Maple Leafs announce the firing of another coach
Moments ago, NHL insider Chris Johnston broke the news that the Leafs will be parting ways from their long tenured goaltending coach, Steve Briere.
Briere was hired by the club in 2015, and yielded excellent results early in his tenure with goaltender Frederik Andersen. However, Andersen's results continued to decline over his time with the team, culminating with only serving as the backup in the Leafs' 2021 playoffs against the Habs.
The first known mark of tension between the Leafs' organization and Briere was caught in Amazon's All or Nothing documentary, with Keefe appearing unhappy with Briere's explanations for poor goals against and lack of a timeline for Andersen's recovery time from injury at a critical point in the season.
When joining the club and being relied upon as the starter, Campbell initially excelled in the role. As time moved on, Campbell struggled, and the newly-acquired Petr Mrazek was so poor, he became unplayable. For over a two-month stretch of the season, the Leafs had a sub .900 save percentage, being the worst in the league.
With it seeming likely that the Leafs will try to completely rebuild their goaltending tandem this year, it's fitting they let go Briere, who seemed to have been unable to help improve the goaltending situation in recent years. The team has noted they will do an analysis of the goalie coach department while they search for his replacement.
