Craig Berube's ex-player defends head coach from "complete BS" Leafs nation criticism

By Zachary Roberts

Modified Nov 05, 2024 16:46 GMT

There is a take going around the fandom that the pairing between the Toronto Maple Leafs roster and Craig Berube isn't working out. It's the coach's first season in Toronto, but their power play has been lackluster and they're just 6-5-2. However, a former player of Berube, Jay Rosehill, isn't buying that.

"There's a slight sentiment amongst Leafs nation that's starting to rear its head," Rosehill said on Monday, via 'Leafs Morning Take.' "It's that Craig Berube is stifling the creativity and therefore the offense of this group. I'm going to go on record now and say that that is complete BS."

He added that there's "nothing about the Berube system" that takes offense away from anyone on the ice and that the system allows players to be in the offensive zone more.

The system has changed some things, but Rosehill is adamant that Berube has not hindered his star players "one single bit." He did admit that they might be spending some time thinking about the changes and that's what's hindering them, but it's the adjustment, not the system itself.

---

Craig Berube opens up on Leafs' power play issues

The Toronto Maple Leafs finally scored on a power play against the Minnesota Wild on Sunday, although they lost the game. They have been one of the worst teams in the NHL in that situation, and Leafs coach Craig Berube knows it.

Craig Berube addressed his team's issues (Imagn)

After an 0/4 showing in power plays on Saturday against his former team, the St. Louis Blues, Berube said that the Leafs need to create more opportunities on broken plays to score.

"For me it's execution, to be honest with you," Berube said on Saturday, via Maple Leafs Daily. But the other thing is there's not a directness to it. We're not getting pucks to the net enough. We're on the power play, we need to shoot pucks more. We need to get pucks to the net and create opportunities around the net on broken plays. But we're not. There's not a shot mentality on the power play right now."

The team did execute one in their next game, but it was all the offense they could muster. It is a step in the right direction though, for a team that has had some unique growing pains in the early part of the 2024-25 season.