Brayden Schenn greeted his former coach with a hearty handshake.
So did goalie Jordan Binnington and several other members of the St. Louis Blues organization when they met Craig Berube in the hallway outside the visitors dressing room on Thursday morning at Scotiabank Arena.
Win a Stanley Cup with someone and the bond remains strong, even after Berube was fired by the Blues last December, eventually leading to him being hired by the Maple Leafs in May.
“A heck of a guy and a really good coach,” Schenn said. “I text him every now and then. It’s just, ‘Hey, how are you doing?’ Nothing crazy.
“It was good for him to come over and show respect to the players, and it’s always good to see him. Everyone was making sure they said hello.”
tap here to see other videos from our team.
We’ve been getting a good glimpse of the kind of team that Berube wants the Leafs to become night in and night out. Play hard and with structure, finish checks, but keep skill as an integral part of the mix as well. That recipe drove the Blues to the Cup win in 2019.
“He’s not taking sticks out of guys’ hands, out of his top players’ hands, and saying ‘Don’t make plays,’” Schenn said. “That’s not what he wants. But he definitely wants his team to have an identity. And that’s a north-direct mentality of getting pucks in deep, pucks to the net and then let the skill take over.
“When we won, we had four lines that could play in all situations and that’s the team that he likes to have.
“Guys know where they stand. It’s black and white with him. He’ll give you crap one day and the next day he’s asking how your day is going. We had a couple of battles along the way. But he’s a coach I have a ton of respect for.”
Berube had a funny response when he was asked about his Stanley Cup ring, dropping the serious tone he has carried early in his Leafs tenure.
“I don’t know (where it is), at home somewhere,” Berube said, drawing laughter. “It’s not on display. My wife’s probably got it. Maybe she sold it, I don’t know. I haven’t seen it in a long time. I’m not sure exactly where it’s at.”
The Leafs and Blues square off again in St. Louis on Nov. 2 in their second and final meeting of the 2024-25 regular season.
X: @koshtorontosun