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3 Reasons Why Toronto Maple Leafs Will Win Stanley Cup

By Stephen Nixon

MONTREAL, QC - APRIL 28: The Toronto Maple Leafs celebrate a win against the Montreal Canadiens at the Bell Centre on April 28, 2021 in Montreal, Canada. The Toronto Maple Leafs defeated the Montreal Canadiens 4-1. (Photo by Minas Panagiotakis/Getty Images)
MONTREAL, QC - APRIL 28: The Toronto Maple Leafs celebrate a win against the Montreal Canadiens at the Bell Centre on April 28, 2021 in Montreal, Canada. The Toronto Maple Leafs defeated the Montreal Canadiens 4-1. (Photo by Minas Panagiotakis/Getty Images) /
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Toronto Maple Leafs
MONTREAL, QC – FEBRUARY 10: Head coach of the Toronto Maple Leafs Sheldon Keefe . (Photo by Minas Panagiotakis/Getty Images) /

No. 2: Coaching

Everywhere that Sheldon Keefe goes, he wins. It’s just a fact.

At 40-years-old, Keefe is still a young coach, but he’s been in the game his entire life. After a short stint of 125 games in the NHL, he turned his eye to coaching and hasn’t looked back.

If you go back to his CJHL days, where the winning started with the Pembroke Lumber Kings championship in the 2006-07 season, Keefe has a 398-156-2-52 record as a head coach. That represents a .654 winning percentage.

He made it to the Conference Finals with the Soo Greyhounds in the OHL, won the Calder Cup with the Toronto Marlies and is on his way to being just as successful at the NHL level. You obviously need a talented team to be successful, but you can’t be that good for so long, in so many different situations, without being an exceptional coach.

Although you could say this is the best overall team Toronto has had in years, Keefe is the one who has to keep the room in check, juggle the lines and create a successful system. Whatever he’s saying in the room is clearly working on and off the ice, because the team seems to be having more fun than every before.

Keefe is on a very similar path as Jon Cooper was with Tampa. Prior to joining the Lightning, Cooper won everywhere he went, including a Calder Cup trophy, and continued that in the NHL. He’s never had a below .500 record and that doesn’t look to be happening anytime soon.

Hopefully, Keefe can continue in Coopers’ footsteps and win a Stanley Cup, just like how Tampa Bay did last year.

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