| Craig Berube | |||
|---|---|---|---|
 Berube with thePhiladelphia Flyers in 2011 | |||
| Born | (1965-12-17)December 17, 1965 (age 59) | ||
| Height | 6 ft 1 in (185 cm) | ||
| Weight | 205 lb (93 kg; 14 st 9 lb) | ||
| Position | Left wing | ||
| Shot | Left | ||
| Played for | Philadelphia Flyers Toronto Maple Leafs Calgary Flames Washington Capitals New York Islanders | ||
| CurrentNHL coach | Toronto Maple Leafs | ||
| Coached for | Philadelphia Flyers St. Louis Blues | ||
| NHL draft | Undrafted | ||
| Playing career | 1986–2004 | ||
| Coaching career | 2004–present | ||
Craig Berube (/bəˈruːbiː/; born December 17, 1965) is a Canadian professionalice hockey coach and former player who is thehead coach for theToronto Maple Leafs of theNational Hockey League (NHL). Nicknamed "Chief", Berube played 17 seasons in the NHL for thePhiladelphia Flyers, Maple Leafs,Calgary Flames,Washington Capitals andNew York Islanders. His role was primarily that of an enforcer. After retirement, Berube served as head coach of the Flyers for two seasons, and theSt. Louis Blues for parts of six seasons, winning theStanley Cup in2019 as then-interim head coach. Berube additionally served as a national team scout forCanada at the2016 World Cup of Hockey, under Blues general managerDoug Armstrong.
Berube played 1,054 NHL regular season games between 1986 and 2003. He was known as anenforcer in the NHL and amassed 3,149 penalty minutes in his career, good for seventh on theall-time list. Berube has the lowest point total (159) of any player with 1000 games played.
Berube was signed as an undrafted free agent by thePhiladelphia Flyers on March 19, 1986. He made his NHL debut on March 22, 1987, recording 16 penalty minutes which included two fighting majors, in a 3–1 Flyers win over thePittsburgh Penguins.[1] He remained with the Flyers through the end of the regular season and also played in five playoff games during the Flyers' run to the1987 Stanley Cup Finals. Berube cemented his place in the Flyers' line-up during the 1988–89 season and finished in the top ten in penalty minutes during the next two seasons.
Following the 1990–91 season, Berube was traded three times in a span of a little over seven months, twice in the off-season. The Flyers traded him to theEdmonton Oilers along withCraig Fisher andScott Mellanby forDave Brown,Corey Foster, andJari Kurri on May 30. Four months later he was traded to theToronto Maple Leafs along withGlenn Anderson andGrant Fuhr forVincent Damphousse,Peter Ing,Luke Richardson, andScott Thornton on September 19. Berube played the first half of the 1991–92 season with Toronto before he was traded again on January 2, 1992 to theCalgary Flames along withAlexander Godynyuk,Gary Leeman,Michel Petit, andJeff Reese forDoug Gilmour,Jamie Macoun,Kent Manderville,Ric Nattress, andRick Wamsley.
Berube remained with the Flames through the end of the 1992–93 season. He was traded on June 26, 1993, to theWashington Capitals for a fifth-round draft choice in the1993 NHL Entry Draft. He spent the next six seasons with the Capitals, notably playing in every playoff game during Washington's run to the1998 Stanley Cup Finals.
During a November 1997 game against theFlorida Panthers, Berube called Panthers' forwardPeter Worrell, who is black, "a monkey."[2] Berube claimed the remark was not racially motivated and he apologized to Worrell a day after the game.[2] The NHL suspended Berube for one game.[2]
Berube returned to the Flyers in 1999 during the trade deadline.[3] He saw his last Stanley Cup playoff action on the ice in 2000. In game four of the Eastern Conference Finals, he scored the game-winning goal to put the Flyers up 3–1 in the series against theNew Jersey Devils, but the Flyers lost the next three games and the series.
