Sheldon Keefe neglects to talk to his team after devastating Game 7 loss

I'm not sold on Sheldon Keefe as an NHL level coach. Is it just me?

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HockeyFeed
Published 2 years ago
Sheldon Keefe neglects to talk to his team after devastating Game 7 loss

In case you missed it last night, the Toronto Maple Leafs completed their annual playoff choke by dropping a do or die Game 7 against the Montreal Canadiens in the first round of the Stanley Cup Playoffs. Of course, the Leafs held a 3-1 series lead over the Habs and had three opportunities to close out their lifelong rival, but couldn't muster the power to do so. Now, the team is left with another wasted season to replay in their heads all offseason.

As far as blame goes, superstars Auston Matthews and Mitch Marner had virtually no impact all series long, depth scorers like Zach Hyman, Alex Kerfoot and Jason Spezza went dormant but to me, much of the blame has to be shouldered by head coach Sheldon Keefe. The fact of the matter is that Keefe was out-coached by a rookie head coach in Dominique Ducharme. Keefe had three chances to provide his team with the necessary motivation, he had three chances to made adjustments, he had three chances to will his team to victory and he failed miserably.

So... what does he say to his team following last night's loss? Nothing.

Literally nothing.


Um... excuse me!?

Your entire job is to talk to your players. You win and lose as a team and as a head coach you don't get the luxury of "choosing not to speak." You're supposed to be the voice of the team, but instead you're just taking the easy way out? Call me old school, but I don't like it. That's no way to coach a team, in my books.

Keefe was then asked about his team's commitment and, frankly, he offered up another nonsense platitude.

Check it out:


Gee... I wonder why they couldn't get it done. You're not exactly the type to make me run through a wall there, Coach. In fact, I know if I play a bad game that I won't even hear as much as a word from you so... what's the point?

In all seriousness, I think Leafs GM Kyle Dubas (if he has a job later this offseason) will be looking long and hard at whether or not to bring Keefe back. He may be a fine NHL coach one day, but personally I feel he has too much to learn before he can take this Leafs' team to the next level.