Tomas Kaberle thinks Craig Berube isn’t to blame for Maple Leafs’ confidence issues

Things are not looking good for the Toronto Maple Leafs right now. They’re currently in the midst of a three-game skid, second last in the Atlantic through 17 games played, and overall just look very inconsistent on the ice.

On Wednesday, longtime Maple Leafs defenceman and 2011 Stanley Cup champion Tomáš Kaberle joined Nick Alberga and Jay Rosehill on Leafs Morning Take to talk Toronto’s tough start to the year. It’s hard to pinpoint exactly what’s going wrong with the team right now, with Kaberle pointing to a host of issues that are persisting as we reach the quarter mark.

“Boys need to be a little bit more confident overall,” Kaberle said. “Goalies, defence, forwards, something’s not clicking. They’re playing a wide open game right now, and it’s not gonna work when you have to come back from two, three goals. It’s nice when you come back, but it’s not gonna happen in the playoffs, and you wanna get ready for the playoffs starting mid-season. Now, before it’s too late, you need to start playing the right way.”

Amidst Toronto’s dismal start, fingers have quickly been pointed at head coach Craig Berube due to the disorganized look of the team. But from Kaberle’s point of view, there’s a much simpler solution to the confidence issue he’s seeing.

“They almost just need to go on the road and go out one night and just get drunk,” he said. “Sometimes it’s not up to the coach, it’s the players playing the game. They played really well under him last year. So don’t worry about the media, less media is better for the team. Keep this stuff inside the team, get drunk, everyone can move on, and you can play better hockey.”