Coach Craig Berube to angry Maple Leafs fans: 'Believe, like our team believes'
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Booing.
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And when the fans were done showing their displeasure during Game 5 on Wednesday night, they streamed toward the exit doors at Scotiabank Arena long before the final horn sounded.
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If the passion unites all in Leafs Nation — and that includes the players — the club has little choice but to accept fans' reactions to their horrid play in a 6-1 loss against the Florida Panthers.
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Defenceman Morgan Rielly, the longest-serving current Leafs player, understands.
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'It's tough, but they have the right to do what they want to do and, for us, we need to play better,' Rielly said on Thursday. 'We expect to have a team that is going to go out there and win and compete, and when that doesn't happen, everyone's upset.'
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What would coach Craig Berube say to a fan base that is overflowing with negativity following the Game 5 debacle?
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'Believe, like our team believes,' Berube said. 'I think that's all you can do. I get it, I do. They're fans. They pay good money to come see the game.
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'They want to see the results. It's just part of the game. I'm not focused on the fans. I'm focused on our team.'
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Defenceman Brandon Carlo, the only other Leafs player made available on Thursday at the Ford Performance Centre before the team flew to Florida for Game 6, has had only a couple months of experience in Toronto after he was acquired from the Boston Bruins in March. It has been long enough for Carlo to get a grip on what drives the club's massive group of supporters.
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'It's a passionate fan base,' Carlo said. 'That's one of the greatest things of playing here and being a Maple Leaf, is having fans that are behind you like that. There are going to be ups and downs.
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