The Toronto Maple Leafs in game five basically up chucked all over themselves. Florida waxed them 6-1 to take a a 3-2 lead in the series. Leaf Nation was losing there mind. It was like a rerun of a movie that you have watched five or six times expecting a different result. Kind of sounds like the definition of insanity!
In recent years I would have said they are done, especially against defending Cup champs Florida Panthers. What was interesting was the approach taken by Coach Berube. He basically said we need to take a day to clear our heads. Rest our minds and bodies and come back and focus on game six. I also found it interesting Florida Coach Paul Maurice was very surgical in his comments. I got the feeling he knew they would get everything they could handle from Toronto in game six.
Game six was a good game with the Leafs winning 2-0 to force a game seven. I would say that 95% of hockey world had written the Leafs off. Some how I got the feeling that they were not and I am not a Leaf fan. In fact I have a strong dislike for them.
What is interesting when teams or athletes hit the wall the response has to be deeper than just staying positive.It seemed like Coach Berube in his comments acknowledged the setbacks hurt. He re-framed the situation. This team has let failure define them. His job after game was not to let that happen again. He did that for game six.
The game five loss slightly influenced their game six preparation. However, in that moment after the game five loss the voices in their heads got loud again. Berube saw the anger, frustration, and doubt. He saw that they were telling themselves a story that isn’t true. To bounce back like they did takes putting the physical pieces together one by one , making metal decisions one by one ,and you do not have to feel good about . It is like choosing the standards over how you feel. For one game they chose standards instead what was good for the individual.
What has impressed me is the Coaching on both teams, which gets lost at this time of the year because the focus is so much on the players as it should be.
No other sport does what these players do for two months.
Respect all around.
I have no idea how tonight will turn out. However, I think the local hospitals were busy yesterday repairing all the broken limbs from the Leafs fans who jumped off the bandwagon and were now trying to jump back on.
Until next time!
Follow on X @Betweentheears2
Belief fuels Trust. Trust fuels Confidence.
Between The Ears 