Why are the Maple Leafs still standing by Craig Berube after two late-season coaching firings?
Photo credit: John E. Sokolowski-Imagn Images
Patrick Roy and Bruce Cassidy were both fired with games left in the season. Craig Berube is still coaching Toronto. That makes no sense.
Two Sundays in a row the NHL fired a head coach mid-season. First, it was Bruce Cassidy in Vegas and now Patrick Roy in New York.
Both replaced immediately with John Tortorella and Peter DeBoer, who are better options almost instantly — yet Craig Berube is still coaching the Toronto Maple Leafs. Someone explain that.
The Roy and Cassidy firings are proof that it's 'never too late' to make changes
Despite all odds, Berube has stuck through a miserable season. The Maple Leafs head coach has gotten a lot of flak this year for being unable to coach a competent team, and though the roster has part to do with it — a lot is his lack of a modern approach.
There has been several times this season that Berube has eschewed blame on himself and instead passed it onto his players. When Joseph Woll gave them a fighting chance against St. Louis, all Berube could focus on was the negatives.
How about praising a guy who made sure it didn't end with six or seven goals against?
He also says that Toronto's lack of shot attempts are a 'mentality' issue but when your system is known for a dump and chase, low-shot volume, grinding style...what do you expect? You want them to listen but also go against the plan?
Any new face would be a welcome change.
They should have given Derek Lalonde a chance to run things, and if not him then why not try something outside the box? You just brought in Steve Sullivan to replace Marc Savard, so why not give him a chance to replace Berube as well?
What's the harm? Getting your top-five pick back by losing a bunch of games?
Waiting for a new GM to decide Craig Berube's fate is a waiting game that Toronto can't afford to lose
While you need to give Keith Pelley credit for his desire to make Toronto a more analytical and numbers-based system, you also have to wonder how long this is going to take. With two premium coaches already snatched up and some other teams looking to make changes, it's a matter of speed now.
Can the Maple Leafs and MLSE find the right President and GM in time to find an elite coach, or do they sit on their hands too long and have to settle for someone outside of their vision — or God forbid — hire the coach themselves?
This is why it's so ridiculous that it took this long to fire Brad Treliving and get a move on fixing the front office. This could have been done months ago and there may have been a much different result.
The club said they didn't want to wait two weeks to fire him so they could get work done and find a new leader.
One week down, one to go. Time is ticking.
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