Former Toronto Maple Leafs defenceman Tomas Kaberle was impressed with the job head coach Craig Berube did in getting his team prepared for Game 1.

The Leafs set the tone right off the hop with an emphatic win over the Ottawa Senators on Sunday. With a chance to go up 2-0 in a series for the first time since 2002, Berube made it clear his team needs to be ready for some pushback when the puck drops for Game 2.

Kaberle made an appearance on Leafs Morning Take on Tuesday with Nick Alberga and Jay Rosehill on Tuesday, where he expressed his enthusiasm for the way the Leafs started the series.

“The intensity, the energy kicks in even more.  Most of the teams are obviously trying to play like that the last 20 games of the season, not just jump into it and be ready,” he said. “The referees let go a little bit more than in the regular season. What you can see as well. There’s a little bit of small hooks, hitting, elbows up, goalies getting punched and stuff. But that’s the part of hockey, and the team needs to be ready. It seems like the boys with the new coach, he got them ready, prepared for Game 1 that’s for sure. Hopefully, it continues that way.”

The Leafs certainly were not fazed by what the Senators threw at them from a physical standpoint and were more than willing to engage if the situation called for it. Ottawa’s players seemed to get more frustrated as the game went along, which resulted in more antics by the end.

Senators coach Travis Green may think it was because the Leafs sold on some calls, but Berube insisted it was because his players kept their composure for the most part. It is all part of the preparation that the Leafs’ coach took in getting set for the series opener and being ready for Game 2.

“ I feel the Leafs this time around play all very defensively, even in the regular season. They don’t win games 7-5 or 8-6, which doesn’t work in the playoffs,” Kaberle said on what impressed him the most about the Leafs this season. “ As long everyone stays healthy, the top six play really well. But from my experience, especially from Boston winning the Stanley Cup,  lines three and four mean a lot as well.  No one really talks about those guys, but they especially made a big difference in the game in rounds three and four.”

The Leafs certainly got a strong performance out of their bottom-six in the series opener, and that helped out a ton in terms of gaining separation. But they also saw their top guns deliver and they got the saves they needed to secure the all-important Game 1 victory.

If the Leafs were to go on a deep playoff run for the first time in a generation, they would need all of that to be clicking for as much as possible. And it will certainly help to get the guidance from their bench boss, whom Kaberle feels shares a lot of similar traits to the legendary Pat Quinn.

“ I think he was my best coach ever, looking back, even starting in [Czechia] and then playing in the NHL,” he said. “ He was old school coach, played the game, so he knew how we felt sometimes in the dressing room.  We have a bad game, he’ll never step on you in front of the media guys. He always back you down.  He will talk to you in person or anything, but he will never leak in the media or anything if something’s not going your way. I  think there was a really good style of him and all the guys loved him.”

You can watch the full interview with Kaberle down below: