Sheldon Keefe fires shot at Maple Leafs after joining New Jersey Devils

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Graham Montgomery
May 29, 2024 (8:01 PM)

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The New Jersey Devils officially announced Sheldon Keefe as their new head coach yesterday and during the festivities, he revealed an interesting tidbit about the Toronto Maple Leafs.

Keefe revealed that several other coaches around the league took time to congratulate him for leaving Toronto. Apparently, Toronto is viewed as a league of its own among coaches, so joining the Devils is akin to joining a new league altogether.

Sheldon Keefe says that it was a tremendous honour to coach the Toronto Maple Leafs, but that he has had numerous well-established NHL coaches congratulate him on leaving the market 🗣️

One must wonder if one of those coaches Keefe is referring to is John Tortorella. Torts was Keefe's first coach as a player and he supposedly left quite the mark on him. During his introductory press conference with the Devils, Keefe went at great lengths discussing Tortorella's influence on him as a coach.

Here's Sheldon Keefe's nearly 3-minute response when asked how big an influence his first NHL coach, John Tortorella, had on his coaching career. «He's been incredibly gracious with his time since I've been in the NHL; maybe not so gracious now that I'm in the same division.»

Following the press conference, Keefe has continued to make himself acquainted with the Devils and their fanbase. He has made it clear from day one that his goal is to win a Stanley Cup with the team, which is an expected answer. However, Devils fans might not be so optimistic based on his success rate with the Leafs in the playoffs.

"Our ambition is winning the Stanley Cup, so our actions need to match those ambitions on a daily basis.»

Go 1-on-1 with Sheldon Keefe to learn more about his approach and vision for the team.

We will just have to wait for next season to see if Keefe can get over the hump and win a round in the playoffs with his new team. Doing so could go a long way to ensuring Devils fans that he has what it takes to lead a team to a championship.

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Do you think the New Jersey Devils will have more playoff success under Sheldon Keefe than the Toronto Maple Leafs did?
Yes	184	59.5 %
No	125	40.5 %
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