Berube, Maple Leafs deny falling to pressures of Toronto market in the playoffs

After another disappointing playoff exit, the Toronto Maple Leafs are left searching for answers once again on why this team has so much trouble rising to occasion in the postseason.

One never-ending narrative seems to be that the pressures of playing in Toronto, with its heightened fan and media scrutiny, are simply too great for even the toughest of players to overcome. We hear this nearly every year in the season postmortems, and this year even from their playoff opponents in the Florida Panthers.

“If their team was not in Toronto dealing with all the crazy circus stuff outside of it, they’d be an unbelievable team,” Matthew Tkachuk said, speaking on Spittin’ Chiclets.

Brad Marchand and Paul Maurice also spoke about the pressure and scrutiny the team faces in their postgame pressers Sunday. Altogether, the Panthers’ comments doubled down the narrative that the Toronto market is too hard on its players.

But how accurate is this really? Is Toronto’s market really that much tougher on its players compared to other big franchises that have seen success over the last decade? Asked specifically if he thought Florida leveraged the pressure hanging over Toronto in order to take Game 7, head coach Craig Berube essentially laughed off the notion.

“No, I don’t know how they could do that, but maybe they could call me up and tell me,” Berube joked, speaking at Tuesday morning’s end of year media availability. “It’s a hard market, it’s a great market though, you gotta look at it that way. Pressure comes from inside the locker room, that’s it. Your teammates are the most important people. That to me, is the only pressure.”

As one of Toronto’s top stars in the regular season who seems to struggle more in the playoffs, Mitch Marner echoed Berube’s statement in his own presser Tuesday.

“There’s pressure anywhere, doesn’t matter where you are,” Marner said. “There’s always pressure. We put the most pressure on ourselves. We hold ourselves to such a high accountability. You want to win every single year.”

Some may question the authenticity of Marner’s comments, considering his failure to meaningfully produce each year in the playoffs, but the general sentiment of his and Berube’s comments ring true: the biggest pressures come from within your own team. Whether or not he rose to the occasion is a different question than if it’s the fault of a passionate fanbase.

Speaking of passionate fan bases, veteran NHLer Max Pacioretty has seen his fair share of them, including in his longest stint with the Montreal Canadiens. With a wealth of experience under his belt, he spoke about how any perceived pressure is something you learn to embrace and be grateful for.

“I love it, it’s a privilege to play under pressure,” Pacioretty said. “You probably don’t realize that when you’re in it or when you’re younger, but it’s a privilege to have this many people care about how we do. I certainly never felt this way early on in my career, but it builds winners, turns you into men, and helps you achieve who you’re openly trying to become. I know that I’m not in the spotlight here … however, I have been there before. That adversity and going through that amount of pressure built me into the person and player I am today, and I’m thankful for it.”

Rounding out his teammates’ comments, goaltender Anthony Stolarz brought his own unique perspective on the topic, having been a part of last year’s Panthers team that won the Stanley Cup. And while Tkachuk said “we don’t have to deal with that in Florida,” with regards to pressure from fans and media, Stolarz countered the statement.

“I think anywhere you go there’s gonna be pressure,” Stolarz said. “ Even in Florida last year, I kind of felt it, and obviously it’s a different market than here. That pressure, I think it’s a good thing. At the end of the day, the pressure is going to want to make you better. You want to get to the last game of the season.”

There’s no denying that the Toronto Maple Leafs have struggled mightily in important playoff situations over the last decade, but it’s also important to consider the whole picture. Engagement from fans and media serves to better a team in the long run, and Berube is working hard to instill a new mentality in this group to embrace the toughness and face it head on.

While this year didn’t deliver the desired result, the message is clear from the Maple Leafs that it’s not a matter of crumbling from a passionate fanbase. And with a major roster shakeup expected this offseason, next year will certainly be a test of how true that really is, both for the new players coming in, and those who are on the way out.