Maple Leafs Media Availability Playoff Practice | May 15, 2025

Maple Leafs Media Availability Playoff Practice | May 15, 2025

Morgan, how do you go about turning the the page after a tough loss last night? Yeah, I mean, um, obviously big game tomorrow, so it’s, you know, not hard. Um, I mean, we got to refocus and obviously we have some improvements to make and some things to work on. So, um, that’s where all our focus is and um um, you know, it’s a great opportunity for our group. It’s a good challenge and, you know, we’ll be ready to go. What do you take away from last night, if anything, or do you just kind of flush a game like that? There’s always stuff to take away. Um, but I mean ultimately we got to do what we got to do to prepare for tomorrow night. Um, so that’s where our focus is. Um, there’s always little takeaways, but ultimately um, you know, we know what to expect from them, so it’s on us to get prepared and and and play well tomorrow. Where does it start for the group tomorrow night? Uh, competitiveness and execution, um, I think is what it comes down to uh, uh, most nights ultimately. Um, and then there’s lots of things within that, uh, you know, within our structure, within how we play, um, you know, that we need to clean up, but ultimately it’s up to our group to, uh, to go out there and execute and, um, play as though your season’s on the line. That’s the longest serving guy on this team, and you you’ve bled blue and white. How difficult is it to watch fans leaving in the second period and jerseys being thrown on the ice? Yeah. Um it’s it’s it’s tough. Um but I mean they have the right to do what they want to do and and and for us um you know we need to uh improve and play better and um you know we expect to to have a team that is going to go out there and win and compete and when that doesn’t happen um you know everyone’s upset. There’s a fan base that’s pretty dejected right now. There’s a lot of negativity online. How do you avoid all of that when you’ve got a game to play? Um, everyone’s different. You know, for me, I think it’s pretty simple. Um, but I think ultimately our group just, you know, has to do what we have to do, uh, uh, to get ready to play. Um, um, so, um, again, for me, I think it’s pretty straightforward, and I think that our guys are just going to stick together today and, um, just get ready for tomorrow. What stood out about Florida’s offensive pushing game? what made them difficult to defend against? I mean, they played well. They played hard. Um, I don’t think that there’s one thing that jumps out. I think I think we know what to expect from them and that goes for tomorrow night. Um, so that just puts more of the emphasis on us to be ready to go. Was there anything said collectively amongst the group after the game last? Yeah. Yeah. Yeah, for sure there was. And, um, again, we’re just getting ready for tomorrow. You’ve obviously been with this team a long time and obviously been through these playoffs ups and downs, roller coasters, whatever before, but for you personally, given where you are in the playoffs and the magnitude of the game, how disappointing was last night’s performance? Um, yeah, obviously very disappointing. Um, but at the end of the day, I mean, whether you know, we lost the way we lost last night or you lost in overtime, whatever it is, we’re still in a position where we’re right in the fight. You know, we got to go down there, we got to play our best game and um, you know, that’s what we’re focused on. So, um I mean you can uh dwell on all kinds of things and you know be upset about uh effort or or whatever, but you know I I I believe that this team cares and um you know we’re in a position now to go down there and win a very important game for our team. How hard is it not to dwell on a bad bounce in game three could have put you guys up in overtime three nothing? I think uh I I think you’ll drive yourself crazy if if if you dwell on those things. Um, I mean, look around, uh, there’s all kinds of bounces happening and, um, that’s just part of the game. Um, so I I I I don’t think anyone can, you know, dwell on that stuff. I know you talked a little bit about just seeing the fans leave and how tough it is, but as a player when you’re sitting there on the bench or on the ice and you see them leaving, like what goes through your mind? Honestly, I mean, most of what we’re thinking about, what we’re focused on is is the game and and ourselves and what we need to do to to improve. And um you know, this team and the fans are closely linked and and we have passionate fans, but you know, in a time like this um I would hope and I believe that what our team is really focused on and needs to be focused on is ourselves and and playing better. Morgan, no one doubts the care at all, but you know, what’s it going to take to execute on this stage where it just hasn’t happened? Yeah. Just um just giving more um digging in more. Um I think this time of year, like I said, the you know, I think it comes down to execution and and and being competitive. Um, and that’s what these games are right now. They’re extremely competitive and um, everyone left is a good team and a good player and has depth and all the rest of it. So, um, it’s it’s about it’s about giving more and um, you know, as a team just being ready to compete. What was your takeaway from from last night and what needs to change moving forward here? Um, you know, I think we need to change a lot. Obviously, that wasn’t our best game. Um, but first and foremost, it’s about putting it in the rearview mirror and going forward. So, um, we’re just looking at the next challenge and, uh, going to approach tomorrow’s game with everything we have. What’s your process when it comes to washing a tough loss like last night? Um, you know, I think, uh, after each game, I go for a walk. I take that 20, 30 minutes to think about it. Um, and then I flush it from there. It’s in the past. You can’t change it. So, um, that’s kind of my process on how I handle it. But, uh, no, I think, uh, once you can shift your mindset to the opportunity, uh, aspect of it all, um, you know, we