The Toronto Maple Leafs parted ways with general manager Brad Treliving on Monday night, but a decision on head coach Craig Berube will have to wait. <\/p>\n
During a news conference on Tuesday, MLSE president and CEO Keith Pelley said the team\u2019s new head of hockey operations will make the coaching call. With Pelley planning an \u201cexhaustive search,\u201d Berube will remain in limbo until May and maybe even June. <\/p>\n
Berube insists he is unfazed by the uncertainty. <\/p>\n
\u201cI\u2019m focused on coaching the team, honestly,\u201d he said after running a longer-than-usual practice on Wednesday. \u201cTomorrow I got a game, that\u2019s what I\u2019m doing. I can\u2019t control that [decision by management]. Whatever happens happens, but I\u2019m the coach here now and my focus is the team. That\u2019s it.\u201d<\/p>\n
Players have appreciated Berube\u2019s professional approach as this nightmare season lurches toward a conclusion with seven games remaining, including Thursday night in San Jose. <\/p>\n
\u201cHe\u2019s been great,\u201d said centre John Tavares. \u201cThere\u2019s a ton of respect for him in our locker room. We know how challenging it can be … He\u2019s done a really good job of continuing to try to push the right buttons and understanding when you got to put the arm around [a player] or when the time is to push the group.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cChief\u2019s an all-world human being,\u201d said forward Max Domi. \u201cI mean, he\u2019s the ultimate professional and competitor, and he\u2019s just as upset as us players. He\u2019s in that room with us. He knows exactly what we\u2019re going through, and we\u2019ve all came up short this year \u2014 and that\u2019s on us as players. So, we definitely owe it to him to be better.\u201d<\/p>\n
Berube played more than 1,000 games in the NHL. He\u2019s coached in the NHL for the past 18 years as either an assistant or head coach. Even in bad times, this is his happy place. <\/p>\n
\u201cI\u2019ve always felt very fortunate to be in the NHL and be part of the NHL from a player to a coach, all that, and I just don\u2019t take it for granted,\u201d Berube said. \u201cI just don\u2019t. I know I\u2019m 60, but I\u2019m a lucky guy to be part of it.\u201d<\/p>\n
That doesn\u2019t mean the veteran bench boss isn\u2019t feeling the weight of a lost season. <\/p>\n
\u201cI\u2019m down,\u201d he admitted. \u201cI lost a friend and a GM. I told you guys that. That bothers me. But I know that it\u2019s a business and that\u2019s the way it goes.\u201d<\/p>\n
The business will take centre stage again soon enough. <\/p>\n
\u201cOnce we have a new head of hockey in place, if that recommendation is around Craig Berube at that particular time, we will listen,\u201d Pelley said on Tuesday when asked about the coach\u2019s status. \u201cSomething as big as Craig Berube would go all the way to ownership.\u201d<\/p>\n
Berube connected with Pelley on Wednesday before practice. <\/p>\n
\u201cI\u2019ve talked to him in the past two years a lot,\u201d the coach noted. \u201cHe\u2019s been around. We have conversations about a lot of things … He knows what he\u2019s doing. He knows how to build things so we should have a lot of confidence in what he\u2019s going to do going forward here.\u201d<\/p>\n
Berube tunes out uncertainty surrounding his future; focused on ’embracing the grind’ Craig Berube spoke with media on Wednesday about staying focused despite the uncertainty with his future as the Leafs head coach after MLSE president and CEO Keith Pelley said the decision will be made when the new general manager is in charge. TSN’s Mark Masters has more. <\/p>\n
—<\/p>\n
After deciding not to bring back president Brendan Shanahan last year, Pelley expressed confidence in the ability of Treliving and Berube to lead the organization to the next level. Toronto had just finished first in the Atlantic Division and pushed the eventual champion Florida Panthers to seven games in the second round of the playoffs. <\/p>\n
During Tuesday\u2019s meeting with the media, Pelley was asked what went wrong since then. <\/p>\n
\u201cI honestly believe that we didn\u2019t have the alignment, the culture, or the structure we needed to be successful,\u201d he said. <\/p>\n
\u201cSome of the things that happened this year shouldn\u2019t happen in the Leafs\u2019 culture,\u201d he later added. \u201cAnd it won\u2019t going forward.\u201d<\/p>\n
