Analysts shred Sheldon Keefe for recent lineup change
On Tuesday night, the Maple Leafs returned to ScotiaBank Arena following a five-game road trip that saw them go 3-1-1, collecting a possible seven of ten points. Unfortunately, their first game back at SBA was against the league's top offense in the LA Kings. The Kings dominated the Leafs from start to finish in their 4-1 win, but that didn't stop Leafs head coach Sheldon Keefe from attempting to mount a third period comeback by loading up his top line. To start the third period, Keefe moved William Nylander up to play with Auston Matthews and Mitch Marner, which was something that Sportsnet's Nick Kypreos and Justin Bourne strongly disagreed with. They voiced their thoughts on yesterday's "Real Kyper and Bourne" show.
He continued by blasting Keefe for not benching one of the three and playing the players that were still competing and battling and finishing their checks.
Bourne was quick to agree with Kypreos and pointed out that Keefe should know that he needs to reward players that play hard every shift and not because of their talent.
I don't normally agree with Kypreos or Bourne for that matter, but I do in this case. Under Kyle Dubas, Keefe always tiptoed around his stars and even walked back comments when criticizing their play, and it seems that he is still in the old habit of not hurting their feelings. Hopefully this is something that changes over the season and that messages are sent because if the stars are able to do whatever they want without punishment, chances are they aren't going to try as hard or care as much as the 17 other guys on the team.
| POLL | ||
2 NOVEMBRE | 435 ANSWERS Analysts shred Sheldon Keefe for recent lineup change Should Sheldon Keefe be more assertive and bench his stars when they aren't performing? | ||
| Yes | 386 | 88.7 % |
| No | 49 | 11.3 % |
| List of polls | ||
