TORONTO — While the eyes of the hockey world will undoubtedly be on Vegas Golden Knights forward Mitch Marner during his first game back in Toronto since his departure in the offseason, the aftereffects of a freak injury sustained by Toronto Maple Leafs coach Craig Berube may temporarily shift some of that attention.
When Berube appeared for the Leafs’ morning skate and media availability, he was sporting a heavily swollen black eye. The full extent of the injury wasn’t known until Berube took off his hat to reveal a horrific-looking abrasion on the top of his head that required a dozen stitches. The culprit: “an accident in the gym.”
“The other guy looks way worse. There was three of them,” Berube said, smiling.
The Leafs coach is no stranger to being banged up. Before his coaching career, Berube was a bona fide pugilist and still ranks seventh all-time in NHL penalty minutes.
As for additional details on the gym accident?
“I’m not going to talk about it. Nobody needs to know. It’s all good,” Berube said.
When Berube pulled off his hat, his stitches drew groans from the assembled media.
“It was just a bad accident. It’s on me. My fault. I’m fine,” Berube said.
As is often the case with Berube, he took a lighthearted approach to his injury. He said the players laughed about his stitches and black eye.
“It was stupid,” Berube said of his gym accident.
As the team gathered to stretch at the end of Friday’s morning skate, Berube asked in jest whether they all preferred him to keep his blue Leafs cap on, covering up some of the damage, or take it off. He briefly lifted the hat to show them what they were missing, with a typically big grin.
Berube’s injury will end up being another story on what will be a newsworthy day for the Leafs.
Marner will play his first game in Toronto after nine seasons as a star for the Maple Leafs. After a contentious final season in Toronto, Marner was moved to the Golden Knights as part of a sign-and-trade deal before free agency last year. His return makes for arguably the most anticipated regular-season game for the Leafs this season. A frosty return from Leafs fans inside Scotiabank Arena is a real possibility.
Berube also made news Friday morning when he revealed that he was giving Anthony Stolarz his first start in the Maple Leafs goal since Nov. 11. Stolarz has been out with what he called a nerve issue.
The Leafs currently sit three points out of the final wild card spot in the Eastern Conference.
— Jonas Siegel contributed to this report.
