Sheldon Keefe | End of Season Media Availability | May 6, 2024 

i know he hasn't been the best coach, but he's an amazing person and I'll miss him

He’s a good person. Best regular season record for a coach that’s been apart of 300+ games in NHL history. 8th worst record of NHL history for coaches that were apart of 35+ playoff games. This team needs a shakeup and he’s had 5 years to do more than one round win. See ya Sheldon, good luck in Pittsburgh with Dubas. (Total assumption lol)

I’m not a big fan of his, but man this guy is a human being and you can tell he really cared. He invested too much in Marner. Year after year, Marner was leaned upon and he failed year after year. This team desperately needs a new look, you can’t bring back Marner. Tavares just can’t play anymore, which is sad because he’s only 33. They need a new voice. They can’t run this back. You still have Matthews and Nylander, time is not their friend. If you 16 and 91 money, this team should figure out a way to contend. Keefe looks heartbroken and rightfully so. But he had his chance. You need to give this team a real chance to win we know 1000%, They can’t do it with 16 and 91.

You played Jarnkrok over Domi on PP1 in Game 1. You started Samsonov. You didn’t make the necessary adjustments to the Powerplay. What were you thinking.

Say what you want, but I'm going to miss this guy. The opening was heartbreaking.

You had YEARS Keefe....YEARS.

We could see Craig Berube as the new Leafs head coach.

Any coach that can say " The PP looks fine. Just have to stay with it." With a 1 in 12 record shouldn't be an NHL coach. Hell, he better off as Atom coach. Not even at the level to coach Peewee with that kinda comment. Him and Shanahan (8 year plan is up) Must Go!!

I personally don't understand the commentary that Keefe isn't a good coach. As someone who has been a player, coach, general manager, scout and administrator at a very competitive level (not professionally) I can appreciate how good of a person and a coach he has been looking from the outside. Obviously I am not privy to the experience shared by management and the players on the inside but from my vantage point he has been an excellent coach. Its a results oriented bysuiness and he has been tremendously successful in the regular season but not so in the playoffs. That isn't necessarily his fault. He was given a flawed roster that is constructed in such a way that its impossible to have a complete roster with the depth and pieces necessary to be successful in the post season. He can thank his good friend Dubas for filling his pockets with those bricks as he tried to swim the English channel which is the Stanley Cup Playoffs. I would love to see what Keefe could do with a roster constructed with half the salary cap not being distributed to 4 players. What other team has been successful with this approach? As a 71 year old fan of this team my entire life it is frustrating to say the least. Now I learn this am they have received this good man from his duties. In my opinion there is another who should have been fired first. But as we all know the boss will never fire himself! Long live the Shambleplan

At least he’s being honest

Whatever happens, I wish Keefer well. Heck of a coach.

Just outta curiosity, if you are a leafs fan, now that you guys are out, who are you supporting between Nucks and Oilers? Or none?

leaf fans are going to buy tickets. there's no need for change. i will never see a game because it costs so much to attend. at least i'm not getting robbed right. If the fans would just show some backbone maybe we will get a team with one. think about it. Who do you think pays for the team?

SAMMY CANT CATCH A PAPER BAG TRADE HIM NOW , KEEFE YOUR FIRED !!!

This guy didn't score 198 goals in Pee-wee and it shows

Keefe is an unbelievable coach & human being...he is the reason the leafs make the playoffs every year! Please keep him as head coach! 🙏

It's interesting to hear him talk about how they struggle to beat structure, especially in the playoffs. I find that they often look too slow out there, speed helps break down structure and they don't have it. Among the highest paid players, Marner and Tavares in particular like to play a slow, plodding game offensively. They end up getting stuck to the outside because they play too slow and become easy to track. It's difficult to break a teams structure down without a lot of speed or a lot of hard cycling. This team does neither. They also can't capitalize on odd-man rushes because of this issue, you don't see nearly as many 3 on 2's and 2 on 1's for the Leafs as you do for other teams. I think their priority offensively for the off-season needs to be to get faster up front to be able to play with more tempo. Some of that comes from getting better puck movers on the back end as well.

