make no mistake. This place is in the heart of Oil Country. Always has been. Berube was part of that. The 58-year-old was a teenager when the Wayne Gretzky-led Oilers kicked off their dominant dynasty that featured five Stanley Cup championships between 1984 and 1990. He knows what the franchise still means to this area.

Yet, when Berube and the Maple Leafs host the Tampa Bay Lightning in the second edition of Prime Monday Night Hockey (7:30 p.m. ET; TVAS, Prime, NHLN, BSSUN), there will be plenty of locals watching the community’s prodigal son while wearing Toronto blue-and-white instead of Edmonton blue-and-orange.

Berube made sure of that during the offseason.

“I brought a bunch of [Toronto] swag out there this summer and brought it out to them,” he told NHL.com during a 1-on-1 chat this past week.

It took a while for some to warm up to the idea.

“It took a couple of days, but they put it on,” he said. “We were out there golfing, and they had the [Maple Leafs’ logo] on golf shirts and hats and stuff. So, it was good to see.”

Not everyone has converted.

“There’ll always be Edmonton supporters here, but his friends, his family, they’re with him and Toronto,” Roger Berube, Craig’s dad, said.

Berube’s goal: To get his players and, by association, the team’s rabid fan base, to do the same in the quest to end the franchise’s 57-year Stanley Cup drought.

* * *

When Berube was coach of the St. Louis Blues during the 2019 Stanley Cup Playoffs, a visiting writer from Toronto showed him a message directed to him from Hall of Fame forward Doug Gilmour.

“Hey Chief,” the text said. “I just wanted to say how honored I was to be part of YOUR trade way back when!”

Berube laughed upon reading the note.

“Ha! I think that should be the other way around,” he said, smirking. “In reality, I was proud to be part of his trade.”

On Jan. 2, 1992, a 10-player blockbuster between the Maple Leafs and Calgary Flames saw Gilmour, Ric Nattress, Jamie Macoun, Kent Manderville and Rick Wamsley sent to Toronto for Berube, Gary Leeman, Alexander Godynyuk, Michel Petit and Jeff Reese. It remains the biggest trade, in terms of the number of players (10), in NHL history.

For the record, Gilmour ended his career with 1,414 points, Berube 159.

“Just a bit of a difference,” Berube quipped.

In his 1,054-game NHL playing career, Berube was far more pugilist than points producer, accruing the seventh-most penalty minutes (3,149) in League history. Forty of those games came with the Maple Leafs in 1991-92, a stint that allowed him to experience the constant spotlight that goes with being in hockey-mad Toronto.

Brief as that stay was, he’s never forgotten.

He was reminded of that just weeks after he was hired as Maple Leafs coach on May 17, eight days after Sheldon Keefe was fired. During a face-to-face meeting with forward Mitch Marner in a quiet Toronto coffee shop shortly after taking the job, a fan clicked a photo of them and posted it on social media. Of course, it went viral. It’s Toronto, after all.

Asked about his talk with Marner and how it blew up among the fan base, Berube said he ignores such outside distractions. As for Marner, who was the object of criticism after the Maple Leafs were eliminated in the Eastern Conference First Round by the Boston Bruins, Berube replied, “I’m looking forward to coaching him.”

Straight. Simple. To the point. It’s how Berube played. It’s how he coaches. And it’s how he communicates with his players.

“He makes things quite clear how he wants things,” Toronto defenseman Morgan Rielly said.

What Berube wants is a simple north-south game. There are no pats on the back for dipsy-doodles, no extra points for artistic merit. While he’s not about to shackle his skilled players like Marner, Auston Matthews and William Nylander from being creative, the basic formula is the same -- a straight-ahead game plan with a strong forecheck and an emphasis on finishing checks and playing strong defense.

It’s a blueprint that has served him well during his coaching career, one that saw him compile a 281-190-72 record in 543 regular-season games coaching the Philadelphia Flyers and Blues before landing the Toronto job. He's 27-31 in 58 Stanley Cup Playoff games but guided St. Louis to the Stanley Cup in 2019, taking over that season after Mike Yeo was fired Nov. 20, 2018.

It’s early in his Maple Leafs coaching regime, sure, but there have been some optimistic signs thus far, especially defensively.

Through the first five games of the season, Toronto is 3-2-0 after a 4-1 loss to the New York Rangers at Scotiabank Arena on Saturday. The game was close until the end, when the Rangers scored two empty-net goals to seal the deal.

The biggest takeaway from the season to date: the Maple Leafs have allowed 11 goals in five games, including two empty-netters.

“It takes a while to learn a new system, but I think we’re getting there,” Rielly said.

Berube is seeing that firsthand.

“The work ethic this team puts in is really good,” he said.

But what’s been the biggest surprise being with the Maple Leafs for the first time in more than three decades?

“Not surprised, but the atmosphere around here, there are no dull days, is the way I would put it,” he said. “There’s a lot of action all the time, whether it’s at the rink, the city, wherever.

“The excitement in the building for a game is incredible.”

* * *

The Maple Leafs have four games this week. One jumps off the page when Berube looks at the schedule.

They will host the Blues on Thursday (7 p.m. ET; TSN4, BSMW), the first time Berube will face his former team since being fired by St. Louis on Dec. 12, 2023.

For someone who deservedly earned the reputation as a tough guy during his playing days, the coach exhibited some rare raw emotion when asked what the experience will be like.

“It’ll be great,” said Berube. “I had some great years there. I got very close with a lot of players and management and the people of St. Louis, and always will be.

“As for the players, I coached Brayden Schenn since he was a kid in Philly. Robert Thomas, Jordan Binnington, I coached them for a long time. So, I care a lot about those guys, I care a lot about the organization and about the Blues.

“But I’ve moved on now. I’m with the Leafs now.”

A fact not lost on Schenn, who’s looking forward to seeing his former coach again this week.

“Oh yeah, definitely, it makes you keep tabs on Toronto a little bit more,” Schenn said Saturday. “’Chief’ has been so good to me over my career and gave me such a great opportunity to play in this league for a long time. I definitely owe him a lot.”

Up to a certain point, the Blues forward and captain said.

“I’m not going to say I’m going to root for the Toronto Maple Leafs, but you’re definitely rooting for the Chief to do well. He’s a good man. Guys definitely loved him around this locker room for many years.”

Through the good and the bad.

“You kind of know where you stand with him,” Schenn said. “There’s really no BS when it comes to Chief. I’ve always said he’s the first guy that would come and say, ‘Let’s get going, you played like crap last night.’ But after that, 20 minutes later, it’s more like, ‘How was your day?’

“He doesn’t hold anything against anyone, I find. I think guys really respect that. I’ve had some matches with him where we got into it a little bit, and the next day it’s all fine. That’s what made our relationship pretty special. He’s definitely a coach I owe a lot to.”

And Berube to them.

These are the players who helped the Blues win the Cup in 2019. This was the coach who guided them to reach the pinnacle of all hockey pinnacles. And thanks to that marriage, Berube had the opportunity to bring the Cup to Calahoo on July 2, 2019, where he shared it with the local folk, many of whom were decked out in Blues paraphernalia, including a whole lot of people named Berube.

“It was a special day around here, one people around here won’t soon forget,” Roger Berube said.

One Craig Berube would love to replicate in the future, this time as Maple Leafs coach.

NHL.com independent correspondent Lou Korac contributed to this report