Sheldon Keefe cuts media member off, slams him for assuming Wayne Simmonds' Leafs career is over
Leafs head coach Sheldon Keefe knows a thing or two about dealing with the Toronto media and, for the most part, he tends to take the bad with the good in that category. In Canada's hockey hot-bed, the Leafs' bench boss faces a ton of questions. He doesn't often appear bothered, but he did on Saturday, following the morning skate.
There has been a lot of speculation about the Leafs dressing Wayne Simmonds tonight because it is the Leafs' final home game of the regular season, with the team going on a 3-game road trip to close out the season after hosting Montreal tonight. The narrative here is that the Leafs are giving Simmonds a proper send-off by playing him in the final home game. However, when Keefe was asked about this idea on Saturday, he wasn't having any of it.
We all know that Simmonds is on an expiring contract and has had a number of trips to the waiver wire this season. But with the Leafs still hopefully having a long playoff run ahead of them, it's still very possible that Simmonds will suit up in the playoffs. His best days are long behind him, but that fire and that tenacity is still there and he is one of the most experienced players on the roster. Add to that the fact that injuries occur in the playoffs all the time and it's a pretty reasonable assumption that Simmonds will play another game for the Leafs at Scotiabank Arena.
Simmonds is still one the locker room leaders for the Leafs and still has that ability to strike fear into the hearts of the opposition. He can still throw hands with the best of them and with the playoffs being the roughest stretch of hockey of the year, he may still serve a purpose to Sheldon Keefe.
| POLL | ||
AVRIL 8 | 1361 ANSWERS Sheldon Keefe cuts media member off, slams him for assuming Wayne Simmonds' Leafs career is over Will Wayne Simmonds play another game as a Leaf at home in the playoffs? | ||
| Yes | 1123 | 82.5 % |
| No | 238 | 17.5 % |
| List of polls | ||