still have a great opportunity here. So, um, we should be excited and ready for the the challenge tomorrow. You haven’t been here that long, Brandon, but before last night’s game, did you sense a collective nervousness at all amongst the group heading into the game? Um, no, I wouldn’t say so. I think, uh, yeah, that would be, um, something that I didn’t really get a grasp on, I guess you could say. Um, I think we come in, we we have the same process each and every day. Um, guys have the routines. We go through those. Um, and you try and prepare yourself as best as possible for the game. Um, and yeah, the game just didn’t go in our favor. Brandon, what’s that about Florida’s offensive coaching game probably some difficult? Yeah. Uh, I think they did a good job of, you know, getting to their style of game. Um, they were throwing a lot of pucks towards the net. They play hard on the for check, things like that. So, um, we just need to mitigate that a little bit, have some better depth. um get some pucks out of our own Dzone and uh work towards the offensive zone in the other way. You’ve obviously been in the other dressing room and playoff battle against this team and knowing when they’re in a hole. What have you learned from being inside this dress room about how they respond to this kind of situation? Yeah. Um you know, I think this group as a collective hole is is very tight-knit group. Um this is a special group as well. Um I have both fa faith that um you know, these guys are ready to you know take the next step. So, um I think for me just being a part of this group, seeing the way that everything functions, um I’ve really enjoyed it and I’ve really enjoyed being here. So, uh I have a lot of belief in this group and uh that hasn’t changed one bit. What do you think about that? You’ve been here obviously that long, but you’ve been part of the Maple Leafs on the other side, their their playoff uh ups and downs. What can you could you sense the frustration of the fan of the passionate fan base when people are leaving early in the game when there’s jerseys thrown on the ice, those sort of things? Sure. Uh obviously in a game like that, um you know, you don’t want to overthink those things too much. Uh it is a passionate fan base. Um that’s one of the greatest things of playing here and being a Maple Leaf is uh having fans that are behind you like that. Um and there’s going to be ups and downs for sure. Um I think uh from a standpoint of just um playoff series in the past, you know, we’ve uh I’ve been in these situations myself. Um you know, had bad games in the playoffs, certain things like that. Um it’s not just subject to this group by any means. So um I think that uh that needs to be taken into account, too. What gives you the most confidence moving forward here? Um just focusing on our process. Um you know, I think like I said, this team, um it’s one of the most skilled teams that I’ve ever been a part of. Um, and if we can play the right way and kind of put all the puzzle pieces together, uh, like we have at certain points, uh, even in this series and throughout my time here, um, you know, it’s a really special group to be a part of and, um, I have a lot of belief that, uh, we can get the job done. They’re very good at getting under your skin. How do you approach tomorrow’s game in terms of staying on the right side of discipline? Yeah. Um, I think the same sort of thing is just focusing on in between the whistles. Um, you know, there’s playoff hockey, there’s going to be some cross check, certain things. Uh but we can’t get drawn into the things after the whistles. Um those are the dumb penalties that you can’t make. So um I think uh we all have a level head with that and uh just try and play him as hard as we can between the whistles. Brandon, you know Brad for a long time. What does he do well during the postseason that makes him difficult to play against? Um you know with Marsh I think uh just his competitive level. He’s one of the most competitive guys that I’ve ever uh played with or played against and um you know that comes out huge in the playoffs. But um I think it just uh will allow you to recognize that and try and rise your own level to uh match that competitive nature and I think we can definitely do that. We understand there’s some frank discussion amongst players after the game right afterwards. How much does that help in terms of turning the page? Yeah, I think it’s good um recognize that you know that wasn’t a good night for us. Uh move forward from there and focus on what we can control. Um you know it’s small segments. It’s uh going out for the first shift next game, focusing on the first five minutes. Um we don’t need to get too far ahead of ourselves and focus on two games, just one game at a time. And um that was kind of what was discussed. How do you go about uh refocusing the group uh today? Yeah, I mean we’ll we’ll chat when we get into Florida, sit down and talk about things. Like I said, like we we went out in the first period and just overthinking things and not playing. like we didn’t move our feet, we didn’t compete, we didn’t, you know, we kind of were we were tentative in the game. We can’t play like that. Coach, how disappointed is it like you’ve been telling us since since you took over the two things, play north south and win puck battles. And then in a big game like that, you know, the message has obviously been sent that it’s not carried out. Well, yeah, it’s obviously disappointing for everybody, players included. They want to do well. They want to do the right thing. But sometimes when you go into a game and, you know, it’s a big game and we’re at home and we we just we overthink things. You got to trust your your structure and your system. So then that takes care of the thinking, you know. We then it’s just about playing, you know, like we know what type of series it is and and it’s been a good series. We, you know, the four first four games were competitive. We’re competitive. We’re skating. We’re physical. We’re puck battles, all that stuff. You know, it’s just uh you know, that last game was overthinking things