Credit Leafs Coach Keefe For Toronto’s Impressive Play

The Toronto Maple Leafs beat the New York Rangers 2-1 Thursday to extend their win streak to five games. And although there has been some proper praise given to players like Morgan Rielly, Jack Campbell and Auston Matthews, do you know who deserves credit that we don’t hear much about? Head coach Sheldon Keefe, that’s who. If the Leafs were losers of five in a row and found themselves at the bottom of the Atlantic Division, fans and media would be calling for Keefe’s firing, so it is only fair he gets due respect for the work he and his staff have done.

As we saw on the Leafs’ “All Or Nothing” Amazon documentary series, Keefe is a motivator for his players, yet someone who is not going to be taken advantage of by oversized egos in the dressing room and on the ice. I have covered his coaching career from his time with the American League’s Toronto Marlies, and Keefe has been the same, level-headed guy whether he had three media microphones and cameras in front of him with the Marlies as he has been with 15 or 20 with the Leafs.

Keefe’s record since he took over the Leafs in November of 2019 is impressive: he’s won 74 games, lost 34 games in regulation time, and lost 13 games in overtime or a shootout. That’s a .665 winning points percentage. That means the Leafs are winning every two games out of three under his guidance.

That’s because Keefe is a modern-day coach who understands he needs to use the carrot on some of his players and the stick on others. He has shown he’s unafraid to cut the ice time of players – as he did with star winger William Nylander in February of this year, and as he did with winger Nick Ritchie this season – and he’ll reward smart play by giving out more opportunities, as he has with the David Kämpf-Ondre-Kaše-Pierre-Engvall shutdown line.

There’s an honesty to Keefe’s approach that appeals to players. He’s going to go with the best lineup he thinks Toronto’s roster can deliver, and he’s willing and able to work with Buds GM Kyle Dubas to give the city a winning team. That’s what Dubas and Keefe did at the AHL level when the Marlies won a Calder Cup championship under their tenure in 2017-18. They’re proven winners, which is why Leafs president Brendan Shanahan believes in them.

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Keefe doesn’t engage in histrionics on the bench. He’s not a dramatic performer, as some coaches are at this level. But that doesn’t mean he’s not fiercely competitive. Behind that COVID-19 mask is an energy that rubs off on his players. It’s far too early to start predicting which coach will win the Jack Adams Award as the NHL’s top bench boss this season, but here’s hoping voters will not always fall back on picking a coach who has transformed a team from a bottom-feeder to a bona fide Stanley Cup contender. Sometimes the Jack Adams should go to a coach who has found a way to keep a highly-talented roster happy and functioning, the way the Leafs are now.

Should Keefe keep the Leafs thriving for the remainder of the season, he’ll deserve to have his name in the Jack Adams mix. It’s true playing or working in Toronto can inflate or degrade a person’s NHL value, but we should be fair in identifying a great talent. And so far, Keefe has earned the benefit of any doubt about what he brings to the table. He’s already guided Toronto out of a four-game losing skid at the start of this season, and now has won five in a row twice, as well as 10 of the Leafs’ last 11 games. This is not by accident. Toronto has become an excellent defensive group that can hold a lead and outwork opponents. That’s Keefe’s doing. That’s a credit to him and Leafs management.

There are no “Keefe” chants ringing out at Scotiabank Arena. Not yet, anyway. But if Keefe continues to succeed more often than not, there ought to be.

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