The Toronto Maple Leafs will be looking to rebound from their disappointing 5-2 setback on Tuesday night at the hands of the Columbus Blue Jackets; they’ll return to the friendly confines of Scotiabank Arena in Toronto to host the St. Louis Blues and attempt to get back into the win column.
For the Blues, it will mark their first matchup against former head coach Craig Berube since he was dismissed from the team last season; the Maple Leafs hired him over the offseason after they fired former head coach Sheldon Keefe after yet another first-round postseason exit.
Blues captain Brayden Schenn knows all about Berube, having played under him while with the Blues and the Philadelphia Flyers, via TSN.
“You kind of know with Chief behind the bench and [Marc] Savard and [Mike] Van Ryn. I’ve been under their wing for many years or whatever, so you know what style of game they’re going to play,” said Schenn. “North-south, direct, hard and bringing what Chief always says – a competitive game to the rink.
And then when you add the skill that they have with the guys up front and the guys they added over the summer, you’re going to get a competitive game.”
The Blues will face the Leafs on Thursday night; puck drop is scheduled for just after 7:00 PM EST.
The Blues fired Craig Berube last season
After starting last season with a record of 13-14-1 which included four straight losses, the Blues made the difficult decision to fire Berube, who had led the team to its first-ever Stanley Cup championship in 2019.
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Blues GM Doug Armstrong explained his decision, citing the difficulty of having to inform a friend of many years that he was being let go, via NHL.com.
“Obviously, I’d like to thank Craig. He and I started working together in 2016, helped right a ship and take it to a championship,” Armstrong said. “We built a friendship over the years and it’s difficult to have that talk with him last night. He’s a true professional.
We talked a little bit, we had a beer, we reminisced for a second, and now my job is to move forward and Craig will now regroup and he’ll land on his feet. He’s too good a coach not to be in this league.”
Before his termination, Berube had gone 206-131-44 as Blues head coach in the regular season and 24-27 in the postseason.