Welcome To Toronto: Craig Berube Asked If It’s Time To Panic After Leafs Lose Two Preseason Games
I think hockey fans know this, but casual fans may not: there may be no team more under a microscope than the Toronto Maple Leafs.
Yes, the Cowboys deal with it, and so do the Yankees, but has a reporter ever asked their brand-new coach if it's time to panic after they lost their first two preseason games?
Because that's what Craig Berube is dealing with.
Berube is replacing former Leafs bench boss (now Devils head coach) Sheldon Keefe, and it was widely believed this his no-nonsense approach would be good for a Leafs team that was great in the regular season under Keefe but crumbled in the postseason.
I still think that Berube is the man for the job and that we'll see some changes out of the Leafs this season, but after a pair of preseason losses to the Ottawa Senators — one 6-5 and the other 2-1 — the media is already on Berube's case a bit.
*Curb Your Enthusiasm theme plays*
Welcome to Toronto, Chief! That's after two one-goal losses in games that don't matter. Imagine how fun it'll be when the team winds up in the midst of a losing streak!
Sure, that one woman doesn't speak for all of Toronto sports media, but I think we've seen and heard enough from them over the years to know that this is just par for the course.
Toronto is an absolute pressure cooker because of the the team is constantly being picked apart by fans and media, and it only gets worse ever year that gets added to their Cup drought (we're up to 57 years for that keeping score at home).
It's not a surprise that we've seen plenty of players win Cups or have breakout seasons after leaving the team. Phil Kessel (three Cups) Nazem Kadri, and Zach Hyman are just a few in the last 10 years or so.
Berube obviously knew this was sort of thing was coming when he took the job — I mean, he did play for the Leafs at one point — but I don't think he would have expected to get that question so early into his tenure.