Toronto Maple Leafs head coach Craig Berube calls out his team on being too soft
The Sheldon Keefe era of the Toronto Maple Leafs may be over, but the remnants of his style are still there for Craig Berube to fix.
While Craig Berube, who won the Stanley Cup with the St. Louis Blues in 2019, has clearly laid down the law with the Toronto Maple Leafs, doing controversial things such as taking music out of practices, and stripping John Tavares of the team captaincy in favour of Auston Matthews, he still has a lot more work to do.
After the team's almost entire NHL roster lost to the Ottawa Senators B-team 6 to 5 in overtime last night, with the overtime winner being scored by 18-year-old Carter Yakemchuk, Craig Berube didn't mince his words - he made it clear, his team is too slow, and plays too cute.
In Lance Hornby's column for the Toronto Sun, he went more into detail about Craig Berube's comments:
While highlights included rookie Nikita Grebenkin's standout performance, Max Pacioretty stole the show with a two-goal performance. He commented that he hasn't been as nervous for a game as he was last night in over fifteen years:
Finally, new signing Chris Tanev, who GM Brad Treliving brought in on a massive six-year deal, had three assists. As a clear leader on the team, he equally called out the team on their sloppy play:
| POLL | ||
SEPTEMBRE 23 | 289 ANSWERS Toronto Maple Leafs head coach Craig Berube calls out his team on being too soft Do you think the Toronto Maple Leafs are too soft? | ||
| Yes | 264 | 91.3 % |
| No | 25 | 8.7 % |
| LIST OF POLLS | ||
| G | A | PTS | ||
| Jason Robertson | 1 | 2 | 3 | |
| Chandler Stephenson | - | 3 | 3 | |
| Sebastian Aho | 1 | 1 | 2 | |
| Jalen Chatfield | 1 | 1 | 2 | |
| Mikael Granlund | 1 | 1 | 2 | |
| Roope Hintz | 1 | 1 | 2 | |
| Wyatt Johnston | 1 | 1 | 2 | |
| Brandon Montour | 1 | 1 | 2 | |
| William Nylander | 1 | 1 | 2 | |
| Mitch Marner | - | 2 | 2 | |
| Jaden Schwartz | - | 2 | 2 | |
| John Tavares | - | 2 | 2 | |
| Jamie Benn | 1 | - | 1 | |
| Evgeny Dadonov | 1 | - | 1 | |
| Yanni Gourde | 1 | - | 1 | |
| Pontus Holmberg | 1 | - | 1 | |
| Fraser Minten | 1 | - | 1 | |
| Ryan Poehling | 1 | - | 1 | |
| Jack Roslovic | 1 | - | 1 | |
| Daniel Sprong | 1 | - | 1 | |
| 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 | ||||||