Toronto Maple Leafs head coach Craig Berube has offically lost his mind.
After losing 4-3 to the Carolina Hurricanes on Friday night, Berube called out goaltender Joseph Woll saying the following: "He's played well, but tonight in the end, I don't think, I know we need a save, whether it's the OT or it's one of the breakaways. We need a big save there." (via; youtube.com)
I'm not going to go too in-depth about those comments because our very own Nicholas Giannone nailed it, but instead am going to focus on the reasons why this is a fireable offense.
The Leafs have allowed the most shots on net in the NHL and it's not even close as they have allowed 173 more shots than the second-place Minnesota Wild. To put that in comparison to the rest of the league, 180 shots on net seperate the No. 2 and No. 17 team. That's a huge margin and it's no secret that the Leafs are losing every game they play, because their goaltenders are getting rocked every night.
Although the Leafs have allowed the most shots on net, by far, they are No. 13 in save percentage, which is respectable. Toronto is getting above average goaltending, yet they're allowing the second most goals in the NHL becuase their goaltenders can't catch a break and are fatigued every night.
Berube will almost certaintly get fired after the season
In the past six games, Woll has faced 198 shots and has saved 178 of them, resulting in a .899 SV% and 3.35 GAA. We'd all love those numbers to be a little better, but when you're facing 35 shots every night, it's hard to be perfect.
Berube is completely tone-deaf to put the blame on Woll. He's the team's number-one goalie and you need to protect him in times like this, instead of blaming him, as he's currently not the issue.
I know he's a professional, but if you're Woll, how do you give your A-plus effort when your coach blames you for their losses and the team is front of him is allowing so many shot attempts? Behaviour like this is what drives players out of town and to demand a trade, but we shouldn't reach that because Berube has to get fired, now.
It's been pretty certain that Berube was going to get fired for the past few months but after those comments, that puts the nail in the coffin. I hope that Leafs lose 2-1 tonight and allow 50 shots on net and he double-down's his comments because the goaltending isn't the problem: he is.