Pelley did acknowledge he could not speak to the culture in the dressing room, specifically, because he\u2019s not in there consistently. <\/p>\n
\u201cI don\u2019t think the culture was off to be honest with you,\u201d Berube said. \u201cI just think we didn\u2019t perform at a high enough level this year to be successful.\u201d<\/p>\n
The coach ended his answer there. <\/p>\n
Domi sidestepped a question about the team\u2019s culture. <\/p>\n
\u201cWe\u2019re not going to get into what went wrong with you guys and, quite frankly, it\u2019s none of your business,\u201d the veteran forward said. \u201cIt\u2019s our group\u2019s business and we\u2019ll keep it that way. We know what we got to do better and we will.\u201d<\/p>\n
Berube defends Leafs’ culture: ‘We didn’t perform at a high enough level to be successful’ Craig Berube defended the culture in Leafs’ locker room on Wednesday after MLSE president and CEO Keith Pelley talked about it during his availability on Tuesday. <\/p>\n
Toronto\u2019s culture was called into question after a game on March 12 when captain Auston Matthews was the victim of a knee-on-knee hit by Anaheim Ducks defenceman Radko Gudas, who was not immediately confronted by any Leafs skaters on the ice. <\/p>\n
Domi dropped the gloves with Gudas off the opening faceoff of Monday\u2019s rematch, which the Leafs won 5-4 in overtime. <\/p>\n
\u201cI\u2019m not going to get into it,\u201d Domi said. \u201cBut certainly a big win. An exciting game to be a part of. We knew what was at stake and proud of every guy in there. Everyone stood up for each other and it was great to see. Massive win, massive two points, and just gotta keep building.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cWe miss Tone,\u201d said goalie Anthony Stolarz, referring to Matthews by his nickname. \u201cAnd you got give Gudas some props for playing [despite not being 100 per cent healthy] … We\u2019re a family in here and we knew we had to take it to him. We were looking forward to this game.\u201d<\/p>\n
Domi doesn’t want to get into Gudas fight during emotional night in Anaheim Shortly before their game Monday in Anaheim, the Maple Leafs announced that they had fired general manager Brad Treliving. During the game, Max Domi dropped the gloves with Radko Gudas in response to his hit on Toronto captain earlier in the month. Domi spoke about the overall emotions of the game, but wouldn’t reveal all that went on with his teammates behind closed doors. <\/p>\n
—<\/p>\n
Even Stolarz got in on the action on Monday by bumping Ducks netminder Ville Husso while the goalies skated to their respective benches during a television timeout. <\/p>\n
\u201cI saw he slashed [William Nylander] earlier in the game,\u201d Stolarz explained. \u201cI just told him, \u2018Don\u2019t touch anyone else again or I\u2019m going to come down there.\u2019 It\u2019s just trying to get an advantage, you know, mind games, try to play them. We\u2019re sticking up for each other. You love to see the passion out of the guys. You love to see that effort and getting the two points against a team of that calibre that\u2019s fighting for a playoff spot.\u201d<\/p>\n
How does the 6-foot-6 goalie feel he would fare in a fight? <\/p>\n
\u201cI think I\u2019d be fine,\u201d the New Jersey native said with a smile as wide as his wingspan. \u201cI\u2019m a bigger guy so that\u2019s going to help with the reach. It\u2019s not something you go into every game looking for but if the opportunity does come, you know, I wouldn\u2019t say no.\u201d <\/p>\n
‘I think I’d be fine’: 6′ 6″ Stolarz jokes that he would be ok in a goalie fight In a fight-filled physical affair Monday in Anaheim, Maple Leafs goalie Anthony Stolarz almost got into an altercation himself. Joking about the situation, the 6′ 6″ netminder feels he would be able to handle himself if called to action. <\/p>\n
—<\/p>\n
Pelley believes the Leafs can return to the playoffs sooner rather than later. <\/p>\n
\u201cA rebuild is needed when you are starting from scratch,\u201d he said. \u201cWe all know the Toronto Maple Leafs have foundational pieces in place. As a result, with those foundational pieces in place, if we are able to surround them with the right culture, structure, and personnel \u2014 both on and off the ice \u2014 I would say we would be in a retool, not a rebuild. Having said that, again, I will always wait for input from the new head of hockey operations.\u201d<\/p>\n