Berube split the next three seasons between the Capitals,New York Islanders, and the Flames. He ended his playing career as aplayer-assistant coach with thePhiladelphia Phantoms, the FlyersAmerican Hockey League affiliate, during the 2003–04 season.[4]
Berube was named the head coach of the Philadelphia Phantoms, the Flyers' affiliate in the American Hockey League, before the 2006–07 AHL season.[4] However, on October 23, 2006, Berube was promoted to the Flyers' NHL coaching staff after a major reorganization in the franchise. On October 22, 2006,Bob Clarke resigned from his position as general manager of the Flyers, and head coachKen Hitchcock was released from his duties.John Stevens, formerly assistant coach, was named the Flyers' new head coach, and Berube was designated to replace him. For the 2007–08 season, Berube returned to the Phantoms as head coach. On October 7, 2013, Berube was named head coach of the Philadelphia Flyers following an 0–3–0 start.[5] The team improved their play following the change to Berube and clinched a spot in the 2014 NHL playoffs. On April 17, 2015, Berube was relieved of his coaching duties by Flyers general managerRon Hextall.[6]
On June 29, 2016, Berube was named the head coach of theChicago Wolves in theAmerican Hockey League, the affiliate of theSt. Louis Blues.[7]
On June 15, 2017, Berube was named an assistant head coach for the Blues.[8] On November 19, 2018, the Blues fired head coachMike Yeo and named Berube interim coach for the rest of the season.[9][10][11]
The Blues struggled at first under Berube's watch; at the start of the 2019 calendar year, they were 15–18–4 and last in the league standings. However, they improved through the remainder of the season, going 30–10–5, including a franchise-record 11-game winning streak. As the third seed in the Central Division, they advanced to theStanley Cup Finals for the fourth time in franchise history, and the first time since1970. The Blues won the series 4–3 over theBoston Bruins, capping off Game 7 with a 4–1 win, earning the Blues their first Stanley Cup title in franchise history and Berube his first Stanley Cup championship as a player or coach.
Berube became the second interim head coach in NHL history to guide his team to a Stanley Cup title. Berube shares this distinction withLarry Robinson, who accomplished the feat19 years earlier with theNew Jersey Devils.
On April 26, 2019, Berube,Jon Cooper, andBarry Trotz were announced as the finalists for theJack Adams Award.[12] On June 24, the Blues dropped the "interim" tag from Berube's title and officially named him as the 26th head coach in franchise history, with a three-year contract.[13]
On February 9, 2022, the Blues signed Berube to a three-year contract extension, through the 2024–25 season.[14]
On December 12, 2023, following a four-game losing streak capped by a 6–4 loss to theDetroit Red Wings, Berube was fired by the Blues.[15]
Following the2023–24 season, Berube was hired as head coach of theToronto Maple Leafs on May 17, 2024, replacingSheldon Keefe.[16]
Berube is ofMétis andCree descent. During his time coaching the Flyers, he andBuffalo Sabres head coachTed Nolan (Ojibwe) were the only head coaches in the NHL withFirst Nations ancestry, and on November 21, 2013, they became the first Indigenous head coaches to coach for opposing teams in the same game.[17]
| Regular season | Playoffs | |||||||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Season | Team | League | GP | G | A | Pts | PIM | GP | G | A | Pts | PIM | ||
| 1982–83 | Williams Lake Mustangs | PCJHL | 33 | 9 | 24 | 33 | 99 | — | — | — | — | — | ||
| 1982–83 | Kamloops Jr. Oilers | WHL | 4 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | — | — | — | — | — | ||
| 1983–84 | New Westminster Bruins | WHL | 70 | 11 | 20 | 31 | 104 | 8 | 1 | 2 | 3 | 5 | ||
| 1984–85 | New Westminster Bruins | WHL | 70 | 25 | 44 | 69 | 191 | 10 | 3 | 2 | 5 | 4 | ||
| 1985–86 | Kamloops Blazers | WHL | 32 | 17 | 14 | 31 | 119 | — | — | — | — | — | ||
| 1985–86 | Medicine Hat Tigers | WHL | 34 | 14 | 16 | 30 | 95 | 25 | 7 | 8 | 15 | 102 | ||
