Craig Berube and Joseph Woll will be in familiar territory on Saturday as the Toronto Maple Leafs are in St. Louis to take on the Blues. This will be Berube’s first trip to St. Louis since being dismissed by the team last season. Woll, a St. Louis native, will start in his hometown for the first time. The Blues beat the Toronto Maple Leafs 5-1 last week, but have lost three straight since, while the Leafs are on a two-game winning streak. Will the Toronto Maple Leafs be able to win with so much emotion? The puck drops at 7:00 pm EST.
Family Reunion For Toronto Maple Leafs’ Berube, Woll
Although getting fired is always a tough thing to go through, Toronto Maple Leafs Head Coach Craig Berube has nothing but love and fond memories when it comes to the St. Louis Blues. Berube led the Blues to their first Stanley Cup victory in 2019, but for the coach, it’s much more than that. “I had a great stop there, a lot of special memories, a lot of people I became really close with,” Berube said of his time in St. Louis.
“We had success — but to me, it’s a special place because of the people. They love their sports, really root their teams on. I had a really good time there.” The Blues have prepared a tribute for Berube which will be played during a TV timeout in the first period.
This is a special night for Toronto Maple Leafs Goaltender Joe Woll, too. The 26-year-old St. Louis native had a tough against the Blues last week, which doubled as his season debut. On Saturday, Woll has a chance to redeem himself against the team he rooted for as a kid, but this time, with friends and family in the crowd. “I have a lot of family and friends, and just looking forward to seeing them and to play there,” Woll said. This will be Woll’s second straight start after having a brilliant night on Thursday, stopping 24 shots on his way to a 4-1 win.
Knies Continues To Shine In Contract Year
It’s been an excellent start for Matthew Knies, finding himself on the top line for the Toronto Maple Leafs night after night. With his production, that decision by Berube is looking pretty good right now. Through 11 games, Knies has six goals and seven points, along with an impressive 22.2 shot percentage. His teammates are taking notice, too. “He’s such a presence down low in front of the net,” Toronto Maple Leafs captain, Auston Matthews, said of Knies. “He’s finding really good spots and he’s capitalizing on some of these opportunities. He’s a beast.”
Line-mate and star winger Mitch Marner has some similar feelings. “He’s a big horse out there,” Marner said. “It’s been great just to see him come into his own. He’s a big body, wins a lot of one-on-one battles and gets the puck back for us. He takes a lot of abuse in front of the net, but he gets his goals for it.” Matthews and Marner have been playing together for many years, and Marner feels that Knies has fit in perfectly. “Sometimes (Matthews and I) go in weird spots that I think we know where each other are, but some guys can’t really figure it out.” Knies has done an unbelievable job of that this year.
Coach Berube compared Knies’ ceiling to that of NHL legends like Keith Tkachuk and John LeClair, which is pretty high praise. “I think he just understands what type of player he is, and he’s doing that shift to shift. He knows when he creates those loose pucks, to get to the net, and he’s getting rewarded from it.”
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