During a scrum with reporters following Tuesday\u2019s news conference, Pelley identified Matthews, Nylander, Matthew Knies and Tavares as foundational pieces. <\/p>\n
Berube also thinks a quick turnaround is possible. <\/p>\n
\u201cOf course, I believe that, because I\u2019ve seen it,\u201d he said. \u201cNow, it\u2019s been a down year and we all know that. We had to be better and we weren\u2019t. There\u2019s different things, but these foundational players have done it for a while here so there\u2019s no reason they can\u2019t keep doing it. They need support, 100 per cent they need support. The team needs to play as a unit and a team. It\u2019s not just all on them.\u201d<\/p>\n
Prior to this season, Toronto had qualified for the playoffs in nine straight years, which was the longest active run in the league. <\/p>\n
The Leafs lost 100-point winger Mitch Marner, but otherwise returned a similar roster this season, including the same defence and goalie tandem. <\/p>\n
\u201cI got all the confidence in the world, man,\u201d Domi said. \u201cWe basically have the same team that we did last year. Obviously a couple pieces that are different, but that\u2019s every year, right.\u201d<\/p>\n
Injuries suffered by stalwart defenceman Chris Tanev, who suited up in just 11 games, played a role in the decline this season. Nylander and Knies also dealt with a nagging injury situations. <\/p>\n
\u201cYou could sit here and make every excuse in the book or you could just look at yourself in the mirror and say, \u2018Hey, it\u2019s done with now. Let\u2019s learn from it and finish off these last seven or eight games strong and have a great summer and come back, everyone healthy and ready to go, champing at the bit,\u2019\u201d Domi said. \u201cAnd that\u2019s all we can control so that\u2019s what we\u2019re going to do. We believe in ourselves. We believe in each other and we got a strong group in there so we\u2019ll focus on that.\u201d <\/p>\n
Tavares, Leafs appreciate Pelley’s vision for retool MLSE president and CEO Keith Pelley spoke about about the firing of GM Brad Treliving Tuesday, and said that he wants the next head of hockey operations to know that the Maple Leafs need a retool, not a rebuild. Wednesday, Leafs players shared their feelings on the news, and support Pelley’s view as they believe that this tough season is a one-off. <\/p>\n
—<\/p>\n
Lines at Wednesday\u2019s practice: <\/p>\n
Cowan – Tavares – Nylander<\/p>\n
Knies – Groulx – Maccelli<\/p>\n
Joshua – Domi – Robertson<\/p>\n
Lorentz – Quillan – Jarnkrok<\/p>\n
Pezzetta<\/p>\n
Rielly – Carlo<\/p>\n
McCabe – Stecher<\/p>\n
Benoit – Ekman-Larsson<\/p>\n
Myers<\/p>\n
Stolarz, Woll<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"The Toronto Maple Leafs parted ways with general manager Brad Treliving on Monday night, but a decision on…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":535903,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[3],"tags":[4759,5,4,32467],"class_list":{"0":"post-535902","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-nhl","8":"tag-apple-news","9":"tag-hockey","10":"tag-nhl","11":"tag-toronto-maple-leafs-sports-hockey-team-team-nhl-api-10"},"share_on_mastodon":{"url":"https:\/\/channels.im\/@nhl\/116332997159521083","error":""},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nhl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/535902","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nhl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nhl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nhl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nhl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=535902"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nhl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/535902\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nhl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/535903"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nhl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=535902"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nhl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=535902"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nhl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=535902"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}