| 1986–87 | Hershey Bears | AHL | 63 | 7 | 17 | 24 | 325 | — | — | — | — | — | ||
| 1986–87 | Philadelphia Flyers | NHL | 7 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 57 | 5 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 17 | ||
| 1987–88 | Philadelphia Flyers | NHL | 27 | 3 | 2 | 5 | 108 | — | — | — | — | — | ||
| 1987–88 | Hershey Bears | AHL | 31 | 5 | 9 | 14 | 119 | — | — | — | — | — | ||
| 1988–89 | Philadelphia Flyers | NHL | 53 | 1 | 1 | 2 | 199 | 16 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 56 | ||
| 1988–89 | Hershey Bears | AHL | 7 | 0 | 2 | 2 | 19 | — | — | — | — | — | ||
| 1989–90 | Philadelphia Flyers | NHL | 74 | 4 | 14 | 18 | 291 | — | — | — | — | — | ||
| 1990–91 | Philadelphia Flyers | NHL | 74 | 8 | 9 | 17 | 293 | — | — | — | — | — | ||
| 1991–92 | Toronto Maple Leafs | NHL | 40 | 5 | 7 | 12 | 109 | — | — | — | — | — | ||
| 1991–92 | Calgary Flames | NHL | 36 | 1 | 4 | 5 | 155 | — | — | — | — | — | ||
| 1992–93 | Calgary Flames | NHL | 77 | 4 | 8 | 12 | 209 | 6 | 0 | 1 | 1 | 21 | ||
| 1993–94 | Washington Capitals | NHL | 84 | 7 | 7 | 14 | 305 | 8 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 21 | ||
| 1994–95 | Washington Capitals | NHL | 43 | 2 | 4 | 6 | 173 | 7 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 29 | ||
| 1995–96 | Washington Capitals | NHL | 50 | 2 | 10 | 12 | 151 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 19 | ||
| 1996–97 | Washington Capitals | NHL | 80 | 4 | 3 | 7 | 218 | — | — | — | — | — | ||
| 1997–98 | Washington Capitals | NHL | 74 | 6 | 9 | 15 | 189 | 21 | 1 | 0 | 1 | 21 | ||
| 1998–99 | Washington Capitals | NHL | 66 | 5 | 4 | 9 | 166 | — | — | — | — | — | ||
| 1998–99 | Philadelphia Flyers | NHL | 11 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 28 | 6 | 1 | 0 | 1 | 4 | ||
| 1999–00 | Philadelphia Flyers | NHL | 77 | 4 | 8 | 12 | 162 | 18 | 1 | 0 | 1 | 23 | ||
| 2000–01 | Washington Capitals | NHL | 22 | 0 | 1 | 1 | 18 | — | — | — | — | — | ||
| 2000–01 | New York Islanders | NHL | 38 | 0 | 2 | 2 | 54 | — | — | — | — | — | ||
| 2001–02 | Calgary Flames | NHL | 66 | 3 | 1 | 4 | 164 | — | — | — | — | — | ||
| 2002–03 | Calgary Flames | NHL | 55 | 2 | 4 | 6 | 100 | — | — | — | — | — | ||
| 2003–04 | Philadelphia Phantoms | AHL | 33 | 0 | 6 | 6 | 134 | — | — | — | — | — | ||
| NHL totals | 1,054 | 61 | 98 | 159 | 3,149 | 89 | 3 | 1 | 4 | 211 | ||||
| Team | Year | Regular season | Postseason | |||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| G | W | L | OTL | Pts | Finish | W | L | Win% | Result | |||
| PHI | 2013–14 | 79 | 42 | 27 | 10 | (94) | 3rd inMetropolitan | 3 | 4 | .429 | Lost in first round (NYR) | |
| PHI | 2014–15 | 82 | 33 | 31 | 18 | 84 | 6th in Metropolitan | — | — | — | Missed playoffs | |
| PHI total | 161 | 75 | 58 | 28 | 3 | 4 | .429 | 1 playoff appearance | ||||
| STL | 2018–19 | 63 | 38 | 19 | 6 | (82) | 3rd inCentral | 16 | 10 | .615 | WonStanley Cup (BOS) | |
| STL | 2019–20 | 71[a] | 42 | 19 | 10 | 94 | 1st in Central | 2 | 4 | .333 | Lost in first round (VAN) | |
| STL | 2020–21 | 56 | 27 | 20 | 9 | 63 | 4th inWest | 0 | 4 | .000 | Lost in first round (COL) | |
| STL | 2021–22 | 82 | 49 | 22 | 11 | 109 | 3rd in Central | 6 | 6 | .500 | Lost in second round (COL) | |
| STL | 2022–23 | 82 | 37 | 38 | 7 | 81 | 6th in Central | — | — | — | Missed playoffs | |
| STL | 2023–24 | 28 | 13 | 14 | 1 | 27 | (fired) | — | — | — | — | |
| STL total | 382 | 206 | 132 | 44 | 24 | 24 | .500 | 4 playoff appearances 1 Stanley Cup title | ||||
| TOR | 2024–25 | 82 | 52 | 26 | 4 | 108 | 1st inAtlantic | 7 | 6 | .538 | Lost in second round (FLA) | |
| TOR total | 82 | 52 | 26 | 4 | 7 | 6 | .538 | 1 playoff appearance | ||||
| Total | 625 | 333 | 214 | 76 | 34 | 34 | .500 | 6 playoff appearances 1 Stanley Cup title | ||||
| Sporting positions | ||
|---|---|---|
| Preceded by | Head coach of the Philadelphia Flyers 2013–2015 | Succeeded by |
| Preceded by | Head coach of the St. Louis Blues 2018–2023 | Succeeded by |
| Preceded by | Head coach of the Toronto Maple Leafs 2024–present | Incumbent |
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