and not playing hockey. Once you do uh meet with them later today down south, Greg, what what do you want them to walk out of that room with going into tomorrow, do you think? What should they be thinking about? Well, the things I just said, like, you know, you have to you have to skate and you got to compete. You got to it’s going to be physical. We know that it’s tight. And take the thinking out. Go play. Be aggressive. You can’t not be aggressive. You have to be aggressive. And you got to get numbers in there. And then like I said, the system and the structure takes care of the thinking, you know, and um you know, that’s that’s what I want them to do. Like go out and play hockey. Like play with structure, but be aggressive. Is part of your message to reminding them that when they have done that things usually Oh, for sure. you know, like I think we’ll be a lot better in game six. Anony’s on the ice today. Fancy travels with you guys. I doubt it. Yeah. Craig, you’ve been around this city enough in your career to know how important this team is to this fan base and they’re feeling pretty dejected today. Um I I a lot of them are saying, “Here we go again.” And while you haven’t been here for the last nine years of what’s happened here, what message can you say to those fans today? A lot of them who left the game early, a lot of them who are not feeling good about this team right now. Well, believe like our team believes, you know, I think that’s all you can do. And I get it. I do. I They’re fans. I mean, they pay good money to come see the game. They want to see results. And I’ve been around Philly for a long time, too. Is a lot of the similar stuff. I mean, it’s just part of the game. I’m I’m not focused on the fans, you know. I’m focused on our team. Craig, the shot volume in that last game was pretty equal, and I know the score didn’t reflect that, but what else does this group need to do in order to convert on those attempts? Yeah, the shot volume was equal. Um but we got to get, you know, we got to do a better job of um creating more high danger shots in my opinion, you know, than we did last game. Um now, I’m not saying don’t shoot the puck, but shooting a puck and then getting to the inside for, you know, a next shot and a rebound and things like that. And we have to do a better job of making life more miserable on their goalie. You know, he’s he’s a this guy’s a good goalie. He’s a first save goalie. Like he makes saves and he’s an effort goalie. So, you know, we’re going to we’re going to have to out compete the goalie. Some things are unexplainable, but when a team does overthink at times in your experience, where does that come from? Is it is the pressure? Is it the wanting it too too much? Yeah, a little of that. um just um probably you know you get in your head you’re worrying too much about the results and not focusing on the process like that’s that’s where that comes from for me. I mean and I’ve seen it before in playoffs and I’ve coached it before in playoffs so I know what uh I know what they’re going through. You haven’t been here obviously Craig but we’ve seen it from the guys that were the letters on this team that they’ve overthought in these exact moments. Is there any way you can get through to them specifically before games? Uh just a lot of the same that I tell the whole team. You know, they’re no different than everybody else on the team. I mean, they can’t you can’t go out and play the game and like I said, focus on what the results you hope the results are going to be. You know, you have to go out and focus on what you need to do to get results. You know, that’s that’s the most important thing. And like I said, it’s this type of series that we’re playing in. Yes, you have to do things a certain way against this team and um it takes compete. It takes puck battles. It’s like you have to have second and third effort all over the ice. And that’s the stuff that we need to focus on tomorrow going into the game. Th those those are the types of things that you need to focus on going in that game tomorrow. Second and third effort, aggressiveness, numbers, you know, compete. That’s that’s what they should be focused on. It’s of It’s often said we learn more from a defeat than a victory. I mean, with the manner of the defeat last night, did you learn anything new about any of your plays? Did I learn anything new? Anything new that you didn’t know from the year? No, not really. I mean, a loss is a loss. If we were to lost 2-1 and it was a close game, would it really matter today? We got beat. I’ve been in this situation before. You know, a loss is a loss. And you know, we’re all going to be, you know, down and dejected, but we can’t be today. We got to regroup. We got to get a different mindset going here going into uh to tomorrow’s game and be excited to go and win a game. That’s what we got to that’s what we got to do. We got to change the whole mindset here. A lot of talk about flushing the uh you know, what happened in that game and moving forward. There’s a lot of negativity out there. Do you do anything to try to you know, keep your players away from that? maybe stay away from social media where a lot of that negativity is. I mean, well, I always tell them that, but whether they do it or not, that’s your choice. You know, if you want to look at things, you look at things. So, you know, I mean, I can’t control what they do. Um, but yeah, it’s, you know, what we need to do is they need to have a they need to stick together tonight as a team and take a breath and stop thinking about the game tonight. relax, you know, and uh we’ll get thinking about the game the next day when it matters. And like I said, it it boils down to a few things that we need to make sure that we have in the game. You know, aggressive compete puck battles, you know, enjoying the moment. You know, this this is what guys play for and you know, you have to enjoy it. Don’t overthink the game.

Players and coach address the media following Thursday’s practice.

00:00 Morgan Rielly
05:16 Brandon Carlo
10:03 Craig Berube

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