Unfortunately for him he didnt have this team with the Domis, Berts, Edmunson, McMann, Benoit a couple years ago.

Not Keefe's fault this team can't get over the hump. Too many players make too much money with little playoff production. That is on management and more so the players. Unfortunately Coaches are the fall man for incompetence of the organization.

Keefe does what he can with what he got the team definitely need better goal tending.

GO LEAFS GO! …. 2024/ 2025 is the YEAR!…. God please!!!!!!! I beg you!!!!!… please have the Leafs extend Samsonov’s contract!

He says he didn’t do exit interviews with the players, I think he expects to be fired

Damn he was really nervous speaking in the first 20-30 seconds.

Good coach the team let him down again

talking about the overtime goal... he basically said that Pasternak wasn't picked up in the neutral zone - that was Marner's mistake. Marner is a coward and he'd do anything to not have to go into the corners on a hard play. When he stopped skating and Pasternak went by him, it looked like it would be in the corner. Marneris a f**king coward and it always costs the team in the post season. #Marnermustgo #Marnerhastogo #TradeMarner

You HAVE the TEAM. Keep them ,let them play together for a year ..STOP CHANGING THE LINES …GIVE THEM MORE TIME TO FULLY DEVELOP…

Love this guy

When I was a kid playing street hockey, every kid on both teams wanted to be Darryl Sittler. That wasn't yesterday. I have seen a lot of changes over the last 40 some years. The play-off hockey the Leafs played this year was the best I seen since 1993, despite the results. I know many people would seek to tear this team apart, fire a bunch of staff, and start over. That would be stupid. If it was up to me, I would do my best to keep this team together as it is. I am aware how difficult that would be. Rebuilds set you back years. If you think this is bad, trust me it could be much worse. And I have seen how bad it can be. Whatever happens I will still be wearing my Leafs cap next year. If you think a couple player changes or staff changes will make everything better, good for you. Like I said I have seen a lot of changes over the years.

Sheldon don’t be taking heat for Mitch… he’s a big boy… if he wanted to win he would’ve figured it out for himself within the last 8 years

GO LEAFS GO ! I AM A BELEAFER 🎉 NEXT YEAR WE GOT THIS LADIES & GENTS ❤ F-DA H8ERS ! TORONTO FOREVER 😘

Were in the results business?

STOP BUYING TICKETS STOP SUPPORTING THIS TEAM NOW BOYCOTT, THEY WILL NEVER CHANGE, 20 YEARS DOWN THE LINE AND STILL CANT GET OUT OF THE 1ST ROUND!!! STOP SUPPORTING THIS TEAM!!! FIRE ALL

I honestly dont think hes getting fired. We need goaltending

Class act. Sad to see him go. Happy to have Berube on board. 💙🤍

Never gonna win anything with 10+ mil on a player who's built like a highschooler and gets absolutely BTFO in the playoffs, ship horse mouth and his dad out of here.

Taking it out on him because samsonov couldnt stop a beach ball? Get out of here. Hes a good coach and his style fits the skill we have. Just buyout/trade tavares and give matthews captaincy and get rid of shanahan. And brodie and Samsonov should never wear a leafs jersey again. Give this guy one last year.

I wish people would stop bitching about the goalie situation. Im 60 years and used to play goalie so let me just say it looks easy on tv but it aint. Samsonov is a great goalie and woll is the future. How can you blame a goalie when you dont score. Samsonov kept the team in a playoff spot even if he had a bad start., he took time off and came back like a hurricane. Woll without doubt will be a number 1 goalie for the leafs. Woll and samsonov are a massive reason why this team will bring a cup home.....soon. stop bitching, a Stanley cup is never guaranteed. They came up short by 1 goal, im extremely proud of EVERYONE on this team...

"What do you think we're in, the f*cking haberdashery business?!" ~ Frank Costello... this is the results business. End of story.

