Tonight, the Toronto Maple Leafs will be in New Jersey to face the Devils and their former head coach Sheldon Keefe, marking Keefe's second game against his former team since being replaced by Craig Berube.
It'll be a crucial game, as both teams are currently 2nd in their respective divisions, with the Devils having a four-point lead over the Maple Leafs.
Ahead of the game, Keefe reflected on his time as the Maple Leafs coach in an interview with Jonas Siegel of The Athletic.
He talked about many interesting topics but notably mentioned what he believes to be the source of the Leafs' struggles in the playoffs.
In past years, the Leafs earned the reputation of always going down in the playoffs after a great regular season.
According to Keefe, the team's issue wasn't at the blue line, the area that was the most criticized by people outside the organization. He believes the real problem was in the offensive group, as the team couldn't score to keep their seasons alive.
He noted that in many important games, including game 7s, the forwards couldn't get it done.
Read Keefe's full declaration here:
Keefe didn't shy away from calling out the Leafs forwards for their poor results in playoffs. Considering that they'll most likely hear about this before tonight's game, it'll be interesting to see who ends up getting the upper hand on the ice.
POLL | ||
DÉCEMBRE 10 | 87 ANSWERS Sheldon Keefe Looks Back at Why the Maple Leafs Lost in the Playoffs Ahead of First Game Against Former Team Who do you think is the better coach, Craig Berube or Sheldon Keefe? | ||
Craig Berube | 66 | 75.9 % |
Sheldon Keefe | 21 | 24.1 % |
LIST OF POLLS |
G | A | PTS | ||
Tom Wilson | 2 | 1 | 3 | |
Alexander Ovechkin | - | 3 | 3 | |
Brendan Gallagher | 2 | - | 2 | |
Anthony Cirelli | 1 | 1 | 2 | |
Josh Doan | 1 | 1 | 2 | |
Pierre-Luc Dubois | 1 | 1 | 2 | |
Dylan Guenther | 1 | 1 | 2 | |
Victor Hedman | 1 | 1 | 2 | |
Jack McBain | 1 | 1 | 2 | |
Dylan Strome | 1 | 1 | 2 | |
Jake Guentzel | - | 2 | 2 | |
Brandon Hagel | - | 2 | 2 | |
Michael Carcone | 1 | - | 1 | |
Christian Dvorak | 1 | - | 1 | |
Zemgus Girgensons | 1 | - | 1 | |
Nick Paul | 1 | - | 1 | |
Brayden Point | 1 | - | 1 | |
Cam Atkinson | - | 1 | 1 | |
John Carlson | - | 1 | 1 | |
Nick Desimone | - | 1 | 1 | |
Complete stats |
STANDINGS 2024-2025 | ||||||
TOP 10 | GP | W | L | OL | PTS | |
Jets | 56 | 39 | 14 | 3 | 81 | |
Capitals | 55 | 36 | 11 | 8 | 80 | |
Oilers | 55 | 34 | 17 | 4 | 72 | |
Stars | 55 | 35 | 18 | 2 | 72 | |
Golden Knights | 56 | 33 | 17 | 6 | 72 | |
Panthers | 57 | 34 | 20 | 3 | 71 | |
Hurricanes | 56 | 33 | 19 | 4 | 70 | |
Wild | 56 | 33 | 19 | 4 | 70 | |
Maple Leafs | 55 | 33 | 20 | 2 | 68 | |
Avalanche | 57 | 33 | 22 | 2 | 68 | |
Conference | Cumulative |