Craig Berube took over with the St. Louis Blues struggling. He was able to turn things around and led the team to its first Stanley Cup on Wednesday with a victory in Game 7 over the Bruins in Boston. There are not many coaches who take over during the season and lead their teams to titles.
Mike Sullivan
Mike Sullivan was named head coach of the Pittsburgh Penguins on Dec. 12, 2015 when the team fired coach Mike Johnston. Sullivan led the team to the Stanley Cup with a victory over the San Jose Sharks in six game in the Final.
Darryl Sutter
On Dec. 17, 2011, the Los Angeles Kings hired Darryl Sutter as the team’s head coach after the dismissal of Terry Murray. He led the Kings to a 25–13–11 mark, and entered the playoffs as the eighth seed in the Western Conference. In the playoffs, the Kings beat the Vancouver Canucks, St. Louis Blues and Phoenix Coyotes to advance to the Final. The Kings defeated New Jersey in six games to give Los Angeles its first Stanley Cup.
Dan Bylsma
On Feb. 15, 2009, with the Pittsburgh Penguins struggling to make the playoffs, the team relieved head coach Michel Therrien of his duties and promoted Bylsma to serve as interim head coach. On June 12, Bylsma and the Penguins won the Stanley Cup.
Tom McVie
The Jets won the WHA’s last championship in 1979 after a midseason coaching change. Larry Hillman was dumped when defending champion Jets were 28-27. Tom McVie was named coach and the Jets shut down the Oilers’ sensational rookie Wayne Gretzky en route to their third WHA title.
Dick Irvin
In 1931, the Toronto Maple Leafs were winless through five games when Art Duncan was fired and replaced by Dick Irvin. They got it together and eventually went on to the sweep New York Rangers in the Stanley Cup Final.
Al McNeil
Twenty-four games into the 1970-71 season, Claude Ruel resigned and was replaced by Al MacNeil. Despite disagreements with his players, MacNeil led the Canadiens to the playoffs. In the postseason he made the controversial decision to start Ken Dryden in goal, who had only played in six NHL games in his career. The decision paid as the Canadiens beat the Blackhawks to win the Stanley Cup, with Dryden winning the Conn Smythe Trophy.
Larry Robinson
In the 1999-2000 season, Lou Lamoreillo fired Robby Ftorek with eight games remaining in the regular season. Larry Robinson took over and led the Devils to the Stanley Cup Final against the defending champion Dallas Stars, whom they beat in six games.
Bob Lemon
On July 24, 1978, Billy Martin resigned with the Yankees at 52-42 and 10 games behind Boston. Dick Howser took over for one game as manager. Bob Lemon was hired and he led the Yankees to a 48-20 finish, catching the Red Sox and winning a one-game playoff at Fenway Park on Bucky Dent’s 3-run homer. The Yankees defeated the Los Angeles Dodgers in the World Series.
Jack McKeon
The Marlins began the 2003 16-22 under Jeff Torborg before bringing in Jack McKeon. McKeon went 75-49 as the Marlins qualified for the playoffs as a wild card. In the NLCS, the Cubs led three games to two and were up 3-0 with five outs to go before the Steve Bartman incident. McKeon and the Marlins wound up defeating the Yankees in six games in the World Series.
Steve Fisher
Bill Frieder took the Arizona State job during the final week of the 1988-89 regular season. Bo Schembechler fired Frieder immediately and famously said, “a Michigan man will coach Michigan, not an Arizona State man.” Steve Fisher took over and in the NCAA championship game, Rumeal Robinson hit two free throws with three seconds left in overtime against Seton Hall to give Michigan the national championship.
Paul Westhead
Early in the 1979 season, Paul Westhead replaced close friend Jack McKinney, who had been in an awful bicycle accident, as the head coach of the Lakers and won the NBA championship with rookie Magic Johnson. After winning the franchise’s first title in eight years, Lakers owner Jerry Buss fired McKinney and Westhead lost the interim tag.
Pat Riley (1)
Two years later, Westhead had a falling out with his players over a rigid half-court offense, Magic Johnson led a revolt by demanding to be traded. Buss responded by firing Westhead and replacing him with assistant coach Pat Riley, who ushered in the era of the “Showtime” Lakers, winning the title that year and making the NBA Finals in six of the next seven seasons.
Pat Riley (2)
Shaquille O’Neal was injured in the second game of the 2005-06 season and the Heat struggled to an 11-10 record under Stan Van Gundy. Van Gundy resigned for “personal reasons” and Riley took over and guided the Heat to the championship with four straight wins after trailing 0-2 against the Dallas Mavericks in the NBA Finals.
