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Craig Berube Snapped at Leafs During an Early Timeout; Nylander Reveals What Was Said
Photo credit: Sportsnet
Maple Leafs winger William Nylander revealed the jist of what Craig Berube said to the team during early timeout in 6-3 loss to the Islanders.
The Toronto Maple Leafs have gotten into the habit of struggling to begin games, with Saturday against the New York Islanders being the latest example.
The Leafs gave up 2 goals on 4 shots before the game was five minutes old and forced head coach Craig Berube to call a timeout to address the team.
According to Nylander, who was asked about the message Berube had sent during the timeout after the game, the message was a stern and simple one.
"Wake the f*** up."
Nylander was under no misconceptions about the loss, appearing to agree with his coach that the team was just a little bit off on Saturday.
"We came out a little slow, not making so many battles and they came out on. I mean, they scored, I think it was two quick ones, right? And kind of the uphill battle started there. I felt like every time we scored, we managed to give one up. So that's a tough one."
Despite another two-goal effort from Nylander, the Leafs fell to the well-rested Islanders 6-3, and did so without their captain, Auston Matthews, whose previously mysterious injury was re-aggravated in Friday's win over the Buffalo Sabres.
While it appears the Leafs have solved the issue of not getting any secondary scoring, the team now has to fix a more glaring issue - starting on time.
The Leafs have given up the first goal of the game in four of their last five games, in what has become a concerning trend for the club despite sitting atop the Atlantic Division, tied with the Florida Panthers, with 44 points.
With a full day off expected on Sunday, hopefully the Leafs will find a way to get off to a much better start on Monday night when they host the Winnipeg Jets for their final game before the Christmas break.
| POLL | ||
DECEMBRE 22 | 1976 ANSWERS Craig Berube Snapped at Leafs During an Early Timeout; Nylander Reveals What Was Said Are you concerned with how many times the Leafs have started slow recently? | ||
| Yeah, it's starting to concern me | 1270 | 64.3 % |
| No, it's just a speed bump | 292 | 14.8 % |
| If it continues I'll be more worried | 414 | 21 % |
| List of polls | ||
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