#Sheldon Keefe

#Sheldon Keefe

All signs point to the Toronto Maple Leafs keeping head coach Sheldon Keefe behind the bench this season.According to TSN hockey insider Darren Dreger, discussions between Toronto Maple Leafs GM Brad Treliving and Sheldon Keefe about a contract extension will happen over the summer.Keefe has one year remaining on his existing contract as head coach of the Leafs.

On Friday, we received the most definitive report so far that Sheldon Keefe is staying on as Maple Leafs head coach for the 2022-23 season.Per Darren Dreger, the two have been working together to interview replacements for the departed Spencer Carbery (now head coach of the Washington Capitals) and an extension is likely forthcoming at some point in the summer (which makes sense if he's staying - there is no sense in lame ducking him).

The new Maple Leafs General Manager has to attend to the Auston Matthews contract situation, decide whether Sheldon Keefe stays on as head coach, oversee (to the extent he's allowed by the league) the team's upcoming draft, and make a plethora of other player personnel and off-ice personnel decisions throughout the organization this offseason.

The Toronto Maple Leafs have left Sheldon Keefe out in the cold.Ever since the Toronto Maple Leafs made the epic and horrible decision to fire General Manager Kyle Dubas, they have been expected to fire their head coach.Most incoming GMs want their own guy.The Leafs hired Brad Treliving to replace Dubas and he's doing the classic thing where he takes forever to decide how to proceed.

The Toronto Maple Leafs have not been very nice to Sheldon Keefe, letting him twist in the wind for weeks now.The Toronto Maple Leafs might keep him on after hiring Brad Treliving, but they shouldn't.Keefe has shown that he makes terrible lineups and that doesn't do anything to give the team an edge.

The next head coach of the Washington Capitals will be Spencer Carbery.This reporting comes from Sportsnet's Elliotte Friedman and The Athletic's Tarik El-Bashir.After Friedman said that the Capitals were "closing in" on Carbery, El-Bashir added that the Capitals are "planning to hire" him.

Irresponsible Rumormongering
Per Larry Brooks, who is doing the work in keeping us sane among these Joel Quenneville rumors, the New York Rangers coaching search delays have nothing to do with Joel Quenneville.Brooks had stated earlier this month that Quenneville is not an option for the Rangers, and is sticking by that.

The Toronto Maple Leafs are done for the season.Things didn't go as planned, which means that plans need to be made to determine what's next for the franchise.The Toronto Maple Leafs organization is poised to undergo significant changes.What that looks like isn't very clear at this moment.However, all signs point to the exit of some long standing members of the organization.

In somewhat surprising news the Toronto Maple Leafs will not renew the contract of Kyle Dubas.Hired July 22, 2014, Kyle Dubas was brought in to help an organization full of luddites adapt to the "new era" of hockey - to help make better-informed, data-driven decisions at the draft, in free agency and to help turn a long-time laughingstock of the NHL into perennial contenders.

If the Toronto Maple Leafs fire Sheldon Keefe, it won't change the outcome of where this team is headed.Throughout his tenure, Sheldon Keefe has been the winningest head coach in Toronto Maple Leafs history and has guided this team to the playoffs every year.Although he can be fiery behind the bench, it's usually towards officials as he's definitely more of the modern-day player's coach.

After another disappointing loss in the playoffs, Sheldon Keefe could be replaced as the Toronto Maple Leafs head coach.If this is in fact the end of Sheldon Keefe's career behind the Toronto Maple Leafs bench, it's been a great run.Actually, it's been a fantastic run, if you don't include the playoff results.

Sheldon Keefe addressed the media after his team's second-round playoff exit at the hands of the Florida Panthers.On the difference in the series:
For me, we lose the series in the first three games.In Game 4, I thought we played very well.I thought we played well enough to win the game today, but in the first three games, we were in simpler positions than we were in Games 4 and 5, but we didn't handle those situations well and didn't capitalize on our chances.

There was so much talk about the 0-3 deficit the past few days, which - from a media and fan perspective - is understandable.If you're the team, though, all you can do is win a game and get this series back to Toronto.They just did that.Your game in 10:
The 1. Leafs made some subtle changes for this game.

To say that the Toronto Maple Leafs are in a tough spot is an understatement.After Sunday's 3-2 OT loss, the Toronto Maple Leafs are now down 3-0 in their second-round series matchup against the Florida Panthers, and have a chance to be swept on Wednesday night.Sheldon Keefe stated, "It's been a mixed bag in this series so far.

It has been 10 days since your New York Islanders were knocked out of the playoffs.Do you know where your general manager and coach are?
(If it helps, the Rangers don't know where their coach is...because they fired mutually parted with him.)The Isles aren't part of this either, but as a reminder, the illegitimate awarding of Connor Bedard to the Penguins NHL Draft Lottery is tonight.

Sheldon Keefe addressed the media after his team's Game 3 loss to the Florida Panthers in the Eastern Conference semifinals.On his top players' inability to break through offensively:
Credit to Florida.They defended well.Obviously, Auston rips one off the crossbar just seconds into the game.It could've changed that narrative.

The Maple Leafs will need to keep their undefeated playoff road streak alive tonight to prevent the unthinkable scenario of falling 3-0 down to the Florida Panthers (6:30 p.m. EST, Sportsnet/CBC/TBS).The Leafs currently find themselves in a position they haven't been in since the first-round series versus the Boston Bruins back in 2018 - two games behind - only this time they're heading out on the road for a must-win Game 3.
If there are reasons for optimism, it starts with the resilience shown on the road in the Tampa series - they won all three away games - as well as the team's ability to control the run of play and scoring chances in the series against the Panthers so far.

