The John Chayka era in Toronto is underway, and he wasted no time making an impact. On Wednesday, May 13th, the Maple Leafs announced that they have fired head coach Craig Berube. This move seemed like a foregone conclusion when the Leafs fired Brad Treveling back in March. With the Leafs entering a new chapter, they needed to purge themselves of everyone who was from the previous regime.
While many may have seen this move coming, it did help build some confidence among Leafs fans. Given Chayka's tenure with the Arizona Coyotes, there were genuine concerns about his ability to take over the Leafs. But this move eases some of those concerns. While the true test will be who he brings in as a replacement, moving on from Berube was something many fans wanted to see. But why was this the right move for the organization?
Why John Chayka had to fire Craig Berube
Berube was never able to replicate the success he had in St. Louis. During his time with the Blues, he won 206 games and helped lead them to their first Stanley Cup championship. But with the Leafs, the result was mixed. His first season was good, with a 52-26-4 record and a 1st place finish in the Atlantic. But this past season was a disaster as the Leafs went 32-36-14 and missed the playoffs. Far short of where this team was expected to be.
With how bad this past season was, the Leafs needed to clean house. Firing the Treveling, but keeping Berube, would not have solved the problem. Sure, he may not have been the main reason the team struggled, but he did nothing to stop it. It's clear that his message no longer resonated with the locker room. He was not someone the team viewed as a leader. Keeping him open to the possibility that the problems that plagued the team this year continued.
Anytime a new front office comes in, the best thing to do is get rid of the existing coaching staff. Arranged marriages between an existing coach and a new head of hockey operations hardly work. There is always this feeling that the coach can be fired at any minute, so the executive can bring in his own guy. This type of tension is the last thing this Leafs team needed. Chayka and the new front office are trying to build a new culture, and something like that would have hindered that.
While this move did earn some goodwill with the fanbase, he needs to keep it by hiring the right coach. We won't know how good the coach will be until the season starts. But he needs to bring in someone who will get the fanbase excited. This needs to be someone with a long track record of winning. Or one of the upcoming names in the coaching world. This will earn more trust from the fanbase.
Although Berube is not the only reason that the Leafs underperformed this season, firing him was the right move. The Leafs can now bring in someone new who can help usher in a new era of Leafs hockey.
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