Craig Berube Unveils How Close the Leafs Are to Being Playoff-Ready

As the NHL season winds down and we start to get a clearer picture of how the playoffs are going to turn out, there's a lot of discussion over who should start, who should sit, and who is the best possible group of players to lead their respective teams to glory.

Craig Berube's Toronto Maple Leafs are expected to (and hoping) to make a deep playoff push and finally get their seemingly cursed playoff experiences vanquished for good. But they aren't going to have an easy time, and though the team looks as good as it ever has; there are still concerns about their potential.

But if you had to ask the bench boss himself, he feels that his team is as ready as they will ever be, and are hungry for a chance to prove people wrong:

While it was meaningful for the Maple Leafs, they didn't really end up setting the tone they wanted down in the Sunshine State, as they fell 3-1 to the Panthers, and the head coach was not too happy with his team's performance, especially against their potential first round opponents:

The team must have had some jet lag or something, as they looked pretty apathetic against the Panthers, and needed to take advantage of a win in order to secure the ever important home-ice control.

But respond the team did. It wasn't necessarily the prettiest win, but the Maple Leafs were able to come back with a 4-3 OT victory over the Lightning and it showcased just how deadly the top line can be if it gets going; combining for nine points.

However, the team showed the same type of effort against the Lightning as they did the Panthers, and they certainly had Lady Luck on their side, which is both a blessing and a curse some playoff time and can't be the only thing Toronto can rely on.

But if Craig Berube thinks they're ready, leave it to a Stanley Cup-winning coach to have a good idea about that. But if they can't keep up a consistent pace?

They may be ready to exit just as quickly as they entered.