The Toronto Maple Leafs matched some ugly playoff history among the Big 4 sports in North America, and coach Sheldon Keefe is being used as the scapegoat for now. On Thursday, it was announced that the team was relieving him of his coaching duties.
With their Game 7 loss to the Boston Bruins and first-round elimination, the Toronto Maple Leafs became only the second team in the history of the NHL, NBA, NFL and MLB to make the playoffs eight straight years and have only one first-round win to show for it. The Buffalo Sabres from 1988-1995 was the other team to accomplish that.
As a result, Sheldon Keefe will now be on the unemployment line. The team released a statement early on Thursday about the news and said that a new coach search will begin immediately.
“Today’s decision was difficult,” said Leafs’ general manager Brad Treliving. “Sheldon is an excellent coach and a great man; however, we determined a new voice is needed to help the team push through to reach our ultimate goal. We thank Sheldon for his hard work and dedication to the organization over the last nine years, and wish him and his family all the very best.”
It is somewhat surprising to see the Toronto Maple Leafs move on from Sheldon Keefe as his contract extension he signed in August hasn’t even kicked in yet. But, given the lack of playoff success the franchise has had, they determined a new leader needed to be found.
Keefe took over as coach in November 2019, replacing Mike Babcock, who had been fired. Regular season success was plentiful, as Toronto went 212-97-40. The team registered 100+ points in three straight seasons and had back-to-back 50+ win campaigns in 2021-22 and 2022-23.
Alas, the Toronto Maple Leafs record under Sheldon Keefe in the Stanley Cup Playoffs was a disappointing 16-21. The team did battle back from a 3-1 deficit to force Game 7 despite their star Auston Matthews being out of the lineup, but that wasn’t enough for Keefe to keep his job.
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