The Maple Leafboys are perennial playoff duds, it'll take a special coach to navigate these waters. The Leafs are full of stars, they need someone the equivalent of Pep from man city, he gets the guys to put their egos aside

You can hear it in his voice, this sounds like a guy that knows he's about to get fired

Pittsburgh bound

I like him, honestly...

Thanks for the season. I watched every game from our farm. I enjoyed the journey, but it has ups and downs. I once was a goaltender who played in AAA all Ontario Silver Stick Tournament.We lost in overtime, l don't recall the shot as it was like a ping pong ball that bounced off of a few players than in but the emotion of the loss remained in my soul. Sports is something that is only understood through living the experience.

GET A FLIPPIN GOALTENDER FOR YEARS NO GOALTENDING NO COACH, YOUR FIRED!!! SHANAHAN FIRED NOW!!! SAMMY GONE NOW!!!

SAMMY SHOULD NOT WEAR A LEAD JERSEY EVER AGAIN. FIRE SHANAHAN NOW THE FANS ATE TIRED OF YOUR EXCUSES WHY THIS TEAM CANT MOVE ON!!! YOURE FIRE KEEFE WOLL WAS THE GOALTENDER FIRE GAME 7

Treliving show you care about winning and hire Joel Quenneville

It’s a game, I’m not in the room to know if this guy is being heard…if the players are coachable, what the real problems are…easy to say you could have done this or that…being down 3-1 normally doesn’t win you a series. Injuries certainly didn’t help…I like their game overall, physical but they need to score less fancy goals and be a team of crashing the net…play like that all season and set a new team identity…if keefe is back for 1 more year you get what you’ve got already I think it’s time for a new voice, why wait a year and have shanahan on too and keefe still coaching…they wasted enough time.

Good coach. Shouldnt fire him unless theres someone better. (Not many are though)

The Leafs liked more to win than they hated to lose

YOURE FIRED KEEFE NOW!!! MARNER TRADED, CANT GET IT DONE!!! 8 YEARS NOW FIRE KEEFE NOW

Side note for everybody saying “Trade Marner and/or Tavares” They both have a no-move clause. I don’t believe that either will want to waive their clause because they are both on contract years and want to guarantee being on a great team to pad stats to get paid, avoiding being traded to a bad team. However, if they did choose to waive, they can choose the teams that they’re willing to go to. Those teams will fleece the Leafs because they know they have limited options. The team is screwed next year regardless and even more percentage of the cap is taking up by the core because of the extensions of Matthews and Nylander. Don’t expect the core to break up without serious consequences.

Keefe says "I'll take responsibility for that" no fewer than four times in this interview but what does he think taking responsibility means? Without concrete actions, or a detailed explanation of what went wrong, how/why they went wrong, and how they're going to be rectified, "I'll take responsibility" are just platitudes and you might as well let the team equipment manager come out and say them. The irony is, the person who is ultimately responsible for the product on the ice and behind the bench is no where to be seen and is keeping his mouth shut.

Could they just do a coach trade with Pittsburg? Sheldon follows Dubas, and the Leafs get the new voice they need.

aurevoir

He knew during this playoff run he was running on borrowed time. Once time was up I’m guessing the last thing he wanted to do as a final send off was throw the team under the bus in the press…

You can hear in his voice he knows he’s done. He’s a very good person I’m sure, a good coach but frankly he’s had 5 years or so to improve and as he said it’s a results business and he hasn’t delivered unfortunately

It was just too bad how other teams set up the Leafs to fail and gosh darn it they just fall into that trap. Next time it won't happen again they swear.

The entire coaching staff needs to be replaced. A fresh approach, a coach that will bench players for standing around and not doing their job. Coach Craig Berube would be a good fit.

His systems clearly don’t work, teams read their power-play so easily. I understand they had a good statistical PP during the season but playoffs are exhibit one. Leafs need a mix up behind the bench with a different system and different special teams. Doesn’t match their style IMO

After having the courage to sit Brodie I have nothing bad to say about Keefe. I wish him well. He'll probably win a cup somewhere else

At the end of the day the players have to be better.

