Maple Leafs Coach Craig Berube Playing it Smart With Surprising Comments About Officiating
Photo credit: John E. Sokolowski-Imagn Images
Maple Leafs head coach Craig Berube had good reason to take issue with the officials after Game 1 against Ottawa, but his comments were very intelligently played, which could help the Leafs in Game 2 and beyond.
On Sunday, the Toronto Maple Leafs were able to secure a 1-0 series lead over the Ottawa Senators with a dominant 6-2 win on home ice, but the win did not come without a degree of controversy.
Two very specific examples of this were the Ridly Greig cross-check on Tavares being downgraded to a minor penalty and Greig "accidentally on purpose" crashing into Anthony Stolarz in a runaway game, which really irked Leafs legend Ed Belfour.
The Leafs' bench boss would have been justified in criticizing the referees on Sunday. However, Berube's comments about the officiating in Game 1 were much more flattering than they needed to be, perhaps setting his team up for more favourable calls during the remainder of the series.
"That stuff (Greig on Stolarz) is going to happen, it's playoff hockey and you've got to be disciplined. The league, the referees, they'll take care of it, that's their job. They're great. You can talk to them any time. They're watching, they understand, they're doing the best they can to monitor all that stuff."
Berube knows that it can be tough for players to not retaliate when emotions are high. He largely feels as though his team did well to not go too far to extract their pound of flesh.
"It can be difficult, it's human nature. [The team] did a good job for the most part. We have to keep playing hard between the whistles, keep being physical, make it difficult for them. In the end, you're not really going to help the team [by retaliating]. We'll deal with those things as we go along."
Game 2 is set to take place tonight at Scotiabank Arena. If the Leafs can take a commanding 2-0 series lead heading into their 2-game set coming up in Ottawa, they can put themselves in good position to set up a sweep scenario against the Senators and set themselves up for a good amount of rest to heal the bumps and bruises before the 2nd round.
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AVRIL 22 | 2292 ANSWERS Maple Leafs Coach Craig Berube Playing it Smart With Surprising Comments About Officiating Do you see the Leafs potentially sweeping the Senators in Round 1? | ||
| Yes | 1315 | 57.4 % |
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