[MLHS] Craig Berube on why his players lacked “passion” against Washington: “Ask those guys, not me”
December 19, 2025
[MLHS] Craig Berube on why his players lacked “passion” against Washington: “Ask those guys, not me”
26 comments
Brad
Please
He’s really not wrong. They’ve tried player friendly coaches, they’ve tried the old fashioned yelling coach, if the players don’t give a shit they don’t give a shit 🤷♂️.
He’s so getting fired.
Valid response
Deboer
He gone.
You can’t have a functional team when the coach and the players are so disconnected. Every postgame Berube comes out with some version of “these guys need to try harder” – they don’t do it and we just repeat. It didn’t resonate in so many emotional moments of the season, do people really think it’s going to matter when they are fully out of the race?
I like Craig but he’s clearly out of ideas here. I don’t think there’s a coach out there that can get through to this team either though
It would be absolutely fucking incredible if he quit
I was at this game. They were nonexistent.
This feels weird given that his message to players last year seemed to be “Don’t get too low and don’t get too high, just stay at it.”
Do they wait until after Christmas to fire him? Those bastards have tuned him out.
Gotta make a move. You can’t fire the players. No move clauses and just impossible to move a whole core mid season. Can’t just ignore the obvious state of things as a GM either when your core is still in their prime and clearly underperforming.
It may not be Berube’s fault and it’s clear that what he’s been trying to get the guys to do isn’t working and won’t. The team doesn’t fit his style.
People may not want to hear this right now but the blame goes beyond the players. Brad put this together and chose a coach with a style of play that doesn’t fit the players he had and then brought in.
Sounds like a coach that’s lost the room to me.
Something has got to change. I don’t care what it is – fire the coach, trade some players, bench a superstar, being someone up… Anything is better than watching these fucking bums night in and night out.
Yea ask the Captain – was he allowed to speak to the media or did he tuck it between his legs again?
Is Torts available or is he a hot shot tv guy now?
If a coach can’t give an answer about effort it means his message is no longer getting through.
Bérubé doesn’t deserve to be fired… but the writing is on the wall.
Time for Berube to go.
Jus fire him
And hire Matthew’s junior hockey coach already
Oh he’s ***done*** done.
The Leafs SHOULDN’T be a bad team. A worse team than last year? Probably. Near the bottom of the East? No shot. There is too much talent on this team for that.
This is an implosion, no other way to describe it. Blame someone, blame anyone, I don’t care, but when I watch the Leafs, I see what I saw in the New York Rangers last year when they were crashing and burning: a team that has no morale, no hope in the locker room. Not a lack of talent, but a group of guys who had no faith in their organization.
Berube has lost the room, and with this quote, clearly the room has lost him as well. Maybe the problem IS the players. Maybe it is. But you have to work with the pieces you have. And with the pieces the Leafs have, this style, this structure, this coaching staff ISN’T WORKING. We were FIRST in the division last year, and it’s looking increasingly like that was a fluke brought on by two superstar goalies and a shockingly hot d-core.
Believe it or not, the Leafs are actually one of the most stubborn teams in the league when it comes to their coaches. Most teams cycle through much faster than we do. Find someone else. Whether people on here like it or not, Matthews and Nylander are THE guys. They’re the ones making the big bucks, they’re the superstars, they’re the face and future of the franchise for at least a few more years. Find SOMEONE who can bring out the best in them, and help them bring out the best in others. If that’s not a coach’s job, what is?
Maybe the players are the problem. But the systems in place clearly aren’t helping. So control what you CAN, and bring in a new system. That’s the only way to salvage this season at this rate.
I was all for Matthews being the captain when he wasn’t. Boy was I wrong.
Honestly, Berube looks like he’s tried nothing and is all out of ideas.
Sounds like Berube is on his way out. Sounds like he lost the room.
