Craig Berube is still safely seated as the head coach of the Toronto Maple Leafs.
That was the message from the club’s general manager Brad Treliving on Tuesday.
– I want to be clear and clear about this: Craig has my full support, Treliving told a press conference.
– It has been said that we would not be in phase. That’s not right, we’re in phase. We all need to perform better.
The announcement from Treliving comes a day after the Maple Leafs, who are currently in last place in the Eastern Conference, fired assistant coach Marc Savard.
Savard’s primary area of responsibility was the Maple Leafs’ power play, which is currently 32nd and last in the NHL in efficiency (13.3 percent) and has gone 0-for-10 over the past three games.
– It was a clear change we could make, said Treliving. There are never fun decisions to make or fun days to experience. This is not about laying the blame at Marc Savard’s feet. It’s about us having to be better on the power play.
– We all have to work for that.
Maple Leafs second assistant coach, Derek Lalonde, will take over responsibility for the Maple Leafs power play until further notice.
– We are solving it internally right now, said Treliving. Now there will be a break here so we will see how it looks after that, if it will continue to be solved internally or if we add someone from outside.
The Maple Leafs face the Pittsburgh Penguins on Saturday night (10 p.m., Viaplay) and hope to get out of their current slump.
The team has gone 1-4-1 over its last six games heading into the meeting with the Penguins and recently lost three straight games on the road by a combined 4-14 goal difference.
