Can Craig Berube’s aura get the Toronto Maple Leafs into Round 3?
After former Toronto Maple Leafs head coach Sheldon Keefe was unable to guide the team to a long playoff run, despite several years of racking up the regular season wins, Craig Berube was brought in to try a somewhat different approach.
Keefe was a Kyle Dubas coach, with a focus on maximizing the offensive potential of Toronto’s high-priced forwards, often at the expense of preventing opposition goals. As the playoff failures mounted, the pressure ratcheted up, and both the coaching staff and players seemed to panic any time adversity reared its ugly head.
Berube (who coached the St. Louis Blues to a surprise Stanley Cup in 2019) is more of an old-style coach. He prioritizes north-south hockey, with a focus on defensive accountability, and prefers some size and physicality in his players.
Under Berube’s tutelage this season, the Toronto Maple Leafs allowed 32 fewer goals than last season, while scoring 35 less themselves. The switch to a more defensive, physical system is more closely aligned to the type of hockey seen every year in the playoffs.
Most importantly, Berube has instilled a sense of team unity and calmness throughout the lineup that has served the Leafs well this year. Several times during the season, the team fell behind or blew large leads, only to dig deep and come back to win.
In prior years, it would now be panic time, after allowing the opposition to even the series and come back to Toronto with all the momentum. Yet under Berube, there is more a sense of determination and self-belief being displayed by the players. They know what they have to do, and are confident they’ll come through when it counts.
Florida remains a dangerous, talented and experienced opponent, and they may yet prevail in this series. But the Toronto Maple Leafs have already proven that they are a different beast than in past seasons.