The Toronto Maple Leafs are in a slump right now, their worst of the season so far, having lost four straight games and finding themselves near the bottom of the Atlantic Division.

Now, the Maple Leafs starting the season slowly is not a foreign occurrence, nor is the annual smashing of the panic button when the team is fighting to stay above .500 in the early stages of the season. The reality is, when you take a market as big as Toronto and account for how starved the fans are for a Stanley Cup, the noise is going to be much louder when things are going poorly, especially given how deep they are into the current era.

Head coach Craig Berube was asked about the difference in pressure between St. Louis, where he coached previously, and Toronto, to which he commented on the vast difference.

“The Leafs are a huge part of hockey, in the NHL and obviously in Canada,” Berube told reporters. “There’s a lot more talk and a lot more noise. We discussed that today too. I mean, you guys are going to do your job, and there’s a lot of people that are gonna talk. The Leafs are big, there’s gonna be a lot of talk about it.”

Ask any Leafs player and they’ll tell you that while they appreciate the pressure that comes with playing in one of if not the biggest market, blocking out the noise and staying focused on the task at hand is crucial to working out of these slumps. Head coach Craig Berube echoed that sentiment.

“You gotta shut that off the best you can and focus on what you need to do. Night in and night out, at practice, you gotta focus. It’s a lot more, we know that. It’s the nature of the beast.”

Despite the dire situation the Leafs find themselves in at the moment, spirits were high at practice, which Berube said is a positive.

“I think the guys worked. They had pretty good energy out there, which is good,” Berube said. “Things aren’t good right now, a lot of times you can come in today for practice and everyone’s hanging their heads and kind of going through the motions. I didn’t see that today, which si good. Guys had energy, worked hard, did what we asked them to do.”

The Maple Leafs will visit the Chicago Blackhawks on Saturday night before returning home for a pair of home games, first against the St. Louis Blues and then against the Columbus Blue Jackets.