Maple Leafs president Brandan Shanahan and coach Craig Berube are now working together in Toronto, but years ago, Berube actually beat the brakes off of Shanahan in a fight.
When Brad Treliving spoke about adding "snot" to the Leafs last summer, we all assumed he was talking about the roster. With the hiring of Craig Berube, the Leafs have just gotten tougher behind the bench as well.
Berube amassed an impressive 3,149 PIMs in the NHL, good for 7th on the all-time list. Leafs president Brendan Shanahan had the misfortune of squaring off against his new head coach back in their playing days. Shanny was a tough customer in his day, but he wasn't much of a match for Berube when the gloves came off.
The video of their altercation on the ice has been circulating for several days now. Brendan Shanahan, then of the New Jersey Devils, took an absolute beating by then Flyer Berube. Berube didn't have much trouble handling the future hall of famer, landing punches at will before officials stepped in to save Shanahan.
Shanahan was asked about the scrap at the press conference the Leafs held to introduce Berube today. If nothing else, we can say that Shanahan is a good sport. He admitted that taking the fight was a mistake in judgement on his part and had a good laughed about it before taking the opportunity to extoll the virtues of Berube as a coach and as a person.
