How Craig Berube has impacted the Maple Leafs
Toronto Maple Leafs head coach Craig Berube has given the team a new identity.
Berube has the Maple Leafs playing a north/south game, hard on the forecheck, battling for pucks, time, and space, while still allowing his superstars the space, and creativity to shine. Toronto has battled their way through a ton of injury troubles this season, but thanks to some strong goaltending from Anthony Stolarz and Joseph Woll, along with Berube’s new structure, the Maple Leafs continue to be one of the teams to beat in the Eastern Conference.
On Wednesday’s episode of Daily Faceoff LIVE, Tyler Yaremchuk and Frank Seravalli were joined by former QMJHL head coach Jon Goyens to discuss Berube’s impact on the Maple Leafs.
Yaremchuk: Jon, today I wanted to zero in on the Toronto Maple Leafs. It’s been a really impressive start to the season for Craig Berube and company. They have the second best goals-against per/60 at five-on-five in the NHL this season. And, a lot of the attention has understandably gone towards Anthony Stolarz. So, when you look at the way the Leafs are preventing goals against so far this season, is it all goaltending, or is it something Berube is doing differently as far as that system?
Goyens: Well, when assigned this topic for this week, it was a really a focus around the coach and Berube’s style of play. I’ll go back to 2019 when he took over (St. Louis Blues) they won the Stanley Cup. In the playoffs, their special teams were 12th, and 12th.
What they were able to do was play heavy hockey, straight-line hockey, offensive zone was simple, and as a coach, you get different players with different teams, and you got to tweak certain things. But, in my circle of coaches that know him quite well, he wants straight-line hockey, he wants aggressive outside the dots, and he wants everybody to buy in.
This group in Toronto are on their third coach. So, to play the run-and-gun and outscore your problems, is not going to work anymore. It always comes to a head in the playoffs where they’re not able to get over that hump. I feel that he has convinced them to give up something, which is some of their scoring, their scoring is down, their power-play is below the Montreal Canadiens for crying out loud, I was in the building last night (Canadiens 6-1 win over Buffalo Sabres Dec.17), and I thought Laine’s one-timers were going to come up to my head and my son’s head because of where we were positioned, but at the end of the day, there’s no excuse that the Leafs’ power play should be below Montreal’s.
But, at the end of the day, you’re 32 games in, they were told you have to give up something, so that we can get over that hump, and that’s what we’re seeing. We are seeing total buy in from everyone. And, it has to start with your best players, reloading, getting above, they are reducing the number of odd-man rushes against, they are reducing the number of chances against off the rush, that’s not just left up to the defense.
For more on the Maple Leafs’ start, and the very latest from around the NHL, watch the full episode below.