The Toronto Maple Leafs parted ways with general manager Brad Treliving on Monday night, but a decision on head coach Craig Berube will have to wait.
During a news conference on Tuesday, MLSE president and CEO Keith Pelley said the team’s new head of hockey operations will make the coaching call. With Pelley planning an “exhaustive search,” Berube will remain in limbo until May and maybe even June.
Berube insists he is unfazed by the uncertainty.
“I’m focused on coaching the team, honestly,” he said after running a longer-than-usual practice on Wednesday. “Tomorrow I got a game, that’s what I’m doing. I can’t control that [decision by management]. Whatever happens happens, but I’m the coach here now and my focus is the team. That’s it.”
Players have appreciated Berube’s professional approach as this nightmare season lurches toward a conclusion with seven games remaining, including Thursday night in San Jose.
“He’s been great,” said centre John Tavares. “There’s a ton of respect for him in our locker room. We know how challenging it can be … He’s done a really good job of continuing to try to push the right buttons and understanding when you got to put the arm around [a player] or when the time is to push the group.”
“Chief’s an all-world human being,” said forward Max Domi. “I mean, he’s the ultimate professional and competitor, and he’s just as upset as us players. He’s in that room with us. He knows exactly what we’re going through, and we’ve all came up short this year — and that’s on us as players. So, we definitely owe it to him to be better.”
Berube played more than 1,000 games in the NHL. He’s coached in the NHL for the past 18 years as either an assistant or head coach. Even in bad times, this is his happy place.
“I’ve always felt very fortunate to be in the NHL and be part of the NHL from a player to a coach, all that, and I just don’t take it for granted,” Berube said. “I just don’t. I know I’m 60, but I’m a lucky guy to be part of it.”
That doesn’t mean the veteran bench boss isn’t feeling the weight of a lost season.
“I’m down,” he admitted. “I lost a friend and a GM. I told you guys that. That bothers me. But I know that it’s a business and that’s the way it goes.”
The business will take centre stage again soon enough.
“Once we have a new head of hockey in place, if that recommendation is around Craig Berube at that particular time, we will listen,” Pelley said on Tuesday when asked about the coach’s status. “Something as big as Craig Berube would go all the way to ownership.”
Berube connected with Pelley on Wednesday before practice.
“I’ve talked to him in the past two years a lot,” the coach noted. “He’s been around. We have conversations about a lot of things … He knows what he’s doing. He knows how to build things so we should have a lot of confidence in what he’s going to do going forward here.”
Berube tunes out uncertainty surrounding his future; focused on ’embracing the grind’ Craig Berube spoke with media on Wednesday about staying focused despite the uncertainty with his future as the Leafs head coach after MLSE president and CEO Keith Pelley said the decision will be made when the new general manager is in charge. TSN’s Mark Masters has more.
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After deciding not to bring back president Brendan Shanahan last year, Pelley expressed confidence in the ability of Treliving and Berube to lead the organization to the next level. Toronto had just finished first in the Atlantic Division and pushed the eventual champion Florida Panthers to seven games in the second round of the playoffs.
During Tuesday’s meeting with the media, Pelley was asked what went wrong since then.
“I honestly believe that we didn’t have the alignment, the culture, or the structure we needed to be successful,” he said.
“Some of the things that happened this year shouldn’t happen in the Leafs’ culture,” he later added. “And it won’t going forward.”
Pelley did acknowledge he could not speak to the culture in the dressing room, specifically, because he’s not in there consistently.
“I don’t think the culture was off to be honest with you,” Berube said. “I just think we didn’t perform at a high enough level this year to be successful.”
The coach ended his answer there.
Domi sidestepped a question about the team’s culture.
“We’re not going to get into what went wrong with you guys and, quite frankly, it’s none of your business,” the veteran forward said. “It’s our group’s business and we’ll keep it that way. We know what we got to do better and we will.”
Berube defends Leafs’ culture: ‘We didn’t perform at a high enough level to be successful’ Craig Berube defended the culture in Leafs’ locker room on Wednesday after MLSE president and CEO Keith Pelley talked about it during his availability on Tuesday.
Toronto’s culture was called into question after a game on March 12 when captain Auston Matthews was the victim of a knee-on-knee hit by Anaheim Ducks defenceman Radko Gudas, who was not immediately confronted by any Leafs skaters on the ice.
Domi dropped the gloves with Gudas off the opening faceoff of Monday’s rematch, which the Leafs won 5-4 in overtime.
