Craig Berube Calls Out His Team Ahead of Matchup vs. Tampa Bay Lightning

It's been a troubling issue that's plagued Toronto all year, but the lack of discipline has caused a lot more headaches than it should.

Head coach Craig Berube acknowledges this and realizes how unacceptable it is for his team to lack the ability to take fewer penalties.

Speaking to David Alter of The Hockey News, Berube was his typical no-nonsense self when he mentioned how irresponsible it was for his team to take so many needless penalties.

This issue isn't a new one for the Maple Leafs, and they've had their issues with taking some bad calls, though they've had some bad luck too.

They've taken 78 penalties, and while that seems low, it averages out to just over 3.5 a game, and while that doesn't look terrible on paper; that's almost 4 times a game shorthanded. That leads to a lot more opportunities for opponents to take advantage of the Leafs' lack of discipline.

Berube acknowledged this, noting that in Toronto's 5-1 loss to Florida, they had some pretty disastrous discipline issues:

Toronto's biggest offenders are Ryan Reaves, Max Domi, Jake McCabe, and Oliver Ekman-Larsson. While it's feasible to argue Reaves and Domi's penalty numbers, having two of your defensemen always taking penalties is a bad sign, and Simon Benoit is right behind them too.

The Maple Leafs have done well on the penalty kill, but they can't keep taking chances and risk-taking silly penalties when there's no need to. It's a worrying trend that if it doesn't stop, could cost the Leafs dearly down the line.

In closing, the Maple Leafs need to do better to take fewer penalties because the risk of your opponents scoring goes way up regardless of your penalty kill talent. If they can start being more disciplined it might lead to more success down the line.