Mark Masters Toronto Leafs look for comeback performance at Berube Bowl

Craig Berube isn’t sure where his Stanley Cup ring is.

“He’s in my house somewhere,” the Maple Leafs’ new coach said. “It’s not in the exhibition. My wife probably has it. Maybe she sold it. I don’t know. I’m not sure exactly where it is because I haven’t seen it for a long time.”

Berube isn’t exactly an emotional guy, so it’s no surprise he downplayed Thursday’s meeting with his former team. Berube led the Blues to the franchise’s first Stanley Cup title in 2019. Now he’s set to coach against them for the first time since he was fired last December.

Before the morning skate, Berube took time to meet up with old friends outside the Blues locker room.

“It’s a good thing for him to come in and show respect to the players,” Blues captain Brayden Schenn said. “It’s always nice to see him. It wasn’t just the players. The training staff and everyone was going there to say hello.”

“There are emotions, but it ends when the puck drops,” Berube insisted.

Berube isn’t giving too much away, but players on both sides think it’s little more than the two points at stake.

“I think it means a lot to him,” senior winger Matthew Knies said. “I don’t think he’ll say much about it, but we in this locker room want to win for him, dominate and be the team we know we can be. We’re going to try.” and do this for him.”

“This is a big game for him,” Blues winger Jordan Kyrou said. “I’m sure you’re very excited.”

ContentId(1.2194637): Berube downplays Blues reunion: ‘There are emotions, but when the puck drops, it’s over.’

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Asked a second question about facing his former team, Berube put the brakes on the story.

“I have really good feelings towards these people, but ultimately we need two points,” he said. “I can’t stress this enough. This is just about us.”

The Leafs are by far their worst performance under Berube. Toronto lost 6-2 to the rebuilding Columbus Blue Jackets on Tuesday. They were playing for the third time in four nights But the coach wasn’t in the mood to make any excuses..

“We didn’t check,” Berube diagnosed. “If we had controlled at the beginning of the match, I think we would have been in a good position, but we did not control early and fell 3-0 behind. You are playing catch-up and we could not achieve the result. The goalkeeper had a goal, we could not score.”

Berube’s reaction Tuesday night was measured. The players enjoyed a day off Wednesday, and the group didn’t spend much time rehashing the Blue Jacket’s defeat Thursday morning.

“There was a brief evaluation and then it was said, ‘Forget about it and move on,'” senior winger Ryan Reaves said. “I think a guy like him who plays in the league understands that you can’t have your best night every night.”

The Leafs allowed six goals at 5-on-5 on Tuesday. Going into that game, they had scored just six 5-on-5 goals in their first six games combined. Overall, Berube’s Leafs have been on their game for most of this season. The coach’s influence is already evident.

“They’ve definitely become a braver team watching the game this year,” Kyrou said.

“The style of play he brings to this team, you know, he’s just a little bit more tenacious, that’s the main thing,” Reaves said. “We’re playing a little harder up and down the lineup here right now, and I think we need that.”

ContentId(1.2194676): Leafs look for ‘big response’ after blowout loss to Blue Jackets

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Joseph Woll, who missed the first seven games with a groin strain, will make his season debut on Thursday.

“It’s been moving in the right direction for a while now,” Berube said. “We set that date based on when he starts. It’s just about making sure he’s ready and comfortable. Everyone agrees he needs to be ready to go. That’s what we chose.”

Woll, St. He is from St. Louis and will be facing his hometown team for the first time. He last played in Toronto’s preseason finale on October 5.

Richmond Hill, Ont. native Jordan Binnington will also play against his hometown team. Binnington is a candidate to be a part of Team Canada at the NHL 4 Nations Face-Off in February.

“When you look at the Canadian roster, his name has to be at the top of the list,” Blues coach Drew Bannister said. “High hockey IQ, very effective at getting to pucks and moving pucks. Binner is going to be there eventually. He’s going to be a guy that pushes. He wants it. He’s a competitive guy. Like, he’s not going to give up on that spot.”

ContentId(1.2194648): Woll to make season debut against Blues

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Max Pacioretty, who left Tuesday’s match with a lower-body injury, was unable to skate on Thursday and will not play against the Blues. It is officially listed as a casual job by Berube. David Kampf will withdraw after being a healthy scratch in Columbus.

The Blues are without center Robert Thomas, who broke his ankle in Tuesday’s loss to the Winnipeg Jets. It will be re-evaluated in six weeks.

However, St. St. Louis will have Oskar Sundqvist back on Thursday, who has been out since tearing the anterior cruciate ligament in his right knee on March 25.

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Reaves has yet to hang up his gloves during the regular season. Did he come close to hitting Matt Rempe in Saturday’s game against the New York Rangers?

“I told him, ‘If you go out and do something, I’ll give him one,’ and he buried his own player,” Reaves said. he said. “It was about that, so nothing much happened.”

Reaves picked up his first penalty minutes of the season — a pair of tough little minutes — in Tuesday’s game in Columbus.

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The Leafs’ projected roster for Thursday’s game is:

Knies-Matthews-Marner

McMann – Domi – Nylander

Holmberg – Tavares – Robertson (L)

Lorentz – Kampf – Reaves

Rielly – Tanev

Ekman-Larsson – McCabe (Left)

Benoit-Timmins

Woll begins

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