Was Craig Berube Right About His Big Mistake?
Sometimes the most interesting thing someone says isn't what they actually say. It's what they're willing to admit. That's why one comment from former Maple Leafs coach Craig Berube caught my attention. Looking back on his time in Toronto, Berube said:
"We tried to change a few things and try to get players to play a little differently. I tried to appease them as much as I could, and if I had to do it all over again, I would never have done that."
On the surface, it sounds like a coach second-guessing a few decisions. But I think it's much deeper than that.
Related: A Blueprint for Rebuilding the Maple Leafs’ Top Line.
Notice what Berube doesn't say about the Maple Leafs.
He doesn't blame William Nylander. He doesn't blame Auston Matthews. He doesn't blame the front office. Instead, he takes responsibility for compromising.
That's fascinating because Berube has always been known as a coach with a clear identity. His teams forecheck hard, play physically, stay above the puck, and sacrifice offence if that's what it takes to win in the playoffs. He won a Stanley Cup in St. Louis by getting players to buy into that philosophy. His comments suggest that, somewhere along the way in Toronto, he backed away from it.
The obvious question is why Berube stopped pushing for those changes in Toronto.
Did Berube decide the Maple Leafs simply didn't have the personnel to play that style? Did veteran players push back against changes they weren't comfortable making? Or did he conclude that trying to force the issue would create even bigger problems inside the dressing room? We may never know.
But if his comments are taken at face value, Berube seems to believe his biggest mistake wasn't demanding too much from his players. It was demanding too little. That's an important distinction.
For years, there has been a debate about whether the Maple Leafs needed a different coach, a different roster, or a different mix of personalities. Berube's comments introduce another possibility. Maybe the biggest problem wasn't the system itself. Maybe it was that the system was never fully implemented because the coach eventually compromised.
Would Berube’s Maple Leafs have been better if he pushed harder?
Whether that would have produced a Stanley Cup is impossible to know. Maybe the roster simply wasn't built to play that way. Or maybe a coach has to live with some short-term discomfort before a team develops championship habits.
Either way, Berube's quote leaves us with one intriguing thought. Perhaps his greatest regret wasn't that the Maple Leafs resisted change. It was that, eventually, he stopped insisting on it.
If Berube gets another head-coaching opportunity in the NHL, the biggest question will be whether he sticks to his convictions — or adapts his message again.