Shanahan remembers fighting new Leafs coach Berube back in the day
Newly appointed Maple Leafs head coach Craig Berube already has a few personal connections to Toronto from his time as an NHL player.
But aside from briefly playing for the Leafs in the early 1990s, the 58-year-old also had plenty of run-ins with Toronto president Brendan Shanahan during their respective NHL tenures.
“I probably had hundreds of fights in the NHL. Craig probably had more than 200,” Shanahan said, reminiscing about sharing the ice with the former enforcer during a Tuesday press conference.
Shanahan revealed that he and the new Leafs bench boss actually dropped the gloves on multiple occasions. The most memorable tilt occurred in February 1989 in a game between the New Jersey Devils and Philadelphia Flyers.
“I remember that one in particular.”
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According to the 55-year-old, Berube, a well-known enforcer at the time, was doubtful that a young star like Shanahan would even drop the gloves with him.
“About halfway through my second year, I got put on the first line… Craig came up to me at the end of a game and said, ‘Well, I guess you’re not gonna fight us guys anymore,'” Shanahan explained.
“I said, ‘Let’s go.'”
And “go” they did.
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Unsurprisingly, Berube came out on top when the bout was over, landing plenty of uppercuts on his opponent. Meanwhile, Shanahan claims he started to second-guess his scrapping abilities from that moment on
“At the end of the fight, I said, ‘He might’ve had it right. Maybe I should stop doing that,'” Shanahan added, laughing.
Amassing 3,149 penalty minutes in his career, good for seventh on the all-time list, Berube’s fighting days are long behind him. But that tenacity seems to have made its way into his coaching style.
“[He] was a competitor. He was a guy that you always knew when he was on the ice, and he’s translated that to his career in coaching,” Shanahan added, discussing the Leafs’ decision to hire him.
With their paths crossing all these years later, it’s safe to say that both men view their past altercations as water under the bridge.
But hey, it’s not every day that you get to beat up your future boss.
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