Insider Makes Very Bold Statement About the Maple Leafs Under Craig Berube
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Photo credit: Ernest Doroszuk /Toronto Sun
TSN's Pierre LeBrun made a very bold statement about the future success of the Leafs under Craig Berube due to one very specific change he has made.
Ahead of training camp, Berube made it very clear on how he wants the Leafs to play.
"There has to be an identity of how we want to play, and we want to play a north-south game," said Berube.
"We want to be a hard team to play against. We want to check. At the same time, we have a bunch of players with the ability to score goals."
"We want to be a hard team to play against. We want to check. At the same time, we have a bunch of players with the ability to score goals."
The North-South style that Berube wants the Leafs to play has served them well through four games so far, even though they lost their first game of the season.
On TSN 1050's 'OverDrive' on Thursday, LeBrun noted that the Leafs' players have done a good job adjusting to the new play style and revealed that the change to Berube's philosophy could be the key to playoff success.
"They're starting to feel comfortable with the way Berube wants them to play. I can't believe I'm going to say this, I know I'm going to regret it, but this style of play, when they're on the right frame of mind for what Berube wants, this is the style of hockey that wins in the playoffs... It's a more direct, North-South style that helps you generate offense when it's tighter checking hockey, when the game is heavier."
Not only has the change in philosophy helped the Leafs get out to a 3-1-0 start, but his very direct approach including the timeout call Wednesday and halting practice on Friday to address effort and execution issues has gotten players to buy in and make adjustments rather quickly.
Granted, we are just four games into the season with the Leafs' toughest tests yet coming Saturday against the New York Rangers and Monday against the Tampa Bay Lightning, but the early returns have been positive and their next two games will go a long way to determining if the philosophy change has been received by the players. If it has, and if they can keep their composure against two of the NHL's better teams, it would certainly begin to open people up to the idea that this year's team really is different.
| POLL | ||
OCTOBRE 19 | 1800 ANSWERS Insider Makes Very Bold Statement About the Maple Leafs Under Craig Berube Do you agree with LeBrun about the Leafs being better positioned for playoff success under Berube? | ||
| Yes | 1305 | 72.5 % |
| No | 173 | 9.6 % |
| It's too early to say | 322 | 17.9 % |
| List of polls | ||
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