TORONTO — Morning skate wrapped with Craig Berube’s long whistle, and the Toronto Maple Leafs formed their usual stretch circle at centre ice on the morning of their home opener.
But instead of a member of the team’s leadership corps gliding to the dot and leading a stretch, the new head coach took centre and gave a short, brief pep talk, spiked with expletives.
The 58-year-old hockey lifer’s voice was calm but stern. More demanding than encouraging.
Berube’s message was loud and clear: The Leafs were to play precisely the same way at home as they had on the road, where they had outscored their first two opponents 4-3 and came within a couple pinged posts of gathering two wins.
The players listened in that moment and delivered hours later with a controlled 4-2 victory over the visiting Pittsburgh Penguins.
They don’t only call him “Chief”; they’re respecting him as one.
It’s one thing that Berube’s meat-and-potatoes system — pucks in deep and checks always finished; no trespassers net-front and no shot lanes unstuffed; defend first, attack second — has already trumped the architects of the old game plan head-to-head (Kyle Dubas’s Penguins and Sheldon Keefe’s Devils).
It’s another how quiet and consistent life around Leafland has been during Week 1.
(Which is quite something considering most of their superstars needed three games to register a point, and the captain is still hunting for one. Considering that the club’s presumptive No. 1 goalie went MIA on opening night. Considering John Tavares got sick, causing the staff to promote Pontus Holmberg on Saturday. And considering that a $54-million has yet to cash in.)
That’s because Berube’s system rolls lines and protects goalies.
It’s simple and hard. Safe and boring — and we’ve long believed the Maple Leafs needed to get duller to win.
Last year’s version had a worse record at home than away, and some within the organization had hypothesized that the players were tempted to get cute and put on a show for Scotiabank Arena.
Stylistically at least, Berube wants 82 road efforts.
“It’s always been in here, you know,” says sophomore Matthew Knies, whose size and effort are winning over the new bench boss.
“I think we have the energy and the players to play the way he wants us to — physical, fast, north hockey. I think we brought that today, and I think that’s what made us win this game.”
We’re seeing shorter shifts and more bottom-six involvement. We’re watching chip and chase and seeing the Maple Leafs out-shot-block their opponents to the tune of 59-36 through three games.
“We don’t want to get into that back-and-forth type of game. We want to have a territorial game,” Berube explains. “We got to get back and get a good coverage and make sure we’re heavier on our net.”
So, even when the Leafs fell down 1-0 thanks to a Kris Letang power-play strike, they stuck to the plan and got the W.
“They’re a very good forechecking team, lots of pressure. So, we’re under siege. But our structure didn’t break on it. We held our ground,” Berube said. “We hung in there with our structure.”
When the Maple Leafs lift weights and stretch off-ice, many now wear team-issued navy T-shirts with a slogan that sounds coach-approved. The back of the tees read: NO GRIT, NO GRIND, NO GREATNESS.
Who’d have thunk it?
The high-flying Leafs are morphing into a grit and grind outfit.
“There’s obviously adjustments,” says Matthews, playing strong yet still looking for his first point. “We’ve checked well. We didn’t give up much, and we’re creating chances. And those chances will start to go in as we continue to build more chemistry as the season goes along, get more acclimated to the way we want to play. I think we’re happy with where we’re at right now.”
Adds Mitch Marner: “We’re trying to be predictable to each other. And when that happens, I think it’s working well for us. So, just try to stick to it. And it’s worked so far. And I thought when we’ve needed to check, we’ve done a good job.”
They all have, for the most part.
We’ll see how the Leafs do against stiffer competition, but thus far the careless giveaways and blown leads and wild scoreboard swings and emotional postgame press conferences are nowhere to be found.
That’s because the players have adapted quickly to Berube’s preferred style, which is simple and direct and comes stamped with a Stanley Cup ring.
“If one guy’s out of position, you’re kind of screwing everyone else. So, there’s a lot of accountability, but I think the guys have bought an extremely well so far,” says Anthony Stolarz.
“I looked at it going in the second period — we had, like, 16 shot blocks. And that’s something, down the stretch and as the season wears on, that we’re going to have to continue to do — because that’s going to be an integral part of our success.”
The Maple Leafs are busy sorting out the grit and grind. They’ll worry about the greatness later.
“It’s still a work in progress,” Berube cautions. “Guys really bought into camp. What we were trying to accomplish and achieve in camp, it’s carried over to these games so far. But we still gotta keep improving and keep getting better.”
Steady on the rudder.
Fox’s Fast Five
• Ex-Leaf Michael Bunting says captains Matthews, 27, and Sidney Crosby, 37, are similar, and not only because they’re both elite talents.
“Just the way they carry themselves, it seems like nothing really bothers them. They’re very in control at all times,” Bunting says. “Sid, he’s been there for so long, you wouldn’t even know all the accolades and everything he’s got the way he carries himself. He’s always just ready to go.”
“He attacks every day. Just his prep. He looks like he’s still in his 20s, the way he’s playing out there…. And you learn so much just the way he carries himself. Yeah, he’s a great leader for us.”
With an assist Saturday, Crosby’s next point will make him just the 10th player in history to reach 1,600.
• When will Joseph Woll be ready to start his first game?
“Good question,” Berube says. “He’s getting better. It’s still day-to-day right now. I don’t really have an answer for you.”
Woll has not skated since suffering “lower-body tightness” at practice Tuesday.
• More than ever, the Maple Leafs are willing and eager to make line changes during prolonged O-zone possession shifts, getting fresh legs out to further wear down their opponent.
Yes, even the top line.
It’s a Berube directive, they’re buying in, and it looks dangerous.
• In 2023-24, Tristan Jarry’s first season after signing his whopping five-year, $26.88-million contract, the Pittsburgh goalie posted a career-worst record (19-25-5) and save percentage (.903), minimum three appearances.
After getting shellacked 6-0 by the Rangers, Jarry has already had his net challenged by rookie Joel Blomqvist, who got the nod Saturday after defeated Detroit 6-3 in his NHL debut Thursday.
“It had an impact, without a doubt. We thought he played extremely well,” coach Mike Sullivan said of Blomqvist. “He’s a very good goalie. He’s athletic. He makes a lot of saves.”
Jarry is on shaky ground here, and that’s with No. 2 Alex Nedeljkovic injured.
• Crosby on training this summer in Vail, Colorado, with Mitch Marner — a safe bet to be a national teammate come February:
“I spent some good amount of time with Mitch. Seeing him over the course of five days and seeing how complete a player he is, what he can do out there, that’s the biggest thing you notice every day. Especially with the group of guys that we had there, he definitely stood out. He’s skilled. He’s smart. He’s an unbelievable player.”