Craig Berube Challenges Maple Leafs to Improve in One Very Important Area This Season
Photo credit: John E. Sokolowski-Imagn Images
Maple Leafs head coach Craig Berube has identified one key area that his team will need to improve upon if they hope to enjoy any sustained success this season.
The Toronto Maple Leafs were a very strong road team in 2024-25, amassing an impressive 25-13-3 record as the visitors in their Atlantic Division-winning season. However, when looking at their home record in comparison, there is a definite need for improvement in 2025-26.
The Leafs did not fare much better last season at home than they did on the road, only amassing 27 wins on home ice, en route to a 27-13-1 record at Scotiabank Arena -- something that Craig Berube believes needs to change.
Craig Berube Wants the Leafs to Improve on Home Ice at Scotiabank Arena
This week, Berube was asked point blank about the mediocre home record, and whether he feels the Leafs don't really have as much of a home ice advantage as Berube's former teams in Philly and St. Louis. His response was very telling.
"I do. I really do. Teams come in here, and a lot of Canadian players and hometown Toronto guys are excited to play here. They are looking forward to it. Games at home are hard. They really are. We have to be better. We have to understand that these teams that are coming in are going to be excited and jacked up to play the Leafs at home. We can play more to our identity at home."
By comparison, the Lightning, Jets and Hurricanes faired much better in their own arenas, with the Lightning going 29-8-4 at home -- 7 points better than the Leafs. The Jets went 30-7-4, which is 9 points up on the Leafs, and the Hurricanes was 31-9-1 on home ice, which equates to an extra 9 points as well.
The biggest issue for the Leafs in their series against the Florida Panthers earlier this year was their abysmal showing at home in games 5 and 7. Yes, they were able to defeat the Panthers in games 1 and 2, but that's where the success stopped, and you could make a pretty convincing argument that they were outplayed in both of those games.
A healthy Auston Matthews should certainly help. A recent report suggested that Matthews was playing at well under 50% last season. However, the loss of Mitch Marner poses additional problems at 5v5, on the power play and on the penalty kill.
Berube has already sent a clear message to his players ahead of training camp, and we should expect the team to take on a whole new identity in 2025-26 after the additions of players like Nicolas Roy, Dakota Joshua and Michael Pezzetta. All 3 players are true disruptors, who thrive on throwing opposing players off of their game.
| POLL | ||
SEPTEMBRE 13 | 1781 ANSWERS Craig Berube Challenges Maple Leafs to Improve in One Very Important Area This Season Do you think the Leafs play too soft at home? | ||
| Yes | 1483 | 83.3 % |
| No, just unlucky | 298 | 16.7 % |
| List of polls | ||
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