It’s been enough time that we can accurately judge Craig Berube and his tenure so far in Toronto. So the question is posed: how is he doing as Maple Leafs head coach? The easy answer is amazing.

Berube has this hockey club playing simple north/south hockey, aggressive on pucks, and hard on the forecheck. He still gives his starters time and space to create offense and be creative, but he has focused a lot closer on having this team be a hard club to play against.

When Berube coached the St. Louis Blues to a Stanley Cup in 2019, he had them play heavy hockey, an easy north/south game, straight-line hockey, where it was simple in the offensive zone: you weren’t doing too much other than making smart plays and scoring good goals. He got his players to buy into the mentality that this is how you win games, and this is how you win in the playoffs.

Has he gotten this Maple Leafs team to buy in? Yes.

Obviously, the 2019 Blues are different from the 2024 Maple Leafs. You have to tweak things to adapt to the players you coach, but the goal remains the same no matter the players. These men have bought into the idea that you must play hard, 100% hockey for the complete 60 minutes. There have been games this season that the Leafs have been down a goal or two, and they haven’t given up. They kept fighting, they kept playing aggressive hockey, and that led to a comeback to win the game.

To drive it through the players even more, back in October Craig Berube removed the “Honor, Pride, Courage” mantra from the Ford Performance Centre, replacing it with “No Grit. No Grind. No Greatness.” A team’s mantra is a collection of words that are supposed to bring confidence and drive to a team. The obvious message is that without hard work, you won’t get very far.

As the Leafs have begun to shake off the old habits from Sheldon Keefe, Craig Berube looks for these players to not snap back into the old habits, and rather evolve into a new form of hockey players. It’s about hustle, aggressiveness, pace, intensity, hard work, and good hockey habits.

Sheldon Keefe wasn’t the right coach for this team. He wouldn’t hold his players accountable, and he was a terrible motivator. Craig Berube will hype his players up, but he is not afraid to tell them when they’re playing like garbage. A team like the Maple Leafs needed someone that would hold them accountable, no matter their standing in the league. His style of play has transformed the Maple Leafs into a grittier, tougher, and more aggressive team overall.

If there is ever a coach that could coach this Maple Leafs team to a Stanley Cup, I have no doubt in my mind that Craig “Chief” Berube is the man for the job.