New Maple Leafs head coach Craig Berube has explained his decision to hire Marc Savard to run the power play despite his poor record running the PP in Calgary.
After one season in Calgary, Marc Savard and the Flames mutually agreed to part ways, allowing him to eventually join the Maple Leafs on Craig Berube’s staff.
It was widely believed that he would run the Leafs’ power play, and has since been confirmed. That news has Leaf fans questioning the hire as Savard ran a Flames’ power play that finished 25th in the league last year. However, Berube stood by the decision to bring Savard to Toronto, and in speaking with The Star’s Kevin McGran, explained his rationale for the decision.
“I brought him in in St. Louis for a bit and he ran the power play there, and I liked what he did. There’s familiarity. I wanted to bring him back. And I think he’s going to work well with our power play.”
Savard will have considerably more offensive weapons at his disposal in Toronto versus what he had to work with in Calgary. Auston Matthews, Mitch Marner, John Tavares and William Nylander have pretty much been mainstays on the top unit, with Morgan Rielly being the most common defenseman used as the PP quarterback, though John Klingberg and Timothy Liljegren took some reps there last season.
The Leafs’ power play struggled once again in the post-season and much of the second half of the season and the hope is that Savard will be able to inject some life into the top unit and create different looks to keep opposing teams on their toes.
Whether Berube will offer his two cents the same way Sheldon Keefe did remains to be seen, but if the power play continues to struggle, Berube won’t let it last the same way Keefe did before he shortens the leash and gets involved in the decision-making there.
“I got a good feel back then for it. And I loved playing here for a short time,” said Berube. “I’m really looking forward to coaching here. I mean, it’s the Toronto Maple Leafs, an Original Six team, the fan base. It’s going to be a lot of fun.”
While Berube looks forward to coaching the Leafs, fans are just hoping he can lead them to more playoff success and finally get over the hump when it matters most.
Visited 35 times, 1 visit(s) today
