Toronto Maple Leafs top prospect Easton Cowan has revealed the one bond is guiding his path towards towards his goal of reaching the NHL.
Cowan , the Toronto Maple Leafs top prospect in the farm system, has discussed why a friendship between current Leafs head coach Craig Berube and Dale Hunter, the President and Head Coach of the London Knights, where Cowan currently plays is important to his success.
Berube has complemented Cowan's game in the past, not just for his offense but his physicality and effort, and his friendship with Hunter seems to be a positive for all sides.
'He's a really good friend of Dale (Hunter) and so they've been texting all year too and Dale always talks to me about, you know, Chief [Berube] and Chief always talked to me about Dale.So that was a pretty cool relationship there but, I really like the way he coaches, you know, obviously he played hard back in his day so I feel like, you know, I'll be able to fit in sooner rather than later, and, you know, it's just a matter of time.'
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Craig Berube and Dale Hunter played alongside each other in the NHL from 1993-1999 as members of the Washington Capitals.
The two spending six seasons as one of the most feared physical duos of their eras until both players were traded out of the U.S. capital on March 23, 1999, when Berube was traded to the Philadelphia Flyers where he began his career,.
Hunter was sent to the Colorado Avalanche, having played seven seasons with Colorado's predecessor, the Quebec Nordiques.
Both Berube and Hunter were two of the most dangerous NHL enforcers of all-time, both top-10 in NHL history in career penalty minutes, Hunter second all time with 3,565, and Berube in seventh with 3,149.
Craig Berube and Dale Hunter Go From Gruesome Bruisers to Hockey Intellects Post-NHL
Playing the part of the gritty bruiser, both Berube and Hunter found themselves as highly competent brains behind the bench as coaches.
Hunter went on to success in the OHL after purchasing the London Knights, running the team's bench as head coach.
Hunter won four OHL championship and two Memorial Cups, as well as a part of the development of future Toronto Maple Leafs stars in Mitch Marner, John Tavares, Nazem Kadri, & Max Domi.
He is also responsible for coaching top future NHLers in Patrick Kane, Matthew Tkachuk, Rick Nash, Evan Bouchard, Corey Perry, & Bo Horvat, and recent first round NHL draft picks in Easton Cowan, Sam Dickinson & Sam O'Reilly.
Hunter also had a stint in the NHL with the Washington Capitals in the 2012-13 season, but decided to stay in the OHL alongside brother and co-owner Mark, who would later go on to be an executive and Assistant GM with the Toronto Maple Leafs.
Berube gained notoriety after taking over the St. Louis Blues, going from assistant under Mike Yeo in last place, to unlikely Stanley Cup champion in 2019 in a major underdog victory in Berube's freshmen year.
Berube was hired by Toronto this season after replacing Sheldon Keefe, who left for New Jersey and has found himself with a successful start to his Maple Leafs career.
