When the Toronto Maple Leafs hired Craig Berube after parting ways with former head coach Sheldon Keefe following the 2023-24 season, one of the first things he addressed in his opening press conference was team toughness. Having been an enforcer in the NHL for 18 years, getting somebody who had that kind of bite behind the bench instilled the fanbase with some hope that it would have a trickle-down effect throughout the regular season and into the playoffs.
Still, when Berube addressed this, he made sure to clarify that wanting his team to play tough didn’t mean they had to be dropping the gloves every night, even if that’s how he made his money as a player.
Whether he intended for it to play out this way or not, the Leafs have clearly felt some sort of spark from their new bench boss, with a whopping 11 different players holding fighting majors. The most recent player to pick one up was defenceman Brandon Carlo, who dropped the gloves with Los Angeles Kings defenceman Jeff Malott on Saturday night. Still, Berube reiterated that he doesn’t necessarily want his players doing it just for the purpose of fighting, but he’s happy to see them stand up for themselves.
The full list of players who have fought under Berube features some unsurprising names like Ryan Reaves and Simon Benoit, with some more shocking names like Pontus Holmberg cracking the list.
Although the Leafs have a grocery list of reasons why they haven’t succeeded in the playoffs, between offence drying up at the wrong time, losing the special teams battle, and not getting timely saves, their lack of toughness in front of their own net and when standing up for each other has reared its ugly head at times too. In this final stretch of the season, the Leafs’ special teams (namely the power play) have really heated up, they’ve gotten timely saves from their goaltenders for the most part, and as for consistent offence, the jury is out on whether that’s something they’ll be able to fix.
Pair all of that with the fact that this team has developed more of a backbone than they’ve had in the past, and you might find yourself feeling a little extra optimistic for the playoffs. As this fanbase knows all too well, you can’t make any affirmations until the playoffs actually start, but this is an encouraging stat for those who think the team gets pushed around too much when those stakes are raised.
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