Craig Berube Finally Addresses Controversial Timeout Outburst vs. LA Kings
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Craig Berube, head coach of the Toronto Maple Leafs, finally speaks about the contentious timeout he called against the Los Angeles Kings in the third period.
Over the summer, President Brendan Shanahan and General Manager Brad Treliving made a significant choice by selecting Craig Berube to succeed head coach Sheldon Keefe.
It was anticipated that Berube, the former NHL player who won the Stanley Cup with the St. Louis Blues in 2018, would infuse the Maple Leafs' locker room with fresh vitality and a fresh voice.
He demonstrated his abilities to the team during a game this week. Berube will communicate with you in one way or another. This is precisely what transpired on Wednesday when Toronto defeated Los Angeles 5-0. Berube scolded his team for their lack of effort and called a timeout after they gave up two quick goals.
Berube discussed his reasoning for calling a time-out at this stage of the game in a press conference on Thursday. He said that in order to prevent the team from blowing their lead, he wanted to increase the level of intensity.
"It was a feel thing for me last night, I didn't like what we were doing. I just wanted to get a break there and bring everybody in and talk a little bit about getting the intensity level up more than anything. They were pushing hard, I thought they pushed hard in the second period too. Our intensity wasn't good enough.»
"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."
"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."
The players listened to the Leafs coach and followed his instructions when he called a time-out, which was a welcome change of pace. They improved their performance and defeated the Kings 6-2.
Berube demonstrated why the Leafs hired him, even though some analysts criticized him for some of his choices. We're excited to see what the team can achieve this season with him on the bench.
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