After practice on Saturday, Sheldon Keefe discussed the challenge of going out on the road down 2-0 in the series, the penalty disparity in the series, and Mark Giordano's struggles in the playoffs.Practice Lines - May 6

Lines at Leafs practice
Bunting - Matthews - Marner Jarnkrok - Tavares - Nylander Kerfoot - O'Reilly - Acciari Aston-Reese - Kampf - Lafferty Simmonds
Rielly - Schenn McCabe - Brodie Giordano - Liljegren Gustafsson - Holl Timmins
SamsonovWoll Murray@TSN_Edge pic.twitter.com/5sBgZwW12z

During the first period of Thursday night's Game 2 between the Florida Panthers and Toronto Maple Leafs Matthew Knies was taken down awkwardly behind the net by Sam Bennett which would eventually lead to the rookie forward being removed from the game.With 8:37 remaining in the first period and the Maple Leafs leading 2-1 on the scoreboard and 13-4 in the shots advantage, Knies and Bennett collided behind the net.

Matthew Knies has a concussion and will definitely miss Games 3 and 4, according to Sheldon Keefe.He's "unlikely to return in the series."- Chris Johnston (@reporterchris) May 5, 2023

After the game last night, Sheldon Keefe honed in on the Sam Bennett cross-check on Michael Bunting with a comparison to the Auston Matthews cross-check on Rasmus Dahlin last year that result in a two-game suspension for Matthews, but the reality is that the incident Keefe offered "no comment" on - the Bennett takedown on Knies - was much, much worse.

Sheldon Keefe took his seat at the microphone sporting a blank expression.It was the same look the Maple Leafs head coach had after his team gifted the Florida Panthers two goals in 47 disastrous seconds.Sergei Bobrovsky then took over from there.The veteran goaltender made 35 saves as Florida once again took advantage of a couple crucial Toronto mistakes to pick up a 3-2 victory and take a 2-0 lead Thursday in their second-round playoff series.

Sheldon Keefe addressed the media after his team's Game 2 loss to the Florida Panthers in the Eastern Conference semifinals.On the start of the second period in which the Leafs conceded twice in under a minute:
Disappointing.Baffling, frankly.We didn't make those mistakes one time in the last series.

The Toronto Maple Leafs are certainly excited to be playing in the second round of the NHL Stanley Cup Playoffs and equally as excited to be facing the Florida Panthers and not the Boston Bruins.The Toronto Maple Leafs were not the only ones to feel that energy.The entire Greater Toronto Area was awash with blue and white and clad in Leafs clothing.

It's been far too easy to be negative about the Toronto Maple Leafs over the last two decades.That's because the Toronto Maple Leafs haven't made it to the second round of the playoffs since before 'The Facebook ' gave their users a Wall as part of their online profile.There's been many theorized curses on the Leafs.

The Toronto Maple Leafs and the Tampa Bay Lightning have played 5 games of their opening round Stanley Cup playoff series, and they are in a virtual dead-heat statistically.Goals for the Toronto Maple Leafs: 21.Goals for the Tampa Bay Lightning: 20.Shots per game for Toronto: 32.4,shots per game for Tampa Bay: 32.8 (stats per nhl.com).

In the wake of the Toronto Maple Leafs ' stunning come-from-behind victory in game 4 of their playoff series with the Tampa Bay Lightning, many Leafs fans are giddy with joy, confidently proclaiming the series "over".Let's dial that back a bit, big shooters.I have recently written that this year's Toronto Maple Leafs are different from previous versions (grittier, more experienced, not afraid, etc), and I fully believe that.

The Toronto Maple Leafs Michael Bunting made a stupid decision, but it knocked one of the Lightning's best defensemen out of the series and forced the team to play Matthew Knies.While it's unfortunate that Cernak was injured on the play, there is no denying the fact that the Toronto Maple Leafs have a much better chance of winning when he's not in the lineup.

Sheldon Keefe addressed the media after his team's 3-2 overtime loss to the Florida Panthers which dropped the Leafs' record to 44-20-10.On the team's performance:
I thought we played a good game.We didn't score enough to win.We made some mistakes at the end that cost us the extra point.On the team's inability to find enough offense, including on the power play:
Whether it is power plays or some of the chances we had at five-on-five, we had opportunities to bury them and build a substantial lead.

The Toronto Maple Leafs play tonight against the Florida Panthers in their ninth-last game of the 2022-23 regular season.Puck drop is at 7:30 in Toronto.The Leafs held a practice yesterday and Ilya Samsonov made his return to the team after the birth of his first child with his wife, Maria.His quote is infinitely adorable.

Sheldon Keefe addressed the media after his team's 5-3 loss to the Carolina Hurricanes which dropped the Leafs' record to 43-20-9.On the team's performance:
I thought, in a lot of ways, it might have been the best game of our season.On the team's ability to grow into the game after a tough start:
Tough start.

The Toronto Maple Leafs decided to scratch Morgan Rielly on Thursday night, sending a message to the 10-year veteran.There's no doubt that Morgan Rielly is struggling this season but making him a healthy scratch is a not a way to get back his confidence and the Toronto Maple Leafs should be embarrassed.

The Toronto Maple Leafs beat the Florida Panthers last night on the backs of a two-goal Auston Matthews performance.Though many are quick to excuse the Toronto Maple Leafs recent horrible play by referencing the new players and line combinations, I don't think it's that simple.Without Ryan O'Reilly in the lineup, the Leafs are simply a worse team than they were before the deadline, because Rasmus Sandin and Pierre Engvall are superior to the rest of the players they added.

Sheldon Keefe addressed the media after his team's 7-2 loss to the New York Islanders which dropped the Leafs' record to 42-19-9.On where the game got away from the team in the middle frame:
I thought we had a good second period, but we made some mistakes, obviously.We had some trouble breaking out.