The Toronto Maple Leafs’ seventh first-round playoff loss in eight years meant another year of speculation over whether the Core, the head coach, or both would be safe from losing their jobs. Kyle Dubas fell on the sword the year before, and in 2023-24, it was Sheldon Keefe’s turn to take the fall. The use of those terms isn’t to suggest that neither of them should have lost their jobs but to shine light on the fact that there was always speculation that change was going to come after each loss.
Keefe was fired by the Maple Leafs in mid-May 2024 and made headlines with a video farewell he posted to Twitter/X, where he skipped the fluff and acknowledged that he didn’t do enough to get the job done while thanking the fans for the support and the team for the experience.
Thank you, Leafs Nation 💙✌️ pic.twitter.com/WN4iXJZjjE
— Sheldon Keefe (@SheldonKeefe) May 9, 2024
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Not long after he was fired, the Maple Leafs made one of the worst-kept secrets official and announced the hiring of former St. Louis Blues bench boss Craig Berube as their new head coach. Berube was fired in the middle of the 2023-24 season after starting the year 13-14-1, but fans weren’t happy with the firing and went as far as to turn on their own star players for hinting that Berube was the problem.
Jordan Kyrou fights back tears as he talks about being booed by the St. Louis fans tonight 😢 pic.twitter.com/wzAy3aYBPA
— Gino Hard (@GinoHard_) December 15, 2023
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It’s still relatively early in the season, but it seems like those fans may have been onto something. So far, Berube has the Maple Leafs first in the division with a record of 21-10-2, and he’s brought a vibe to the dressing room that feels like the happy medium between hard-nosed and somebody the players respect.
The tough-guy approach from Mike Babcock soured pretty quickly, but stories of Babcock’s lack of communication and questionable tactics with certain players eventually proved that it wasn’t just a case of “This team is soft and can’t handle a tough coach.” So far, the players seem to love Berube, even though he’s not shy to call out his players when things aren’t going well.
As it was for Keefe, the true test of Berube’s ability to coach this team won’t take place until after the regular season. If Berube can get the Maple Leafs out of the first round and, god forbid, take them on a lengthy playoff run, his legacy in Toronto will skyrocket.
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