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MARYLAND HEIGHTS, Mo. – Craig Berube knew it would come. His former St. Louis Blues players he coached here knew it would come.
And it’s finally arrived.
It was only a matter of time when Berube was fired as coach of the Blues as to who would hire him, not when and/or if he would get hired as an NHL coach. When the Toronto Maple Leafs hired Berube to replace Sheldon Keefe on May 17 and when the new schedules for the 2024-25 season became available, it was natural to look: when do the Blues and Maple Leafs square off?
It was soon realized it would be early in the season, both in Toronto and in St. Louis, which will be another story in itself.
The first matchup is upon us and it will be at Scotiabank Arena on Thursday when the Blues and Leafs, each sporting 4-3-0 records, clash for the first time.
The 58-year-old will always be remembered and revered by the players from the 2018-19 Blues team and its fans for being the first coach to bring a Stanley Cup to St. Louis, but when Berube was fired on Dec. 12, 2023 and replaced by Drew Bannister, it cut the cord of the leader that helped fuel the Blues’ run.
A few of the players still remain, including goalie Jordan Binnington, defenseman Colton Parayko and forwards Brayden Schenn, Robert Thomas and Oskar Sundqvist, who are all fond of the man everyone calls ‘Chief.’
“Oh yeah. Definitely makes you keep tabs on Toronto a little bit more,” said Schenn, who also played for Berube with the Philadelphia Flyers. “’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.
“I’m not going to say I’m going to root for the Toronto Maple Leafs, but you’re definitely rooting for ‘Chief’ to do well. He’s a good man, he’s loyal and he’s honest. Guys definitely loved him around this locker room for many years.”
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When the Blues were mired in last place in the NHL on Jan. 3, 2019, less than two months after he replaced Mike Yeo, Berube – as the players have all recalled – always seemed to have a pulse for the room, and when he made the boldest of those moves by bringing in a little-known goalie playing in the American Hockey League named Jordan Binnington, who shut out the Flyers in his first NHL start (3-0), it fueled a run for the ages. Something Binnington will always appreciate.
“We have a good bond, I guess with that,” Binnington said. “We’ve won a lot of hockey games together and I think that’s the thing that stands out the most. I really enjoyed playing for him.
“We were together for a long time for I don’t know how many years. Just his enthusiasm and his excitement and him on a personal level is someone you can relate to and want to play for. A great tenure with him.”
The same can be said of Parayko, who soared under Berube’s tutelage. Parayko came onto the scene and excelled under Ken Hitchcock when the Blues made a run to the Western Conference Final in 2016 before losing to the San Jose Sharks in six games, but he really made his name and sparked his career as a premier shutdown defenseman when he tandemed with Jay Bouwmeester.
“He meant lots obviously,” Parayko said. “The things that he teaches you about the game and off the ice too. From a player perspective, he was great to play for. You wanted to come and play for him at the rink. He’s just a great coach. Obviously winning a Stanley Cup with him, it’s special and the bond that all of us players had that were on that team together. Special coach obviously for us and just looking forward to seeing him.
“Obviously that was a big part of my career. Just the confidence of knowing that you’re able to play in those situations, play against their players, play that many minutes. It obviously gives you a boost of confidence. I think that’s one of the biggest things as an athlete is, especially hockey, confidence in general. That brings out a lot of good in players. You watch guys get confidence, it goes a long way. To have a coach to trust you in situations is huge and definitely brings out the best in players.”
It should be an easy game for Berube to coach. Sure, he has the admiration for those skaters that played under him, but this is the organization that ultimately let him go, and there will be fire in the gut to take them down.
“It’ll be great,” said Berube, who was 206-132-44 over parts of six seasons in St. Louis. “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.”
The Blues feel Berube can do for the Leafs lineup what he did for them: communicate well, have a pulse for the room and hold people accountable.
“I think just being a communicator,” Schenn said.
And who can ever forget this communication before Game 7 of the Cup Final against the Boston Bruins?
“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 so, ‘How’s 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) yeah, he had a good pulse on the room definitely, and if you feel he didn’t have a pulse, you’d be the first guy — whoever his leaders are in the locker room — and try to find them and find the pulse right away. He relied on his guys a lot. Back in the day like ‘Steener’ and ‘Petro’ and then [Ryan] O’Reilly and the list goes on and on (Schenn was interrupted and told yourself) … yeah, well we’re talking about other guys (laughing). If he felt like he didn’t have a pulse, he was the first one to go to his players and find out what the issue is and try to confront it that way.”
The kind of guy players would run through a brick wall for?
“Yeah because I think it’s reciprocal,” Binnington said. “I feel like he felt the same way about the team he’s coaching and that was us at the time. A lot of fun hockey moments he shared with us as a group and with him behind the bench.
“I feel like he had a good feel for the group. He was great with the guys. Everyone really enjoyed playing for him. He just brought an intensity and respect that he earned not only from his coaching career but his playing career. Just his presence, I would say, is the main thing that sticks out for me.”
But now that he’s on the other bench, will there be chirping?
“I’m sure he’ll be chirping us,” Schenn said. “I’ve been on the bench when he’s chirped some players, so I probably expect nothing different from him.
“They’re going to be fired up. They lost 6-2 [Tuesday] night and they’re going to be trying to make a statement for their coach. We expect a competitive game and we’re looking forward to playing ‘Chief.’ I expect a good, hard, competitive game tomorrow.”
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