After Friday’s practice, head coach Craig Berube discussed Auston Matthews’ hockey IQ, the plan in net for the weekend, Matt Benning’s first practice with the team, and his return to St. Louis.
Practice Lines – Nov. 1
Lines at Leafs practice
Knies – Matthews – Marner
Pacioretty – Tavares – Nylander
McMann – Domi – Holmberg/Robertson
Lorentz – Kampf – ReavesRielly – Ekman-Larsson
McCabe – Tanev
Benoit – Timmins
Myers – BenningWoll
Stolarzat Blues Saturday @TSN_Edge
— Mark Masters (@markhmasters) November 1, 2024
Hakanpää & Dewar on their way to Cleveland for AHL conditioning stint pic.twitter.com/ysA6RV9Ys6
— Mark Masters (@markhmasters) November 1, 2024
Thinking on the faceoff play leading to the 1-0 goal last night, what stands out about Auston Matthews’ hockey IQ?
Berube: It is very high for sure, not only offensively but defensively. He is always in a good position as the low forward in your own end, doing all the right things. These guys see things. They ran a couple of faceoffs, and he saw something and thought he could push it ahead. Special players.
When you are mapping out the goaltending starts, how much does the hometown start for Joseph Woll (in St. Louis) factor into the decision-making?
Berube: We always consider those things. They are not the number one most important thing. We are still talking about it — the start tomorrow — but it is part of the conversation.
What are your thoughts on going back to St. Louis as a member of the opposition?
Berube: I had a great stop there. I have a lot of special memories there, and a lot of people I became really close with. We had success, and I worked with a lot of great players who I am very close to still, and obviously, (people) throughout the organization, too. It is a special place because of the people. They love their sports, and they really root their teams on. I had a really good time there.
What did you know about Matt Benning before he got here, and how did he look in his first practice with the team?
Berube: Just briefly, you see him play from coaching against him. He is a right-handed D, which is hard to find. He looked good out there today. He moved well.
He plays a hard game and blocks a lot of shots. Going back a few years, he might’ve led the league in blocked shots at one point. I don’t know if that is a true fact or not, but it sticks in my head for some reason. That is the kind of player he is.
When starting the Tavares-Nylander on the second power play, was that you trying to stoke the competition? What goes into the decision-making there?
Berube: It is just a decision I made at the time. Matthews’ line was just out there for a shift and was a little bit gassed, so I put those guys out. We were trying to see what they can do there. They were having a good game, scored a couple of goals, made some plays, and created opportunities. They were having a good game and deserved to go out there.
What has stood out about Matthew Knies’ five-goals-in-six-games stretch?
Berube: He just understands what type of player he is. He is doing it shift to shift, in my opinion. He is a power forward who is very strong, very direct, and skates north. He is hard at the net and physical. He knows, when he creates those loose pucks for those guys, to go to the net. He is getting rewarded for it.
In the special teams work today, why did you go with 5-on-3 and 4-on-3 versus the traditional setup?
Berube: We don’t practice them, for the most part, and I thought it was a good day for it today. We played a game last night, and we have back-to-backs coming up. We didn’t want to keep the guys out there too long running them through a regular power play and penalty kill practice. I wanted to work on the 5-on-3 and 4-on-3. You don’t get a lot of them, right? We try to work on them when we can and stay sharp.
