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Sheldon Keefe quotes NHL coaches' sly dig at Toronto Maple Leafs: "I should be happy now that I get to coach in the real NHL"
New Jersey Devils' newly appointed coach Sheldon Keefe had a challenging time leading up to his departure from the Toronto Maple Leafs. Keefe was relieved of his duties by the Leafs earlier this month.
In a phone interview with the Toronto Star, Keefe revealed a strong gut feeling about being dismissed and saw it coming. The decision was made after the Toronto Maple Leafs were eliminated in the first round of the playoffs by the Boston Bruins.
Sheldon Keefe has now moved on and is looking forward to having a fresh start with a different organization. Despite some established coaches throwing shade at the Maple Leafs' job in messages to Keefe, he remains grateful for the opportunity to serve the club.
He said (via Toronto Star):
“It was tremendous honour to coach the Maple Leafs,” Keefe said. “There’s a lot that goes into that. I’ve had a number of well-established coaches in the league reach out to say that I should be happy now that I get to coach in the real NHL. Toronto is quite unique … it’s not like the rest of the league.”
Keefe took a moment by Lake Ontario to express his gratitude to the players, organization, and fans for their support during his time with the Toronto Maple Leafs as their coach for five seasons.
The New Jersey Devils announced about a week ago that Sheldon Keefe would take over as coach after Lindy Ruff was fired mid-season after the team failed to make the playoffs. On Tuesday, GM Tom Fitzgerald officially introduced Keefe as the fresh face behind the Devils' coaching reigns.
Toronto Maple Leafs players expressed gratitude to Sheldon Keefe
After leaving the Toronto Maple Leafs, Keefe said that he received a lot of messages from players, not only from the current Maple Leafs team but also from players who were part of previous seasons' teams and those who have since moved on to other organizations.
Keefe described it as a positive experience for him to have so many people reach out and show their support and appreciation.
“Got a lot of messages from players, not just players that are on this season’s team (but) players on previous seasons’ teams, players that have moved on to other organizations, staff members,” Keefe said. “It was a pretty great experience for me just to have so many people reach out.
The Toronto Maple Leafs announced Sheldon Keefe as their head coach in 2019. He spent five seasons behind the bench with the club, posting a 212-97-40 record in 349 games.
Moreover, the Leafs made it to the playoffs in each season under Keefe and only advanced to the second round of the playoffs last year, where they were defeated by the Florida Panthers.
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