Craig Berube lays down the law with the Toronto Maple Leafs: he has removed Sheldon Keefe's soft rule
During their training camp, Craig Berube made a clear signal to the Toronto Maple Leafs with one subtle change: Sheldon Keefe is no longer laying down the law, and neither are his old policies.
No hockey fans are more tired of their team than those of the Toronto Maple Leafs, who have suffered the longest Stanley Cup drought in NHL history. Following their loss to the Boston Bruins in another first-round Game 7 of the playoffs, management decided they also had enough. After five years as the head coach of the team, Sheldon Keefe was fired from his post. Not long after, the team announced they had hired his replacement: Craig Berube, who led the St. Louis Blues to their first-ever Stanley Cup victory.
Craig Berube was expected to make some major changes to how the Leafs work as a team. Yet, with the start of training camp behind, he has already made a more subtle change that makes the game all the more serious in Toronto. Sheldon Keefe was known for playing music during Toronto's training camp, particularly that of 50 Cent. Yet, according to Sportsnet contributor Luke Fox, Berube has removed this from training camp, leaving only the sound of practice in the arena.
One could spot a couple PTOs and a PP, a 2C and an F3.
But no DJ.
Under the former coaching regime, the Maple Leafs' bag skates and line rushes were usually set to music, with a staffer designated to cue up some vintage 50 Cent to help keep pulses pounding and tempos high in the practice facility.
Under Craig Berube, however, the only "music" is that of pucks off glass, shrill neck whistles and bodies slamming into boards.
The new bench boss in town is direct and no frills, and he's demanding his charges play that way."
Though this might seem like a small change, music significantly improves performance in several areas, including athletics. According to a 2020 research publication by the American Psychological Association, music can provide a spike in physical response and allow the party exerting to more effectively use their oxygen.
However, this same study does not conclude that it is guaranteed to help every athlete or any general exerciser. Instead, these research psychologists suggest that more work be done to look at how this could be done most effectively.
The central challenge for researchers and practitioners is no longer to speculate over whether music has the potential to provide benefits for exercisers and athletes, because clearly it does, but instead to clarify ways by which to use it optimally."
Provided Toronto's playoffs record with Sheldon Keefe's music choices in training camp, they did not, in fact, use it optimally. Craig Berube's new rule has alternatively instilled a more serious approach to training, which is arguably the team's biggest flaw. No player can rely on a beat blasting through speakers, instead keeping their ears on the listen for pucks hitting the board, skaters approaching behind them, and instructions coming from the ice or the bench. Now, with Sheldon Keefe's policies officially out in the dust, hopefully, the Maple Leafs have a chance to become the serious team their fans have wanted for decades.
| POLL | ||
SEPTEMBRE 21 | 303 ANSWERS Craig Berube lays down the law with the Toronto Maple Leafs: he has removed Sheldon Keefe's soft rule Will Craig Berube's new policy in training camp help the Toronto Maple Leafs? | ||
| Yes | 165 | 54.5 % |
| No, no effect | 90 | 29.7 % |
| No, they will play worse | 48 | 15.8 % |
| LIST OF POLLS | ||
| G | A | PTS | ||
| Zachary Werenski | 2 | 3 | 5 | |
| Sean Monahan | 1 | 3 | 4 | |
| Jesper Bratt | 2 | 1 | 3 | |
| Frederick Gaudreau | 2 | 1 | 3 | |
| Jack Hughes | - | 3 | 3 | |
| Nikita Kucherov | - | 3 | 3 | |
| Mackenzie Weegar | - | 3 | 3 | |
| Kent Johnson | 2 | - | 2 | |
| Alexander Wennberg | 2 | - | 2 | |
| Mitchell Chaffee | 1 | 1 | 2 | |
| Anthony Cirelli | 1 | 1 | 2 | |
| Matthew Coronato | 1 | 1 | 2 | |
| Marcus Foligno | 1 | 1 | 2 | |
| Nick Foligno | 1 | 1 | 2 | |
| Conor Geekie | 1 | 1 | 2 | |
| Brandon Hagel | 1 | 1 | 2 | |
| Stefan Noesen | 1 | 1 | 2 | |
| Corey Perry | 1 | 1 | 2 | |
| Igor Sharangovich | 1 | 1 | 2 | |
| Dmitry Voronkov | 1 | 1 | 2 | |
| Complete stats | ||||
| STANDINGS 2024-2025 | ||||||
TOP 10 | GP | W | L | OL | PTS | |
Jets | 19 | 16 | 3 | - | 32 | |
Hurricanes | 18 | 14 | 4 | - | 28 | |
Capitals | 18 | 13 | 4 | 1 | 27 | |
Wild | 18 | 12 | 3 | 3 | 27 | |
Maple Leafs | 20 | 12 | 6 | 2 | 26 | |
Devils | 21 | 12 | 7 | 2 | 26 | |
Rangers | 17 | 12 | 4 | 1 | 25 | |
Panthers | 19 | 12 | 6 | 1 | 25 | |
Stars | 18 | 12 | 6 | - | 24 | |
Golden Knights | 19 | 11 | 6 | 2 | 24 | |
| Conference | Cumulative | ||||||