This just screams guy who knows he is out of a job next week
You know it’s bad when players give a more thorough and tactical explanation to reporters then your coach at end game pressers
![[MLHS] Craig Berube on why his players lacked "passion" against Washington: "Ask those guys, not me"](https://www.rawchili.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/12/TtJsg-0gbx42EoEobv3nXgsY7J6ecxZWrCsTieBLVZc-1920x1024.jpeg)
26 comments
Brad
Please
He’s really not wrong. They’ve tried player friendly coaches, they’ve tried the old fashioned yelling coach, if the players don’t give a shit they don’t give a shit 🤷♂️.
He’s so getting fired.
Valid response
Deboer
He gone.
You can’t have a functional team when the coach and the players are so disconnected. Every postgame Berube comes out with some version of “these guys need to try harder” – they don’t do it and we just repeat. It didn’t resonate in so many emotional moments of the season, do people really think it’s going to matter when they are fully out of the race?
I like Craig but he’s clearly out of ideas here. I don’t think there’s a coach out there that can get through to this team either though
It would be absolutely fucking incredible if he quit
I was at this game. They were nonexistent.
This feels weird given that his message to players last year seemed to be “Don’t get too low and don’t get too high, just stay at it.”
Do they wait until after Christmas to fire him? Those bastards have tuned him out.
Gotta make a move. You can’t fire the players. No move clauses and just impossible to move a whole core mid season. Can’t just ignore the obvious state of things as a GM either when your core is still in their prime and clearly underperforming.
It may not be Berube’s fault and it’s clear that what he’s been trying to get the guys to do isn’t working and won’t. The team doesn’t fit his style.
People may not want to hear this right now but the blame goes beyond the players. Brad put this together and chose a coach with a style of play that doesn’t fit the players he had and then brought in.
Sounds like a coach that’s lost the room to me.
Something has got to change. I don’t care what it is – fire the coach, trade some players, bench a superstar, being someone up… Anything is better than watching these fucking bums night in and night out.
Yea ask the Captain – was he allowed to speak to the media or did he tuck it between his legs again?
Is Torts available or is he a hot shot tv guy now?
If a coach can’t give an answer about effort it means his message is no longer getting through.
Bérubé doesn’t deserve to be fired… but the writing is on the wall.
Time for Berube to go.
Jus fire him
And hire Matthew’s junior hockey coach already
Oh he’s ***done*** done.
The Leafs SHOULDN’T be a bad team. A worse team than last year? Probably. Near the bottom of the East? No shot. There is too much talent on this team for that.
This is an implosion, no other way to describe it. Blame someone, blame anyone, I don’t care, but when I watch the Leafs, I see what I saw in the New York Rangers last year when they were crashing and burning: a team that has no morale, no hope in the locker room. Not a lack of talent, but a group of guys who had no faith in their organization.
Berube has lost the room, and with this quote, clearly the room has lost him as well. Maybe the problem IS the players. Maybe it is. But you have to work with the pieces you have. And with the pieces the Leafs have, this style, this structure, this coaching staff ISN’T WORKING. We were FIRST in the division last year, and it’s looking increasingly like that was a fluke brought on by two superstar goalies and a shockingly hot d-core.
Believe it or not, the Leafs are actually one of the most stubborn teams in the league when it comes to their coaches. Most teams cycle through much faster than we do. Find someone else. Whether people on here like it or not, Matthews and Nylander are THE guys. They’re the ones making the big bucks, they’re the superstars, they’re the face and future of the franchise for at least a few more years. Find SOMEONE who can bring out the best in them, and help them bring out the best in others. If that’s not a coach’s job, what is?
Maybe the players are the problem. But the systems in place clearly aren’t helping. So control what you CAN, and bring in a new system. That’s the only way to salvage this season at this rate.
I was all for Matthews being the captain when he wasn’t. Boy was I wrong.
Honestly, Berube looks like he’s tried nothing and is all out of ideas.
Sounds like Berube is on his way out. Sounds like he lost the room.
This just screams guy who knows he is out of a job next week
You know it’s bad when players give a more thorough and tactical explanation to reporters then your coach at end game pressers