Former GM Kyle Dubas chose Sheldon Keefe as head coach of the Toronto Maple Leafs back in 2019.
Previously, Mike Babcock was in charge of the Toronto Maple Leafs bench, but to the surprise of many, things did not work out with the man previously considered to be the best coach in the NHL.
There were many great veteran options at the time, including coaches such as Joel Quenneville of the Chicago Blackhawks, and Darryl Sutter among others.
The Leafs didn’t chose to go with another hard-as-nails old-school coach – they went with the player friendly rookie in Sheldon Keefe.
Why Did Kyle Dubas Choose Sheldon Keefe as the Toronto Maple Leafs Head Coach?
At the time, when Mike Babcock coached the Toronto Maple Leafs issues started developing that would eventually lead to his firing.
Though we know about the Mitch Marner/Tyler Bozak thing, most of the other rumours are unverified, but it is only logical that the Leafs would turn a less controversial, more friendly type of coach.
The media was heavily speculating that the Leafs would replace Babcock with Joel Quenneville. The reason being that Joel Quenneville was coming to the end of his contract with the Chicago Blackhawks, and had recently won the Stanley Cup – that made him a popular coach to chose.
In retrospect the Leafs are probably happy they didn’t go with Quenneville, but even if they didn’t know anything about the Kyle Beach situation, Quenneville would still not have been a markedly different choice than Babcock.
Mike Babcock had a reputation of being more than abusive towards his players with strict guidelines and extra work, which made him quite unpopular with the players. Clearly the Leafs needed to do a 180 and get the complete opposite type of coach. (And it didn’t hurt that he and Dubas were friends and that their careers were intertwined).
In addition to his accomplishments with the Toronto Marlies, the Toronto Maple Leafs farm team, where he coached the team from 2015 to 2019. His record with the Marlies spoke for itself with 303 games coached, tallying 188 wins that had accumulated to 408 points with the club. Also, his relationship with the players was in good standing and was a favored role model for the organization.
As a tremendous coach, general manager Kyle Dubas felt the need to go with head coach Sheldon Keefe was necessary because of these attributes associated with Keefe’s resume and the vision he brought behind the bench to the Toronto Maple Leafs players in general.
Right from the get-go, forwards such as Auston Matthews, Mitch Marner, and John Tavares liked his style and work ethic. Including, players like Zach Hyman and William Nylander who were already comfortable under his leadership from their time in the AHL.
Sheldon Keefe is an offensive-powerhouse coach who knew how to utilize his forwards and take advantage of the defensive set-up, as he got started with the club. He mainly made most of his winning record with the roster that was available to him. (stats from hockey-reference.com).
Toronto Maple Leafs Sheldon Keefe has a winning record of 166 wins and 71 losses, including 30 overtime victories. This is a statement from the head coach’s ability to lead the Toronto Maple Leafs roster and organization in general.
Current Toronto Maple Leaf’s GM Brad Treliving has gotten a first-hand look at Keefe’s potential as head coach and is on board with his choice to extend the bench boss another two years after Keefe was going into this season in his last year of contract with the club.
Head coach Sheldon Keefe’s vision and passion have made him into a top-coach in the NHL, and perhaps a more coveted figure in the game of hockey that resonates well with the players and people surrounding the game.
As a fan, I enjoy watching him come out with unique plays that involve the Core 4 and mainly getting his team involved with the action on most nights, which is a complement to the player’s game.