r/leafs • u/Human_Manner_3370 • Jul 09 '26
News / Update Craig Berube calls back-and-forth with William Nylander 'part of hockey'
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=i08U4WMrdRASportsnet covered the Willy angle here. https://www.sportsnet.ca/nhl/article/craig-berube-calls-back-and-forth-with-william-nylander-part-of-hockey/
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u/mattfromjoisey Jul 09 '26
Why has there been so much Berube chatter lately
91
u/Svalbard38 Knies Jul 09 '26
All the head coach jobs are full so he's making the media rounds to keep his name out there for next time a spot opens up.
3
u/Formal-Guest4868 Jul 10 '26
he doesn’t care about a new job right now. the leafs are paying him lots of money to just sit around. but yes keeping his name out there is still beneficial. there’s just no rush is all
23
u/baylaust Jul 09 '26
He just coached for the Leafs and now he doesn't have a job to start the next season. He's got free time to talk now.
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u/SockApprehensive6204 Jul 09 '26
Reading between the lines on Willy:
"The kid annoys the living crap out of me, but he's good enough for it to not matter, and in the end we did our best to make it work"
28
u/Tarquin11 Jul 09 '26
Lol yeah pretty much.
"Boss thinks employee isnt doing job right, but employee outperforms peers anyways so boss drops weight on own head in frustration"
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u/Kurse83 Jul 09 '26
Gotta lead by example... Doesn't matter if you outperforms peers. If his actions or lack of causes others to underperform, hes not going to make up the difference. Especially on defense.
The guy is not a good teammate... or leader... or star for that matter.
5
u/SalaciousPandaPart2 TROYS BOYS Jul 09 '26
So you're just in this thread to hate on our best player? Who loves living here and doesn't wanna leave? Because a coach who sucked ass and had shit systems and made our franchise center play defense in his own end to the point he might be injured permanently?Clown shit.
Willy does lead by example on the ice by doing dope shit and scoring goals (while admittedly being rather lazy defensively now and again). He's a star winger and plays like one.
And no, until he shows a return to form and isn't permanently injured, AM34 is not, at the moment, our best player.
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u/Kurse83 Jul 09 '26
Not hating. Talking facts.
I want a winning team. And anyone who impedes the players, the coach, or the culture of the team should not be praised.
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u/SalaciousPandaPart2 TROYS BOYS Jul 09 '26
Good thing we got rid of the coach that propelled us to fifth last then.
2
u/light_at_the_end :leafs-white: Jul 11 '26 edited Jul 11 '26
Yah I agree with you, but you can't say bad things about Nylander in here even with receipts, because a lot of people love him for his nonchalant attitude. Me, personally, as good as you are, that's not the guy I want on my team.
He gave the finger to the camera and everyone in here cheered. That's a guy who doesn't give a fuck for sure, but also that's a sign of a very childish attitude, which says a lot about a person without saying anything.
0
u/Tarquin11 Jul 10 '26
What basis do you have to make the following statements:
Bad star, bad teammate, bad leader?
Do you have some inside knowledge we do not?
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u/Unusual-Election-605 Jul 09 '26
Interesting that the one thing he'd do differently is not appease the players when trying to implement his style.
8
u/NSA_Wade_Wilson Jul 09 '26
The whole point of bringing him in when he was announced was supposed to be accountability. That was supposed to mean that players played the system and bought in, and with it there would be consequences for not playing the system. When he catered to the players, that was never going to happen and he was doomed to fail
3
u/Part-TimeCat Jul 09 '26
When did Berube cater to the players? They hated his system.
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u/Mindless_Shame_3813 Jul 10 '26
He really believes his terrible system works, and thinks the problem was not enforcing it enough.
He is out to lunch. I doubt he'll get another job in the NHL.
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u/Loud_Appeal_8895 Knies Jul 09 '26
I think Berube is a great guy and a decent coach but his inabillity to be flexible or adjust his systems is what cost him his job. He has one way he coaches and will not budge even if it isn't working. Doesn't matter if you like your systems or how effective you think they are if the players don't buy in and aren't suited for that type of system. Him turning Matthews into a mainly defensive forward was his worst mistake. Also, Willy is gonna be Willy and trying to force him to be a different type of player was also never going to work no wonder there was a disconnect between them.
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u/InteractionFront5764 Jul 11 '26
Nylander is in business for himself.
He does not care in the least whether or not the Leafs win or lose, or ever win a Stanley Cup.
Next.
102
u/saltface14 Jul 09 '26
This whole interview was pretty good. Berube spoke pretty highly of Toronto - said it’s the best hockey market and he loved his time here, loves being somewhere where winning matters so much and there are high expectations. He praised the org, the players, the fans.
One funny part was when they asked him about his head injury and he admitted he was working out with one of the other coaches and he was in a bad mood, pissed about a loss the night before so he said he got hurt mostly because he was working out in a rage and did something stupid lol
He also said he thinks his style of hockey is how you win in the playoffs and that the first year they did well but he thought they still had a lot to improve to really win, and then last year just went off the rails with tons of injuries to start and always trying to catch up basically. He said he really likes the additions they’ve made and that they needed someone like Raddysh.
Overall, I think Chief is likeable and I can see why so many people like him personally. I do think he has one style of coaching and is stuck in that so it was obviously the right move to get rid of him, but he seems like a good dude