“I’m not going to get into it,” Domi said. “But certainly a big win. An exciting game to be a part of. We knew what was at stake and proud of every guy in there. Everyone stood up for each other and it was great to see. Massive win, massive two points, and just gotta keep building.”
“We miss Tone,” said goalie Anthony Stolarz, referring to Matthews by his nickname. “And you got give Gudas some props for playing [despite not being 100 per cent healthy] … We’re a family in here and we knew we had to take it to him. We were looking forward to this game.”
Domi doesn’t want to get into Gudas fight during emotional night in Anaheim Shortly before their game Monday in Anaheim, the Maple Leafs announced that they had fired general manager Brad Treliving. During the game, Max Domi dropped the gloves with Radko Gudas in response to his hit on Toronto captain earlier in the month. Domi spoke about the overall emotions of the game, but wouldn’t reveal all that went on with his teammates behind closed doors.
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Even Stolarz got in on the action on Monday by bumping Ducks netminder Ville Husso while the goalies skated to their respective benches during a television timeout.
“I saw he slashed [William Nylander] earlier in the game,” Stolarz explained. “I just told him, ‘Don’t touch anyone else again or I’m going to come down there.’ It’s just trying to get an advantage, you know, mind games, try to play them. We’re sticking up for each other. You love to see the passion out of the guys. You love to see that effort and getting the two points against a team of that calibre that’s fighting for a playoff spot.”
How does the 6-foot-6 goalie feel he would fare in a fight?
“I think I’d be fine,” the New Jersey native said with a smile as wide as his wingspan. “I’m a bigger guy so that’s going to help with the reach. It’s not something you go into every game looking for but if the opportunity does come, you know, I wouldn’t say no.”
‘I think I’d be fine’: 6′ 6″ Stolarz jokes that he would be ok in a goalie fight In a fight-filled physical affair Monday in Anaheim, Maple Leafs goalie Anthony Stolarz almost got into an altercation himself. Joking about the situation, the 6′ 6″ netminder feels he would be able to handle himself if called to action.
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Pelley believes the Leafs can return to the playoffs sooner rather than later.
“A rebuild is needed when you are starting from scratch,” he said. “We all know the Toronto Maple Leafs have foundational pieces in place. As a result, with those foundational pieces in place, if we are able to surround them with the right culture, structure, and personnel — both on and off the ice — I would say we would be in a retool, not a rebuild. Having said that, again, I will always wait for input from the new head of hockey operations.”
During a scrum with reporters following Tuesday’s news conference, Pelley identified Matthews, Nylander, Matthew Knies and Tavares as foundational pieces.
Berube also thinks a quick turnaround is possible.
“Of course, I believe that, because I’ve seen it,” he said. “Now, it’s been a down year and we all know that. We had to be better and we weren’t. There’s different things, but these foundational players have done it for a while here so there’s no reason they can’t keep doing it. They need support, 100 per cent they need support. The team needs to play as a unit and a team. It’s not just all on them.”
Prior to this season, Toronto had qualified for the playoffs in nine straight years, which was the longest active run in the league.
The Leafs lost 100-point winger Mitch Marner, but otherwise returned a similar roster this season, including the same defence and goalie tandem.
“I got all the confidence in the world, man,” Domi said. “We basically have the same team that we did last year. Obviously a couple pieces that are different, but that’s every year, right.”
Injuries suffered by stalwart defenceman Chris Tanev, who suited up in just 11 games, played a role in the decline this season. Nylander and Knies also dealt with a nagging injury situations.
“You could sit here and make every excuse in the book or you could just look at yourself in the mirror and say, ‘Hey, it’s done with now. Let’s learn from it and finish off these last seven or eight games strong and have a great summer and come back, everyone healthy and ready to go, champing at the bit,’” Domi said. “And that’s all we can control so that’s what we’re going to do. We believe in ourselves. We believe in each other and we got a strong group in there so we’ll focus on that.”
Tavares, Leafs appreciate Pelley’s vision for retool MLSE president and CEO Keith Pelley spoke about about the firing of GM Brad Treliving Tuesday, and said that he wants the next head of hockey operations to know that the Maple Leafs need a retool, not a rebuild. Wednesday, Leafs players shared their feelings on the news, and support Pelley’s view as they believe that this tough season is a one-off.
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Lines at Wednesday’s practice:
Cowan – Tavares – Nylander
Knies – Groulx – Maccelli
Joshua – Domi – Robertson
Lorentz – Quillan – Jarnkrok
Pezzetta
Rielly – Carlo
McCabe – Stecher
Benoit – Ekman-Larsson
Myers
Stolarz, Woll
