When it comes to new coaches, patience is key — and Craig Berube’s Toronto Maple Leafs are worthy of patience.
That’s an obviously difficult thing to preach in a market where the fan base’s patience has been endlessly tested. That’s been especially true during the last few years of the Auston Matthews-Mitch Marner–William Nylander era. It’s to the point that many wins “don’t matter until April,” while many losses are the “same old Leafs” — a trope often exacerbated by a rampant media machine. After an uneven 5-4-1 start with flashes of excellence amidst several red flags, it can be hard not to say “Welp, same old Leafs.”
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The lore around Berube joining the St. Louis Blues and taking a last-place team in January to the Stanley Cup is the stuff of legend. But legends can often be obscured by the passage of time, enough for many to forget that Berube’s Blues took some time to figure things out under their new coach. The “new coach bump” was far from immediate.