Popular Podcaster Shares Wild Theory About the Maple Leafs and Ex-Coach Sheldon Keefe
Photo credit: John E. Sokolowski - USA Today Sports
Despite the way his tenure ended, Sheldon Keefe still calls Toronto home and it makes you wonder if there's a world where he makes a return behind the bench one day.
Sheldon Keefe was born and raised in Brampton, playing his youth hockey with Toronto-affiliated teams, and spent the majority of his junior years in the OHL with Barrie. He then coached the Toronto Marlies and the Toronto Maple Leafs before finding greener pastures in New Jersey, but there's no denying that his heart remains in Toronto.
That's why it's not all too surprising when Jesse Blake mentioned on SDPN that Keefe never moved his life to New Jersey. In fact his wife and kids still remain in Toronto, which begs the question of whether or not there's a possibility down the road that Keefe gets behind the Maple Leafs' bench again at some point in the future.
"I don't know if a lot of people know this, Sheldon Keefe, he didn't move any part of his life when he took the job in New Jersey. His two kids are here, his wife is here. When he's back in Toronto, everything is normal, you know, 'this is actually my home'. I think if you got truth serum in Sheldon Keefe and you asked him tomorrow if we gave you the job of head coach of the Toronto Maple Leafs back, I think he would take it. It feels like, he's coming back one day, doesn't it? Every single second I think this guy is disappointed that he couldn't win a championship for this team and you look back on the tenure and you look at how things ended, I don't think there should be really that much blame on Sheldon Keefe as a coach in terms of on the ice performance. At the end of the day it came down to the players. He loves the city, it's where his home is."
Keefe's regular season record was extraordinary as he posted a 212-97-40 record in 349 games across 5 seasons. He got the Maple Leafs to 50 wins twice and he claimed the North Division, which was technically their first division crown since 2000.
Unfortunately he only got the vaunted Maple Leafs into the second round once and was eliminated in the first round against the likes of Columbus, Montreal, Tampa Bay, and Boston as he slumped to a 16-21 record in the post-season.
Keefe assuredly got most of the blame for being unable to inspire his players to perform on the biggest stage. However, the superstars were just as much to blame for their downfall, but it's something that sticks with the departed head coach.
As things stand, the Maple Leafs are ecstatic with Craig Berube and how he's transformed the team in short order. They're playing a style of hockey that we haven't seen in years, but ultimately, it's how they fare in the post-season that is going to make a world of difference.
No one knows what the future has in store, but if Keefe were ever presented with the opportunity to take over behind Toronto's bench and exorcise some of his demons, he would probably take it in a heartbeat.
Fortunately, that is not something the Leafs or their fans have to worry about for the next few years with Berube behind the bench for another 3 seasons.
| POLL | ||
JANVIER 20 | 2639 ANSWERS Popular Podcaster Shares Wild Theory About the Maple Leafs and Ex-Coach Sheldon Keefe Do you believe that Sheldon Keefe would ever come back as the head coach of the Toronto Maple Leafs? | ||
| No, that chapter is closed | 2174 | 82.4 % |
| Yes, but way down the road | 465 | 17.6 % |
| List of polls | ||
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