Craig Berube facts for kids
Quick facts for kids Craig Berube |
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Berube with the Philadelphia Flyers in 2011
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| Born | December 17, 1965 Calahoo, Alberta, Canada |
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| 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 |
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| Current NHL coach | Toronto Maple Leafs | ||
| Coached for | Philadelphia Flyers St. Louis Blues |
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| NHL Draft | Undrafted | ||
| Playing career | 1986–2004 | ||
| Coaching career | 2004–present | ||
Craig Berube (/bəˈruːbiː/; born December 17, 1965) is a Canadian professional ice hockey coach and former player. He is currently the head coach for the Toronto Maple Leafs of the National Hockey League (NHL). Berube is often called "Chief."
He played for 17 seasons in the NHL. He was a left wing for teams like the Philadelphia Flyers, Toronto Maple Leafs, Calgary Flames, Washington Capitals, and New York Islanders. His main role was often as an enforcer. After he stopped playing, Berube became a head coach. He coached the Flyers for two seasons and the St. Louis Blues for parts of six seasons. He led the Blues to win the Stanley Cup in 2019 as their interim head coach.
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Playing Career
Craig Berube played in 1,054 NHL regular season games. This was between 1986 and 2003. He was known as an "enforcer" in the NHL. An enforcer is a player who protects teammates and sometimes gets into fights. Berube had a lot of penalty minutes in his career. He is seventh on the all-time list for penalty minutes.
Early Years with the Flyers
The Philadelphia Flyers signed Berube on March 19, 1986. He was not chosen in the NHL draft. His first NHL game was on March 22, 1987. In that game, he had 16 penalty minutes. This included two fights. The Flyers won the game 3–1 against the Pittsburgh Penguins. He stayed with the Flyers for the rest of that season. He also played in five playoff games. The Flyers made it to the 1987 Stanley Cup Finals that year. Berube became a regular player for the Flyers in the 1988–89 season. He was among the top ten players in penalty minutes for the next two seasons.
Moving Between Teams
After the 1990–91 season, Berube was traded three times. These trades happened in just over seven months. First, the Flyers traded him to the Edmonton Oilers. Then, four months later, he was traded to the Toronto Maple Leafs. Berube played the first half of the 1991–92 season with Toronto. On January 2, 1992, he was traded again. This time, he went to the Calgary Flames.
Berube stayed with the Flames until the end of the 1992–93 season. On June 26, 1993, he was traded to the Washington Capitals. He played for the Capitals for the next six seasons. He played in every playoff game when Washington reached the 1998 Stanley Cup Finals.
In November 1997, during a game, Berube made a comment to an opposing player. The player was Peter Worrell, who is Black. Berube called him "a monkey." Berube said his comment was not about race. He apologized to Worrell the next day. The NHL suspended Berube for one game because of the comment.
Return to Philadelphia and End of Playing Career
Berube returned to the Flyers in 1999. This was during the trade deadline. He played in his last Stanley Cup playoff games in 2000. In one important game, he scored the winning goal. This put the Flyers up 3–1 in the series against the New Jersey Devils. However, the Flyers lost the next three games and the series.
Berube then played for the Capitals, New York Islanders, and Flames. He finished his playing career in the 2003–04 season. He was a player and an assistant coach for the Philadelphia Phantoms. This team was connected to the Flyers.
Coaching Career
Philadelphia Flyers Coach
Berube became the head coach of the Philadelphia Phantoms. This was the Flyers' team in the American Hockey League (AHL). This happened before the 2006–07 AHL season. But on October 23, 2006, Berube was moved up to the Flyers' NHL coaching staff. This happened after some big changes in the team. John Stevens became the new head coach. Berube took his place as an assistant coach.
For the 2007–08 season, Berube went back to coaching the Phantoms. On October 7, 2013, Berube was named head coach of the Philadelphia Flyers. The team had started the season with three losses. After Berube took over, the team played much better. They made it to the 2014 NHL playoffs. On April 17, 2015, the Flyers decided to let Berube go from his coaching job.
St. Louis Blues Coach
On June 29, 2016, Berube was named head coach of the Chicago Wolves. This team is in the AHL and is connected to the St. Louis Blues.
On June 15, 2017, Berube became an assistant head coach for the Blues. On November 19, 2018, the Blues fired their head coach. Berube was named the interim coach for the rest of the season. An "interim" coach is a temporary coach.
The Blues had a tough start under Berube. At the beginning of 2019, they were last in the league. But they got much better as the season went on. They won 30 games and lost only 10. They also had a team record of 11 wins in a row. The Blues made it to the 2019 Stanley Cup Finals. This was their first time in the finals since 1970. The Blues won the series 4–3 against the Boston Bruins. They won Game 7 by a score of 4–1. This was the first Stanley Cup title in the Blues' history. It was also Berube's first Stanley Cup championship as a player or coach.
Berube was only the second interim head coach in NHL history to lead his team to a Stanley Cup title. On June 24, 2019, the Blues made Berube their official head coach. They gave him a three-year contract. On February 9, 2022, the Blues gave Berube another three-year contract. This extended his coaching time through the 2024–25 season.
On December 12, 2023, the Blues fired Berube. This happened after the team lost four games in a row.
Toronto Maple Leafs Coach
After the 2023–24 NHL season, Berube was hired by the Toronto Maple Leafs. He became their new head coach on May 17, 2024.
Personal Life
Craig Berube has Métis and Cree heritage. These are First Nations groups in Canada. When he coached the Flyers, he and Buffalo Sabres head coach Ted Nolan were the only NHL head coaches with First Nations ancestry. On November 21, 2013, they coached against each other. This was the first time two Indigenous head coaches faced off in an NHL game.
See also
- List of NHL players with 1,000 games played
- List of NHL players with 2,000 career penalty minutes
