Leafs coach Sheldon Keefe rips into his players after crushing loss

PUBLICATION

Julien Trekker
March 27, 2024 (5:18 PM)

SHARE THIS STORY

The Toronto Maple Leafs' head coach Sheldon Keefe ripped into his players after a crushing loss against the New Jersey Devils.

Leafs players delivered an embarassing effort against the New Jersey Debils last night, losing 6-3.

Sheldon Keefe, head coach of the Toronto Maple Leafs, rips into his players in press conference after a tough loss.

Coach Keefe wasn't happy about how his players handled themselves on the ice last night and had a lot to say in his press conference.

"Hated lots about our game tonight."

"We got incredibly sloppy and careless, and that's disappointing."

"We just overdid. It was just really immature. Really immature all the way through our game. I thought it was immature from our most experienced players and our leaders. And then our players who are immature, our inexperienced guys, I mean, we made lots of mistakes."

Then, he mentionned the particularly bad performances of Woll and Tavares.

About Tavares: "They gotta be the example. John Tavares has been the example for us. He's been outstanding for us for a long period of time. He himself got carried away tonight. That's our captain."

"So, if that's going to happen, well, the rest of our bench is now picking up as we go. When you do that, you open the door for an opposition to have a good night. And they did that. And I thought the last goal at the end of the third period there [a Jack Hughes breakaway, gifted by an intercepted Max Domi pass], that's indicative of our second and third periods."

About Woll: "You can't let in the first shot of the game. That's two in a row now."

He also discussed the fact that the team hasn't clinched a playoff spot yet, which highlights the importance of competing hard every day and playing with some urgency.

"We haven't clinched anything. Nothing's secure at this point in time. And we need to approach it that way. Every day, every shift, every practice we get, we got to have a level of urgency to everything that we're doing here."

Keefe's comments are valid, but we must not forget that many key players weren't in uniform last night, dealing with injuries, including Marner.

What do you think of coach Keefe's comments? Let us know in the comments.

Source: Hockey Patrol - Sheldon Keefe makes defeated comments after Leafs defeat to Devils