Round and round jjj 😊

Yes, Keefe. The Leafs have always fought back and played tight. The problem is that this core just can't get it done. And moreover that the coach can't game plan in the Playoffs. You'd think by now they would've figured Boston out after year after year after year after year. That's four "afters" because we've lost 4 series to Boston. They legitimately own the Leafs. It's not even funny. Trade Marner and JT. Fire Shanahan and Keefe. It's over.

A tough bounce that lost it in overtive of a game 7. A soft goal that you would hope the goalie could of saved it ? It did not happen. Bye bye Sammy. Sign Jones and also have Hildeby ready for a chance, Woll would of made that save NO PROBLEM.

The problem with Keefe is this. 1. His team doesn't fully listen to him. Details missed during games. 2. It took down 3-1 in a series for the Leafs to team to listen and wake up. 3. But still... this tight style of checking means much less offensive productions for the big guns. 4. Which could be made up by a lethal PP. Which is terrible come playoffs. Will the team listen to Keefe, play this tight/mistakeless style but offensive lifeless hockey? . I doubt it. Especially since the PP stinks. Keefe is likely a goner which is too bad... I think he will do better with his next team (Pens is most likely).

He's a good coach & he'll return next season! He has consistently brought the Leafs to the playoff every year & he shouldn't accept the entire blame!

The coach did not lose the team. Half the core four hurt. Best goalie we have hurt for last game. Fire the coach? NO! He is very good in many ways. This team had issues from the beginning off the season with defensemen and goalies. Not Keefes fault! This team is one of the best 9 teams in the league. Blow up nothing. Find a few missing parts and let the leadership in this organization continue to do their jobs.

Thank you for taking accountability Sheldon. I just wish the players did the same. If this is your last days as the Leafs coach, I will always respect you for your accountability.

the man says the words that he takes accountability, says its on him...but then when asked for explanation makes all the same excuses. You shouldn't have been one goal away...Boston was not playing that well. You can talk about how good Swayman was but you didn't challenge him at all. 1/21 on the powerplay, running all the same zone entries, using the back pass on the powerplay killed half their powerplay time before they even got the puck to Bostons defence and they just kept doing it, it was insane. I've never seen a team fail to adjust and it cost them so much. The team had what it took, they were playing playoff hockey this series was lost on strategy. Lost on not preparing or motivating the players. Idiotic lineup decisions, line matching that never works in our favour but....kept doing it anyway. The reason the home record is so abysmal under Keefe is because of Keefe, he has more control to do his lineup matching and line juggling and it always hurts us. I agree the team found another step physically and addressed a lot of issues they had in the past but they didn't address the guy who has no business behind an NHL bench. Great AHL coach, any AHL team would be lucky to have him he's a good development guy and is better suited to coaching younger guys...he's been clueless since he got here. Was a bad hire by Dubas in the first place and whoever in the org that decided he was it and to keep going back to him should be fired too. I really hope this was an exit interview.

The Leafs are a very very good team be foolish to trash it

Leafs fans want blood. Keefe doesn’t “deserve” the axe, but I’m sure in his mind he doesn’t know what else to do/change. 5 years is a long time. He got us one round, but they dropped the ball on so many series’ they should have won cleanly. Better to get a coaching change and trade Marner, shop Reilly and more D men as well.

He didn’t get the respect of the core 4 therefore the also rans also didn’t listen to him. He couldn’t motivate them consistently; it’s that simple

FIRE HIM NOW, TIMES UP!!! FIRE HIM NOW!!!

His biggest mistake was starting Samsonov in Game 1.

Let’s go Toronto Maple Leafs

7/8 years we have been out coached in playoffs again again and again im sick of it! Somebody needs to go seriously! Samsonov,Brodie,Reilly,Tavares are all to slow. Our defence sucks ass, next year will be the same story. Woll is injury prone find a goaltender now!

He’s had 5 years he needs to be replaced …attitude reflects leadership he was out coached the when it mattered the most

YOUR FIRED BUDDY GO BE A FATHER TO SOME OTHER TEAM NOT A COACH AT ALL WAY TO MANY MISTAKES!!! ISSUES!!! FIRE THEM ALL !!!!

