In 1,484 NHL video games, Rod Brind’Amour, now the coach of the Carolina Hurricanes, had 1,184 factors, 1,025 greater than Craig Berube (159).
In 1,054 NHL video games, Berube, now the coach of the Toronto Maple Leafs, had 3,149 penalty minutes, 2,049 greater than Brind’Amour (1,100).
As gamers, it could be troublesome to search out extra polar opposites.
And but, with the Hurricanes and Maple Leafs dealing with off at Lenovo Heart on Thursday (7:30 p.m. ET; HULU, ESPN+, TSN4), the sport will characteristic two of the higher coaches within the NHL for the previous few seasons.
The widespread thread?
“Work ethic,” Brind’Amour stated. “[Berube] by no means took a shift off, and that’s carried over into his teaching. Doesn’t matter for those who’re a fantastic participant or a fringe participant, there’s an expectation to play exhausting each shift.
“That’s non-negotiatiable.”
Berube echoed these sentiments when it got here to Brind’Amour.
“Whether or not it was within the fitness center or on the ice, he by no means stopped working and you may see that hasn’t modified as a coach,” he stated. “The gamers see that.
“He units the tone.”
Berube and Brind’Amour had a quick stint as teammates with the Philadelphia Flyers from 1998-2000. Over the following two-plus a long time they made separate transitions from the ice to behind the bench and, in every case, the outcomes communicate for themselves.
On this, Berube’s first season with Toronto, the Maple Leafs are 27-13-2 and lead the Atlantic Division with 56 factors. They’ll carry a season-high five-game profitable streak into this sport following a 3-2 victory on the Flyers on Tuesday.
In 585 profession video games as an NHL coach with Philadelphia, the St. Louis Blues and Toronto, Berube has led his groups to a 308-203-74 file and guided the Blues to the Stanley Cup in 2019.
“The one factor about teaching, which I feel we each have, is that when your enjoying profession is completed, you don’t need the entire thing to go away,” Berube stated. “You wish to keep a part of it. I didn’t need this to go away. This was my life, I cherished it, and I nonetheless adore it. There’s nothing higher than coming to the rink and being across the guys and the group. I feel that’s the best way a whole lot of guys suppose who wish to go on to educate.
“Once I have a look at ‘Roddy,’ he was enjoying in Carolina. That was his house. When he stopped enjoying he began to work with the group a bit, and he in all probability bought the itch to get extra concerned. And to do issues his personal manner.
“I feel, as coaches, once I was an assistant I needed to be a head coach in the future. That’s why I went to the minors twice. As a result of I needed to run a group my very own manner. And I feel that’s Roddy’s case too. He in all probability needed to do issues his personal manner, and he’s been profitable at it. His groups are exhausting to play towards and are very ready, identical to he was. And is.”