Maple Leafs Need Berube For Future Success

Nowhere To Go, But Up For Leafs

The Maple Leafs have made the playoffs for the past nine seasons, and that doesn’t happen overnight; it’s a total team effort from the players, the management, and the coaching staff. Berube has honed his team into a playoff contender over the past nine years. Even though the playoffs haven’t resulted in a championship, he has positioned them to win. The Maple Leafs obviously need that one big push to get closer to winning a Stanley Cup, but they would be further from that goal if Berube were fired.

Long-Tenured Coaches Achieve Success

Overall, coaches who stick with one team tend to succeed. It may not mean they are winning Stanley Cups, but they give their teams the chance to win. Examples include former Chicago Blackhawks head coach Joel Quenneville (2008-2018). Not every season was amazing, but Quenneville’s stability helped the Blackhawks win cups in 2010, 2013 and 2015.

This example can be seen today with current Tampa Bay Lightning head coach Jon Cooper. Cooper has been with the Lightning since 2013 and won back-to-back championships in 2020 and 2021, and also made it to the Stanley Cup Final in 2015 and 2022.

Berube has recently stated that he is frustrated with his players. The Leafs need that level of fire under the players. It keeps them on their toes, and Berube demands respect; the opinion that his players aren’t playing for him is misdirected. The players look defeated, and they are playing accordingly. They shouldn’t be playing that way, but it isn’t because of Berube.

“Definitely frustrated. Pissed off,” Berube said, following his team’s 4-3 shootout loss to the New Jersey Devils on Thursday. “The games are right there, and we don’t push as a team hard enough to win them.”

The Maple Leafs have some big moves to make in the offseason, and they should be player-driven. If the team is going to return to contender status, it needs to be with Berube at the helm.