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TSN analyst publicly slams Sheldon Keefe for recent power play controversy in Philly

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Ryan Smitheram
March 16, 2024 (11:33)

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Sheldon Keefe and Rocky Thompson didn't see eye to eye in the third period

Photo credit: NHL

Thursday night saw the Toronto Maple Leafs dominate the Philadelphia Flyers in a 6-2 win. The win didn't come without controversy, however, and late in the game, Leafs head coach Sheldon Keefe sent out his top powerplay unit, much to the dismay of Flyers assistant coach, Rocky Thompson.

Keefe explained the situation following the game stating he had to manage his bench and that his third and fourth lines were dog tired, so he had no choice but to start his top unit.

TSN's Mike Johnson, who called the game on Thursday, was on TSN's OverDrive yesterday and was asked about the whole situation and revealed that it didn't start with the Flyers coaching staff.

"It didn't start with Rocky a Thompson. It starts with the players, I think Joel Farabee, and he starts screaming down the bench and other guys jumping in and that's what got the attention of Rocky Thompson, and Sheldon Keefe is telling him they're missing guys, their guys are tired, kind of thingHe plays 33 seconds to the first whistle, he pulls the first unit off which was obviously a reaction to the reaction and then they get scored on short-handed."

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Johnson then went on to rip Sheldon Keefe for apologizing post-game and walking back the actions, but he also ripped into Rocky Thompson and the Flyers for being hypocritical.

"My take on the whole thing, you don't need to apologize. This is not timbits, this is not little league. If you don't want guys to put a powerplay on when they're winning by a lot, don't let them win by a lot don't complain, don't look for something to be upset about. Go stop them. The fact of the matter is, you're asking the Leafs to not put out their best powerplay group. I don't see you taking off your best penalty killers. I don't see you telling them to not try and stop scoring so if you're not going to take your best guys off, why the hell does Keefe have to take his best guys off?

I don't have any problem with what Keefe did, I just didn't see the need to walk it back post-game cause he didn't do anything wrong."

I don't know about you, but I completely agree with what Johnson said. Keefe did nothing wrong given the situation he was handling on his bench and the Flyers were just mad they got pumped on home ice, and in true Flyers fashion, they found something to complain about.

Previously on MapleLeafsDaily

Leafs goaltender leaves morning skate with apparent injury, Keefe provides immediate update

Elite play earning Leafs prospect a ton of respect and admiration

Sheldon Keefe puts a timeline on Mitch Marner's projected recovery

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16 MARS \| 556 ANSWERS TSN analyst publicly slams Sheldon Keefe for recent power play controversy in Philly Do you think the Flyers overreacted?
Absolutely	450	80.9 %
No it was justified	106	19.1 %
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