Sheldon Keefe passes the legendary Pat Quinn in the Leafs' record book
On a milestone night for Erik Kallgren, who shutout the Dallas Stars in his first NHL start, it was also a milestone for head coach Sheldon Keefe, who earned his 100th career victory. Not only was it career win number 100 for Keefe, but it only took him 163 games, making him the fastest Leafs' coach to hit the 100-win plateau.
As a result, Keefe has surpassed two legendary Leaf coaches in the process. He passed Dick Irvin, who won a Stanley Cup with the Leafs in 1931 (and was most known for coaching the Maurice Richard-led Montreal Canadiens) and franchise legend Pat Quinn who were both tied for the record with 100 wins in 184 games.
Although Keefe hasn't had the playoff success that he's hoped for in Toronto, it's impressive how much regular season success he's had. It's often forgotten that this is his first full season as the Leafs' bench boss. Keefe took over for Mike Babcock in November, 2019 and each of the last two seasons were cut short due to the pandemic.
Hopefully this is the year that Keefe's impressive resume translates to playoff success and his win totals with the franchise keep on going up.
| POLL | ||
MARS 16 | 307 ANSWERS Sheldon Keefe passes the legendary Pat Quinn in the Leafs' record book What are your thoughts on Keefe becoming the fastest Leafs coach to hit 100 wins? | ||
| Very impressive! | 141 | 45.9 % |
| He only did it because he inherited good players | 75 | 24.4 % |
| The regular season doesn't matter | 73 | 23.8 % |
| Should have kept Babcock | 18 | 5.9 % |
| List of polls | ||
