Craig Berube sends harsh message to underperforming Leafs on Saturday.

The Toronto Maple Leafs may not like the situation they've played themselves in to.

On Saturday morning the Maple Leafs hit the ice for a morning skate ahead of their Saturday night clash against the Philadelphia Flyers, but when the Leafs hit the ice they were treated to an unexpected and perhaps unpleasant surprise.

Just one day after a full practice, Maple Leafs head coach Craig Berube had his players back out on the ice for a full morning skate ahead of tonight's game. This is not standard procedure for the Maple Leafs and instead came off as head coach Craig Berube looking to send a message to his players that they need to work harder after a rough start to the season.

It would be impossible to argue that this season has been anything but a disaster thus far for the Leafs who find themselves sitting at the very bottom of the Atlantic Division's standings. Even the Buffalo Sabres, who are currently on a 3 game losing streak, are currently ranked above the Leafs in the league's official rankings.

The reality of the situation is that the Maple Leafs are a much slower and far less dynamic team without star forward Mitch Marner in the lineup, something that the Maple Leafs were willing to accept in their efforts to build a team that would be harder to compete against in the playoffs. The Maple Leafs however will need to make the playoffs before that can come to fruition, and their start to the season certainly has not made that a guarantee by any stretch of the imagination.

If Berube is already leaning on his team after just 11 games in the regular season, you do have to wonder what else might be in store for these Maple Leafs if the team continues to struggle.