See ya later Keefe I don’t feel bad at all this is a winning business we haven’t even played in a final 4 Eastern conference game with this team . I don’t care about the baby stories anymore get some grown men in this locker room

Firing ur coach hasn’t done SH$T…you’ve done it 3 times ..get rid of Shanahan

good coach let him go

Not a coach problem.

We need all our highest paid forwards to perform better in the playoffs1 forwards mistake left Sam alone Don't put ir on him or coachLOST BY 1 OT GOAL Did you watch the other games all lost by 1 goal I have faith in our team No error is permitted in overtime playoff hockeyIf you want to win.We need all the ot players to play their positions and execute the correct playTo protect our goalies Who only let 1 goal in out of 30?Some other goalies only had to stop what20?Maybe you should watch more teams before you put down our players❤🎉I believe most of our team and coach will take us there .Correcting that 1 ot mistake Love you coachPlease have a great summer with your familyLooking forward to you taking our guys.That you know and understand "so well" even further next yearWhy?because you believe they have the potential,when they try as a team

Samsonov played his last game in 4 only cuz woll was injured Brodie Sammy will be gone

He's a mix master coach. This coach can't get it done. Time to move on and bring someone in like Coach Babcock and make these players accountable! The kid gloves need to come off. Get every player to buy in and become a playoff team!

Trying to spread the blame, LMFAO

Hey Coach, I saw nothing wrong with your game 7 just go out there play your tushes off AND have fun. Coach said this to take away the pressure he as your Coach saw the weight that you soldiers carry and he wanted to make it easier on your personas. Remember that it's not the Coaches fault to the overtime practiced set play by the Bruins. Have a great summer and we'll see who's playing golf and who's working on strength conditioning. Baseball is better than golf for hand/eye conditioning. Running 5 kms twice a week and skating 100 laps with skills training on sprints, spurts, stops, starts, shots. All depends on each individuals position and time towards your careers. Remember this always, not many do what you do that's why the fans love you, cause they understand to some degree what it takes to compete and maintain the level of excellence that any Pro-Sports Athlete Does and Did. Lasagna, Shepherds Pie, Homemade Casseroles. Put on some weight, cause the season is long and when you need some fat to burn, your love handles won't suffer.

Enjoy Pittsburgh

Ladies and Gentlemen!…. Your Toronto Maple Leafs. Looks like same old same old! No Major changes will be made.

The coaches ultimate responsibility, is to get his players to play at the highest level, each and every game, consistently? Keefe has failed! Time for CHANGE?

Keefe stays Shanahan stays Boston twilight Quick lube ❤🎉😂😢jj

Keefe has to go. Decent coach, but he is right. He has to account for the failures of all the playoffs runs. It's on him. He must be fired to usher in a new era.

I think he coached his ass off. When we drop one of the core four, he gets the Leafs to play like a team.. good on him.

Some guys just aren’t cut out to be a head coach. Five years with bad results. Sorry Sheldon time to move on, Leaf’s not for you. Marlies or OHL / AHL more your level. His words of wisdom were “ it takes what it takes ???!!! I think a drug test

Has been outcoached every single playoff series, even the one we won against Tampa. He’s an AHL coach, at the NHL level. Fire him and don’t let the door hit him on the way out. His pre game speech is embarrassing.

Please sell the team, so we can stop all this crying by the Leaf fans. Bunch of babies, worst fans in the NHL.

HES NOT A COACH HES DOESNT CARE THIS COACH EVERY YEAR THE SAME B.S WITH THIS GUY !!! PUTTING IN SAMMY INSTEAD OF WOLL WHO WON THEM 2 GAMES YOURE FIRED NOW YOUR GONE!!! SAMMY GONE , SHANAHAN GONE, MARNER GONE !! CHANGES NOW!!! BYE BYE!!!

Should have got rid of him 4 years ago....bye bye Keefe

Stick to the plan, hahahaha.... = no changes please.

Coach president Manger tree leaf maple sure cup 🥤 fart