Sheldon Keefe finally admits what's wrong with the Toronto Maple Leafs
The New Jersey Devils head coach Sheldon Keefe finally admitted what's wrong with the Toronto Maple Leafs in an interview.
Last season, after the Maple Leafs were once again eliminated from the first round of the playoffs, the organization decided to make a big change. They fired Sheldon Keefe as their head coachfollowing five seasons behind the Leafs bench.
In an interview with The Athletic's Jonas Siegel, Keefe opened up on his time in Toronto.
He talked about the Leafs' playoff struggles, and that what truly sank the team wasn't their defensive issues, it was that they couldn't score the crucial goals when they needed to:
Read what he said on the matter here:
"I look back to my time in Toronto as hard to compute, quite honestly. Because we were one way in the regular season. At times, we scored a lot. At times, (we) didn't defend nearly well enough; at times, (we) did. I think we don't get enough credit for defending like we did.
And then we get into the playoffs and I don't think defending was ever really an issue. We couldn't score. That part of it is difficult.
But it's just a reminder for me of how hard we need to push to be able to learn to score in different ways in the regular season (with the Devils). So no matter what we approach in the playoffs, we can deal with it.
We talk a lot in Toronto about trying to be better defensively. I don't think that's ever why we lost in the playoffs.
You look back at all these Game 7s and all these series that we could have won before getting to Game 7, the number of opportunities we have to score goals or not being able to generate enough.
That's the big reason why we lost. And that doesn't necessarily jive with the perception of the team, say, in the regular season."
And then we get into the playoffs and I don't think defending was ever really an issue. We couldn't score. That part of it is difficult.
But it's just a reminder for me of how hard we need to push to be able to learn to score in different ways in the regular season (with the Devils). So no matter what we approach in the playoffs, we can deal with it.
We talk a lot in Toronto about trying to be better defensively. I don't think that's ever why we lost in the playoffs.
You look back at all these Game 7s and all these series that we could have won before getting to Game 7, the number of opportunities we have to score goals or not being able to generate enough.
That's the big reason why we lost. And that doesn't necessarily jive with the perception of the team, say, in the regular season."
As of now, the New Jersey Devils have a better record than the Leafs, showing that Keefe might not have been the problem in the organization.
Both teams are second in their divisions, but the Devils have four more points than the Leafs.
New Jersey notably scored 22 more goals than Toronto did.
The Maple Leafs and the Devils are set to face off tonight in New Jersey, marking the first time Keefe goes against his former team.
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