How the Panthers' Physical Play Challenges the Leafs

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00:00So here's Leafs head coach Craig Berube on face, of course, a very tough to face the Panthers.

00:05They've won the cup last year. They're a tough physical team. They like to get under your skin.

00:11Here's Berube.

00:12Playing a mean hockey team.

00:14Are they mean?

00:16Did you watch the game?

00:19Compared to most teams, they play a meaner game than most teams play or a harder game.

00:26They play a hard game. I agree.

00:28They play four-check hard, and they're physical, and they're in your face the whole game.

00:33I don't necessarily think it's mean. I mean, that's just their game.

00:40I think our guys, we're a physical team, too, and we've got to go out and be physical ourselves.

00:48We've got to initiate as much as possible, and yeah, you're going to get banged around,

00:52and they're going to come, and they're going to hit, and they're going to do all.

00:55That's just part of it.

00:56And I thought, you know, Ottawa did the same thing to us.

00:59They're physical. They're honest.

01:01They're hitting, and I thought we handled it well.

01:04Yeah, I thought Ottawa was way more physical than Toronto,

01:08and I thought Toronto was maybe more skilled.

01:13I think that they got all the, you know, star scorers,

01:17and I think they took advantage of that, and I thought their goalie was better,

01:20and I think the difference for me is Craig Berube was a tough guy, so no one's going to scare him.

01:29Like, when he played, he was a badass.

01:31He was a dirty, ruthless, no-teeth fighter, and that's what he was.

01:37Okay, so he's not afraid of anybody, ever, leaving a bar in the alley or otherwise,

01:43so that's why he's not going to acknowledge that they're tougher than the Leafs, but the Panthers are.

01:49They are a tougher team.

01:51They're a bigger team.

01:52They're more physical, and that's the way they play.

01:54They play a rugged, wall, corner-banging, physicality-style game, and that's all there is to it,

02:02and they have all kinds of guys that can put the puck in the net as well, just like Toronto does,

02:07and the difference between the two teams is that one team plays for championships,

02:14and the other team always loses.

02:16That's the difference.

02:17Florida plays for titles, and the Leafs lose.

02:22That's it.

02:23That's the deal.

02:23It is that simple at the end of the day.

02:27As far as game one goes tonight in Toronto, the Panthers, slight road favor.

02:34A little bit more than slight, actually, now.

02:36Minus $1.26.

02:37That's not slight.

02:38Plus $1.05 for Toronto.

02:40Five and a half is the total.

02:44Okay, well, so, I mean, I got a lot of friends that work for the Panthers,

02:51and I had a relationship with the Panthers.

02:54I worked down there in Miami,

02:55so I'm not rooting for the Canadian team as much as they hate us,

02:59and they boo us and hate us and blame us for all their problems in Canada.

03:04You think I'm going to root for that team?

03:06You're tripping.

03:08Okay, so I'm just rooting for the Panthers for that reason alone.

03:11I got a bunch of friends that work there and that call the games.

03:18Goldie, Randy, all those guys are my friends.

03:20Like, what am I going to root against them?

03:22You know, I think the Leafs are really good, and I pulled for the Leafs,

03:26and I like Toronto.

03:27I go to Toronto all the time.

03:28I love Toronto.

03:29I love the city.

03:31I love the restaurants.

03:33I love the neighborhoods.

03:34I love everything about it.

03:35Screw them.

03:37Screw them.

03:38You know, you hate our guts and boo our anthems and hate us.

03:42Take us on in a war.

03:43See how that goes for you.

03:45See how that goes for you.

03:47You guys talk big up there.

03:48You all got big mouths for a little dinky-ass, no-nothing army, whatever that is that you

03:54got up there.

03:55What do you got, a bunch of guys on horses?

03:57Good luck.

03:58Good luck.

03:58And trust me when I say I'm right about that town.

04:01You don't want to have fun at this place.

04:04Nobody does.

04:05So keep booing, and we'll win Stanley Cups down here like we always do.

04:09Go ahead.

04:10Hate me all you want.

04:11Blame me for your problems, you wussy-ass beer drinkers.

04:15Shut up.

04:15Beers for college kids.

04:17We drink whiskey here.

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