NHL Slams the Gavel Down Hard on Former Leafs Coach Sheldon Keefe, Slaps Him With Hefty Fine
Photo credit: Darren Yamashita - USA Today Sports
The NHL came down hard on New Jersey Devils head coach Sheldon Keefe, slapping the former Leafs coach with a hefty fine for recent actions directed at officials.
Near the end of the game between the New Jersey Devils and the Vegas Golden Knights this week, superstars Jack Hughes and Jack Eichel collided with one another, which led to the former leaving the game in obvious pain.
Hughes was joining in on the rush with Nico Hischier before the latter fired the puck towards the net. Eichel made a great play to get in on the back-check but got his skates tied up with Hughes, which led him to stumble and tumble into the boards.
Hughes went into the boards shoulder-first and was unable to get up. Head coach Sheldon Keefe was extremely unhappy with the play and believed that Eichel deserved a penalty.
Unfortunately for the former Toronto Maple Leafs bench boss, they didn't believe there was a penalty to be called and he unleashed his fury towards the officials which led to a 2-minute bench minor penalty, a game misconduct, and subsequently an ejection.
The NHL has now fined Keefe $25,000 for the incident citing that it was due to unprofessional conduct directed to an official.
"New Jersey Devils head coach Sheldon Keefe has been fined $25,000 for unprofessional conduct directed at the officials that resulted in an unsportsmanlike conduct bench minor as well as a game misconduct at 18:12 of the third period of NHL Game No. 966 on Sunday, March 2, the National Hockey League announced today."
The Devils ultimately lost that contest 2-0 but the more pressing issue was the status of Hughes. They have yet to confirm what the diagnosis is but it is expected to be a long-term issue and with the trade deadline right around the corner that could be a problem for New Jersey.
If he does get placed on the LTIR, the Devils will get cap relief of $8 million dollars but it will be a near impossibility to replace the production of Hughes in a matter of a couple days. The 23-year-old has posted 27 goals and 70 points in 62 games so far this season.
New Jersey was expected to be aggressive regardless but now they have even more reason to pursue a bigger move.
TRENDING NOW
