Greg Wyshynski, ESPNOct 10, 2024, 07:00 AM ET
CloseGreg Wyshynski is ESPN’s senior NHL writer.
Coaching the Toronto Maple Leafs can change a person. Decades of playoff futility keep expectations excruciatingly unmet. The constant scrutiny from media and fans is enough to unnerve the confident and harden the affable.
“I don’t know if ‘harden’ is the right word, but it’s an experience,” said Sheldon Keefe, who coached the Leafs from 2019 until May.
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Keefe, 44, was fired after Toronto was eliminated in the first round by the Boston Bruins. That ended a five-year tenure defined by considerable regular-season success (.665 points percentage) followed by seemingly inevitable playoff failure. Keefe’s Leafs won just a single playoff round during his tenure. It was his first NHL head-coaching job.
“I started in what many would describe as the most difficult and challenging environment in the league — and many coaches in this league have reminded me of that,” Keefe said. “I leave there forever disappointed in myself that I wasn’t able to help push that team over the line. But I know I’m a better coach, and a better person, having gone through it.”
Keefe took his lumps and learned lessons, which he’s now applying to the New Jersey Devils, who hired him two weeks after he self-published a farewell video to Leafs Nation on social media.
“Sheldon jumped to the top of my list when he became available, and I was thrilled when he agreed to be a part of what we are building here,” Devils general manager Tom Fitzgerald said. “He’s an excellent communicator, believes in collaboration and will take what he has learned previously to make this team a Stanley Cup contender.”
THE DEVILS LOOKED like a Cup contender two seasons ago. They finished with a franchise-best 112 points and then eliminated the rival New York Rangers in seven games before exiting in the second round. They were young and fast and poised for greatness.
And then they absolutely face-planted last…
Source link : https://www.espn.com/nhl/story/_/id/41702695/nhl-devils-maple-leafs-sheldon-keefe-stanley-cup-playoffs-standings
Author : Greg Wyshynski
Publish date : 2024-10-10 11:24:48
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