Ever since he was introduced as the next Maple Leafs head coach in November 2019, Sheldon Keefe has sought to improve his club’s defensive play in all three zones, while keeping pace with the organization’s goal to control the puck as much as possible.
There is very little of Pat Burns in Sheldon Keefe.
He doesn’t bark much, he doesn’t make the nightly news very often, he doesn’t have the kind of cop-like presence and arrogance that commands both fear and respect. He doesn’t have anything like that movie-character “Get-out-of-my-way” walk that Burns had.
Last week we took a look at the 10 NHL captains with Ontario Hockey League origins. This week, we turn our attention behind the bench where eleven NHL coaches have OHL roots.
PEMBROKE, ONT. — Geoff Patterson has done just about everything for the Pembroke Lumber Kings at one point or another.
“The essence of my message about competing has nothing to do with the opponent. My competitive approach is that ‘it’s all about us.’ If we’ve really done the preparation to elevate ourselves to our full potential, it shouldn’t matter whom we’re playing.” — Pete Carroll, Super Bowl champion
Maple Leafs coach Sheldon Keefe is all in on a Canadian Division. “All fingers are pointing towards that,” Keefe told the Star in a phone interview. “I think it’s I think it’s really exciting.”
One year ago today, the Maple Leafs fired head coach Mike Babcock. The club was mired in a six-game winless streak (0-5-1) and sitting outside the playoff picture with a 9-10-4 record overall.
Things around the Leafs sure changed after Sheldon Keefe took over as head coach in November.
Less than 24 hours after the Columbus Blue Jackets eliminated the Toronto Maple Leafs from playoff contention in their qualifier series, Jackets head coach John Tortorella showed his support for Maple Leafs’ rookie bench boss Sheldon Keefe.
On Friday’s edition of In Conversation, Ron MacLean was joined by Toronto Raptors head coach Nick Nurse and Toronto Maple Leafs head coach Sheldon Keefe.
Sportsnet Hockey Central have spent time over the last few weeks speaking with many of our head coaches during the paused NHL season. Take a listen.
The Toronto Maple Leafs have won 11 of their 15 games under Sheldon Keefe since the 39-year-old coach took over for Mike Babcock last month. And they are doing so in a rather entertaining fashion, with the team’s offensive machine humming along at a high enough pace to cover up for some defensive issues that still need fixing.
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