One thing new leadership usually brings with it is change, which is no different when it comes to a new head coach taking the reigns behind an NHL bench. In the case of new Toronto Maple Leafs coach Craig Berube, on top of various lineup changes, has implemented a new rule: no music at practice. But while Leafs fans will often grasp onto even the most seemingly unimportant pieces of news with excitement, this no-tunes policy may actually be more important than it seems.
The day the music died
In prior seasons when the Leafs were still under coach Sheldon Keefe, the practices would often feature music playing throughout, with vintage 50 Cent bangers often played to keep the intensity high during line rushes and other drills. But that has quickly gone the way of the dodo with Berube in town.
Right from the first day of camp, Berube cut the music in favour of the sounds of the game: pucks hitting boards, crossbars ringing, skate blades gliding. And while the change isn’t going to automatically make the Leafs instant title favourites, it does set a standard for this new coaching era. TSN’s Bryan Hayes echoed this sentiment on the Sept. 23 edition of That’s Hockey.
“Craig Berube has to establish the way he wants this team to operate, and we can maybe laugh at it, mock it from the outside. I personally sit here and I’m not sure how much it makes a difference,” said Hayes. “But it doesn’t matter what you and I think or what Craig (Button) thinks or everyone else. What matters is what Craig Berube believes in. What does he believe this team needs to operate as.”
Having team comradery is important, and I love bumping some 50 Cent as much as the next person, but when you’re out there in Game 7 of the Stanley Cup final, you can’t rely on the music to keep your group intense. If anything, the change will allow the team to focus on the most important thing, the hockey itself.
The tunes are gone but the intensity is heightened
Even without 50 Cent’s intense rap classics blaring over the speakers at the Ford Performance Centre, the intensity has gone up a notch. Mind you, Sheldon Keefe’s training camps primarily featured excessive conditioning on Day 1, but Berube seems to be upping the level further. Players like tough winger Ryan Reaves have expressed a bigger focus on drills based around playing and grinding it out in the corner, whether it be 1v1s or 2v2s.
“He expects a lot. He expects intensity, he expects detail. But I think you know, after you saw that practice, it’s going to be, you know, a very direct, you know, gritty team this year,” said Reaves following Day 1 of training camp. “It was a good day though. It sends a message to the team right away of what our identity is going to be, and I think guys enjoyed that battle.”
Even newcomers to the team have expressed the solid work that Berube is doing right from the start ahead of the 2024–25 season. “He’s setting the tone right there from Day 1,” said PTO winger Max Pacioretty. “This is a team that wants to come out of the gates and show they have a whole new compete level.”
For a team that has often had neither grit nor grind, this new mentality and style that is being instilled through Berube seems like a step in the right direction. By building these habits from Day 1 of training camp, the Leafs can hopefully have them down pat come playoff time.
Other noticeable changes
Beyond the music and the overall toughness, there have been other big changes to the Leafs. Positionally, we would be ill-informed if we didn’t mention the move to experiment with Nylander at centre. Nylander played at centre going into his draft year but has since played on the wing for the Leafs, apart from a brief stint at centre during last year’s preseason.
Now, however, Nylander is being given lots of run during preseason games at the position with him and linemate Max Domi swapping between centre and the wing. It may not be a seamless transition out the gate, but Berube has faith in Nylander and what him at centre could mean for the team.
“Listen, it is a work in progress, is the way I would put it. It is not easy to just switch over and play centre. It is a lot more on your plate. I think he has done a pretty good job of it, to be honest with you,” said Berube after practice. “Throughout the season, it would be nice to have a right-handed faceoff guy. We don’t have one. It would be nice to have one. Willy is going to keep working at it.”
Apart from that big positional change, we’ve also noticed differences on the rush, as the Leafs seem to favour more passes between the middle and the short-side boards versus their usual big passes and rushes straight up the middle. This new style opens the middle up more overall and leaves guys wide open for passes on the far side, potentially setting up some big plays for trailing defensemen.
Lastly, the penalty kill has become intensified, yet simplified. Gone is the 1-1-2 formation, and in is a more simple box/diamond structure with more evenly distributed pressure. The easier-to-grasp and execute penalty kill style combined with the Leafs added grit and intensity under Berube should make for an interesting season when it comes to short-handed situations.
Berube’s time so far in Toronto has been short, but man has he been leaving his imprint on a team that has been underachieving for years. While changes like having no music at practice seem insignificant on paper, it is all about building the proper culture for winning, and combining that with other changes may just give the Leafs the edge they need to flip the script.
