Keefe on Thursday, five days after they were eliminated from the playoffs.
The Leafs lost a seven-game first-round series to the Boston Bruins, the fourth time in Keefe’s five postseasons as coach that his team failed to advance beyond the opening round. Nothing will define the Keefe era in Toronto more than that.
Surprised they didn’t do it sooner. That much talent on the Leafs and they’ve gone nowhere during Keefe’s entire tenure.
I think there’s a lot of incredibly talented people, individually, on that team. But they don’t seem to click well together. There’s a couple of them that should be jettisoned, even if to just open up some space to get more depth through the 3 and 4 lines. And to get those gosh darn special teams going.
My biggest to fire list would actually include the athletic trainers and conditioning team. They need a new strategy there. Especially when it comes to goaltender conditioning.
At least you guys have hope. I’m a wild fan. I’ll tell you where we finish next year. A playoff near miss or first round exit. The same as every year, followed by another middling pick that brings us squarely to another middling season. Repeat.
Matthews, Marner, Reilly, Nylander, that’s a hell of a core. Not to mention the secondary pieces, and Knies looks like he has potential.
I would much rather have seen the Leafs move on than another Boston win. Barf.
You know what could get them to work well together? A new coach. Here’s hoping.