When beleaguered Maple Leafs fans heard that general manager Brad Treliving was holding a morning news conference in the midst of his team’s five-game losing streak, an army of online soothsayers got to work.
Head coach Craig Berube was being fired, some predicted.
The team would announce injured Auston Matthews was out for the season, others anticipated.
It turns out Treliving just wanted to provide fans, and the media, with an update on the team’s trials and tribulations heading into the 20th game of the season tonight against the St. Louis Blues in Toronto.
Treliving quickly acknowledged that the team is not playing up to expectations, but he made one thing clear — he still believes in Berube and he wasn’t about to scapegoat him with a pink slip.
“I believe fully in Craig and his messaging,” he stressed.
“I’ve seen what he’s done in the past,” he said, referring to how Berube led the Blues to their first Stanley Cup back in 2019.
“Craig didn’t become a bad coach over night,” he added. “When you go through difficult times, it’s the easy thing to (point at) the coach … we’ve got to dig in together.”
“My job right now is to support our coach, support his message and support this group and push this group.”
Treliving borrowed one of Berube’s frequent gripes about the team, stressing that they’ve been playing “disconnected.”
“Our record is indicative of how we’ve played,” he said of the team which currently sits in the bottom of the Atlantic Division with the Buffalo Sabres after compiling a dismal 8-9-2 record thus far.
“I think far too often, even in games we’ve won, we haven’t won the game,” he said.
“We’ve just gotta play a more connected game, starting defensively. We’ve given up too much defensively. That wasn’t this team last year.”
He also noted “inconsistency of effort in some cases” but didn’t name names.
“We need to get that enthusiasm back with our group.”
When it comes to key injuries to Matthews, goalie Anthony Stolarz, grinder Scott Laughton and stalwart stay-at-home puck-eating D-man Chris Tanev, Treliving says it’s not an excuse for the uninspiring string of losses.
“Everybody goes through injuries … to me that’s a losing mentality. Certainly there’s certain players you’re not going to replace (but) that’s not an excuse, we’ve gotta find ways to get through that.”
Treliving said Matthews skated today, but would likely miss at least the next two games, while there’s no timeline yet for Tanev’s return.
The dependable blue-liner’s absence has exposed glaring holes in the team’s back end.
“We miss Chris,” Treliving said. “At the end of the day the reality is it’s hard to replace top people.”
At the same time the GM stressed that one player’s injury is another’s opportunity, and he wants to see others step up to play more prominent roles.
“It’s an opportunity for somebody else to dig in.”
