Ahead of the final game of the season against the Ottawa Senators, head coach Craig Berube discussed the end of a disappointing 2025-26 Leafs season.
There is a lot to dissect in the days and weeks ahead, but what is the message to the group ahead of the final regular-season game?
Berube: Play the right way. Compete, and play hard. Respect the game and respect each other. That’s it. Go play the game properly.
What is the day like for you, waking up and knowing it’s the last game of the season?
Berube: Listen, I’ve thought about things a lot over quite a bit of time now. We want to come in tonight and play a strong game — as strong as we can — and do our best out there. For me, it is a disappointing season, definitely. Again, that is for me to internalize and go through. I am not going to express all of my opinions to everybody. I’ll keep that inside.
Can you express what it has meant to you to coach this team?
Berube: I love it. I love Toronto. I love the Leafs. Everybody talks about pressure and all of this stuff, but I think it is great. For me, I’d rather have the pressure of having to perform and win than not have it.
How have you personally dealt with the disappointment of the season?
Berube: Well, I mean… You try to figure it out, get better, and problem-solve. It’s part of it all. Personally, I’m fine. You go through adversity in life. This is one of those times. For me, I’ve talked about it before. You’ve got to work through it. That’s what I do.
What was the thinking behind giving Dennis Hildeby the start tonight?
Berube: It’s good to get him in for a game. We used Woll a lot down the stretch here. It’s good to get Hildeby in there before he goes back to the Marlies. He has played 19 games for us this year and has done a good job. We thought it would be good to get him back up for one more.
What did you make of Joseph Woll’s performance of late?
Berube: He was overworked, in my opinion — not just from playing a lot of games, but he faced a lot of rubber. Too much.
Do you think Woll is capable of handling more?
Berube: I do believe he is. There are a few things he probably has to think about and change a little bit to handle that type of load. It is a lot. If you look at the goalies in the league, there are only a handful of guys who play 50 or more games in a season.
Rick Bowness was pretty emotional after the Blue Jackets’ last game. He talked about teams needing to hate to lose. How important have you found that?
Berube: They do. Everybody hates to lose and doesn’t want to lose, but more than anything — and I am not in Bowness’ head — losing has to hurt. It has to be vocalized in the room by your players. When you are losing, things have to be said in a not-so-nice manner. When that happens in a locker room enough times, things are bound to change. You’ve got to challenge each other. He is not wrong.
Is that something that needs to improve around here?
Berube: I am not going to talk about all that. I’m not getting into that stuff.
What have you seen from the Senators as they’ve made their playoff push?
Berube: They’re a tough opponent. They’re a great forechecking team. I think that is the strength of their team, personally. It is hard to get the puck out of your zone. They pressure everywhere, and they have their secondary forechecks. Their D-core is mobile, obviously. Sanderson is a handful back there. And they’re deep down the middle of the ice.
Travis Green said he thought his team got better as the playoff series went along against the Leafs last spring. How much do you think that experience will help them?
Berube: Well, it helps, for sure. The experience helps. You learn from it in terms of what they could’ve done better. It’s the experience of having been in the playoffs last year. They were a good opponent. It was a tough series. It’ll only help them moving forward here.
Morning Skate Notes – Apr. 15
Dennis Hildeby starts for Leafs, coach Craig Berube says
Michael Pezzetta draws in
Calle Jarnkrok is out … dealing with injury@TSN_Sports
— Mark Masters (@markhmasters) April 15, 2026
