Breadcrumb Path Hyperlinks
Toronto Maple LeafsSportsNHLHockey
Article content material
Let’s snip to the Chase about two males at the shorten checklist as upcoming mentor of the Maple Leafs: Craig Berube and Todd McLellan.
Commercial 2
Article content material
Kelly Chase, the previous Maple Leaf and long-time member of the St. Louis Blues, used to be a published analyst when Berube got here at the scene, sooner or later prominent them to the 2019 Stanley Cup.
Article content material
Sooner than that, Chase used to be a Saskatoon Blades teenager teammate and tight off the ice with McLellan, who ranks within the manage 25 in NHL video games coached and wins.
Chase insists each can create a direct have an effect on on a Leafs staff that has made the playoffs 8 instantly years, however best has driven pace that first-round hurdle as soon as and is now thought to be pace its high.
“Those two guys can each can bring a lot,” Chase advised the Solar on Monday, a age nearest McLellan used to be noticed at LAX aviation to Toronto for a most probably interview, amid stories Berube has already been contacted via Leafs normal supervisor Brad Treliving.
Your Noon Solar
Article content material
Commercial 3
Article content material
“Chief (Berube) will be perfect for Toronto, direct as hell with players and the media.
“Don’t mistake his 3,000 NHL penalty minutes for being dumb.
“He’s going to ask you to play hard or you won’t play. And that (controversy) only has to happen a couple of times in the winter for it to be understood by every player come spring.
“He’s brutally honest. He went to Alex Steen in our Cup year and said ‘I want you to take a lesser role, but it’s going to be important.’ He played him with Ivan Barbashev and Oskar Sundqvist. People were calling it the third or fourth line, but they were huge. So he might go to Mitch Marner and say ‘I’m moving you down because this other player is doing better. You want to play more? Play harder.’
“You have a guy like (Auston) Matthews who can score around 70, but so did we years ago with Brett Hull. You saw what kind of a leader he could be in his playing days when pushed.
Advertisement 4
Article content
“We won the Cup because Chief prepared us like that.”
When it does get to crunch life in April, Chase expects a Berube-coached staff to observe Conn Smythe’s beat-’em-in-the alley mentality, or up to the letter of the legislation lets in within the flow NHL.
“Some nation received’t like to listen to this, however we received the Cup as a result of we were given punched a batch much less and bullied alternative groups. It’s parched to do this to a staff like Boston, however we received 3 video games of their construction.
“When we confirmed lets shoot off consequences, it supposed lets snatch liberties and, in case you pay attention to the audio, there’s Pat Maroon skating pace their bench shouting ‘you guys are f**ked.’”
Having seen him go through a couple of years in Philadelphia behind the bench and take over during the season for fired Mike Yeo in the Cup grind, Chase does not believe Berube will flinch in the face of double or triple the media that followed the Blues or be crushed by the unseen weight a 57-year Cup jinx.
Advertisement 5
Article content
Berube got a taste of life with the Leafs in 1992 as part of the Doug Gilmour trade from Calgary (he was born in Calahoo, Alta.), appearing in 40 games with 12 points and 109 PIMs.
“He’ll be direct with the media and may hearth again and ask what you recall to mind a undeniable condition. You’d higher have a just right solution or possibility taking a look silly. And he’ll installed at the gamers to be (ready within the dressing room and be responsible).”
Chase additionally thinks McLellan could be perfect within the Toronto force cooker, having adopted his training profession throughout the Western Convention in San Jose (seven seasons), Edmonton (4) and Los Angeles (5).
None of the ones stints yielded a Cup, however Chase mentioned there’s a explanation why the local of Melville, Sask., assists in keeping getting re-hired.
Commercial 6
Article content material
“He has a strong intellect, takes any situation and processes it slowly and (methodically). He’s applied elements of the coaches he’s worked for, Mike Babcock (an assistant in Detroit) and Jacques Lemaire (as farm team coach of the expansion Minnesota Wild) and adapted those to his own style,” Chase mentioned.
Beneficial from Editorial
SIMMONS SAYS: Why can’t Maple Leafs be extra like Leon Draisaitl?
Maple Leafs and lovers mourn passing of one,000-game winger Ron Ellis
He additionally mentioned McLellan realized to take care of each more or less catastrophe, off and on the ice, as captain of the maverick WHL Blades within the mid-’80s. Chase, Tony Twist, Kevin Kaminski ,Shaun Van Allen, Wendel Clark’s brother Kerry and Brian Glynn all racked up between 116 and 325 PIMs.
“We used to say it wasn’t a junior hockey team, but a young offenders’ work release program,” Chase — who had McLellan, Wendel and Blues teammates Brett Hull and pace Leafs president Brendan Shanahan in his wedding ceremony celebration — mentioned with amusing. “Todd needed to have the maturity of a 30-year-old to deal with that group of trouble makers , the bar fights and so much more.
“His dad was an RCMP officer (as was Treliving’s) and I’ll bet he went home and asked him how he should be dealing with us. But it was a good team and we all made sacrifices.
“With he and Chief, it’s basically what you see is what you get. I don’t think it would take that long to see a difference with the Leafs.”
lhornby@postmedia.com
X: @sunhornby
Article content material
Percentage this text on your social community
