Craig Berube breaks his silence on controversial timeout against the LA Kings
The Toronto Maple Leafs head coach Craig Berube broke his silence on the controversial timeout he called in the third period against the Los Angeles Kings.
General Manager Brad Treliving and President Brendan Shanahan made a big decision over the summer when they decided to replace their head coach Sheldon Keefe with Craig Berube.
Berube, the former NHLer who won the Stanley Cup in 2018 with the St. Louis Blues, was expected to bring a new voice and new energy to the Maple Leafs' locker room.
This week, he showed what he can bring to the team during a game. Last Wednesday, against the Los Angeles Kings, Berube called a time-out in the third period. The Leafs were leading 5-0 entering the third, and the Kings scored two goals, prompting Berube to call a time-out.
On Thursday, in a press conference, Berube opened up about his decision to take a time-out at this point in the game. He stated that he wanted to get the intensity level up to make sure the team didn't blow their lead.
Here's what he said:
"You're up like that, it's natural to drop off the intensity level,» Berube said. «We were soft a little bit on pucks and things like that, and they were taking advantage of it. So I wanted to call a time out and, you know, kind of get everybody dialed in again.»
It was refreshing to see the Leafs coach call a time-out and be taken seriously by the players, who listened to him and did what he asked them to do. They tightened their game and ended up winning 6-2 against the Kings.
Despite being exposed by a few analysts for some of his decisions, Berube showed why the Leafs hired him, and we can't wait to see what the team accomplishes with him behind the bench this year.
| POLL | ||
OCTOBRE 19 | 258 ANSWERS Craig Berube breaks his silence on controversial timeout against the LA Kings Do you like the Toronto Maple Leafs' new head coach Craig Berube? | ||
| Yes | 169 | 65.5 % |
| No | 89 | 34.5 % |
| LIST OF POLLS | ||
| G | A | PTS | ||
| Mitch Marner | 2 | - | 2 | |
| Logan Cooley | 1 | 1 | 2 | |
| William Nylander | 1 | 1 | 2 | |
| Jack McBain | 1 | - | 1 | |
| Dylan Guenther | - | 1 | 1 | |
| Michael Kesselring | - | 1 | 1 | |
| Fraser Minten | - | 1 | 1 | |
| Mikhail Sergachev | - | 1 | 1 | |
| Chris Tanev | - | 1 | 1 | |
| John Tavares | - | 1 | 1 | |
| Simon Benoit | - | - | - | |
| Nick Bjugstad | - | - | - | |
| Michael Carcone | - | - | - | |
| Ian Cole | - | - | - | |
| Lawson Crouse | - | - | - | |
| Connor Dewar | - | - | - | |
| Oliver Ekman-Larsson | - | - | - | |
| Barrett Hayton | - | - | - | |
| Pontus Holmberg | - | - | - | |
| Clayton Keller | - | - | - | |
| Complete stats | ||||
| STANDINGS 2024-2025 | ||||||
TOP 10 | GP | W | L | OL | PTS | |
Jets | 21 | 17 | 4 | - | 34 | |
Wild | 20 | 13 | 3 | 4 | 30 | |
Devils | 23 | 14 | 7 | 2 | 30 | |
Hurricanes | 20 | 14 | 5 | 1 | 29 | |
Golden Knights | 21 | 13 | 6 | 2 | 28 | |
Maple Leafs | 21 | 13 | 6 | 2 | 28 | |
Capitals | 20 | 13 | 6 | 1 | 27 | |
Flames | 21 | 12 | 6 | 3 | 27 | |
Stars | 19 | 13 | 6 | - | 26 | |
Rangers | 19 | 12 | 6 | 1 | 25 | |
| Conference | Cumulative | ||||||