Playoff Keefe

[ToneDog]

You can't keep Keefe after two terrible playoff losses when Gallant is available. Hawks fired Savard as soon a coach Q became available and the rest is history. Answer, IMO Dubas wants a puppet coach who he can control.

 

[killer1980]

It's not just in hockey, it's prevalent in business everywhere. Executives don't want to hire anyone who is a free thinker. They want someone who is less talented than themselves, someone that can be controlled. Anyone who has their own opinion is creative and thinks outside the box is a threat. So, what does management do? They tout the greatness of some incompetent and most people believe it. Hence, we have the talentless, non-threatening duo we now have in Keefe and Dubas. For anyone to look back over the time that Dubas has run this team, it is impossible not to see how badly this team has regressed. You can be sure that Shanahan has approved every rotten deal and bad decision this undynamic duo has made. In the near future, Shanahan can then blame these two incompetents he hired and start it all over again with someone new. The revolving cycle of losses will continue. It seems unlikely that the board is smart enough or has the guts to put somebody in place that is a free thinker and willing to step outside the box.

 

[Mess]

You can't keep Keefe after two terrible playoff losses when Gallant is available. Hawks fired Savard as soon a coach Q became available and the rest is history. Answer, IMO Dubas wants a puppet coach who he can control.

Dubas could have had Barry Trots after he won a Cup and left Washington as Lou Lam wasted little time snapping him up and reaping the rewards with 5 series wins and counting already. However this would have again been a veteran winning, experienced coach, and one that believe "defense wins championships".

Dubas plan has been to dress a fast skilled offensive team regardless of size and physicality, believing that is way the NHL was trending so he would be ahead of the curve, so Trots wouldn't have fit, because just like Babcock he would want more Leo Komarov and Matt Martin types and not less.

Who are we kidding here Dubas plan since he got the GM job, was to groom and promote his pal Keefe. Anybody that believed otherwise wasn't paying attention.

Dubas played his last get out of jail card, when he replaced Babcock with Keefe, and his choice and path has taken the Leafs backwards based on 2020 and 2021 playoff results and early exits.

 

[DarkKnight]

We know Dubas pushed his chips all-in based on the draft pick compensation for short term rental players ..

Leafs are missing their 2021 1st, 3rd, 4th and 7th (leaving only 3 picks) and missing 2022 - 3rd, 4th, 5th and 6th (again leaving only 3 picks)

He has traded 8 future draft picks in the next 2 years to build this current team, that doesn't even include past years picks invested in his team.

When you mortgage that much future, the hopes is your handpicked coach can deliver on his part otherwise that is a terribly high price to pay for failure.

It’s especially concerning when you know you’re going to need cheap young entry levels coming in because of your cap issues. There’s a few in the pipeline now, but they’re the ripes, after that the cupboard is pretty bare abs looking worse moving forward.

 

[DueDiligence]

It’s a learning experience and win now don’t jive. The GM was in win now, but were supposed to cut Keefe slack. These narratives make no sense whatsoever. If the coach was still learning, why go all in this year? Maybe we had the wrong coach for the circumstance? Two years in a row, the second best coach in the series and nobody can dispute that.

As Josh Donaldson said "this isn't the try league; this is the get it done league".

 

[Atomos2]

This coach was a damn embarrassment in the playoffs. Jeff O'Neil had it right. Zero adjustments. He did nothing to adapt. Nothing. He sees his team spiraling and did nothing. Why keep Matthews and Marner together when they were clearly ineffective? Things were trending this way during the season. So much that I made a thread about it.

Why is Keefe so reluctant to split up Matthews and Marner?

You know for a fact Keefe has no idea what he's doing when he makes stupid decisions like putting Marner-Matthews-Tavares on the same line or Marner-Matthews-Nylander on the same line with no strategy. He never once considered splitting them up and having each drive their own line. Even in his post season press conference, he didn't even comment on or acknowledge that option. This team is lost if he's going to continue those stupid decisions.

I knew the series was lost as soon as we lost game 5. So much that I won 5k betting on Montreal after that game. Pathetic playoff coaching by Keefe. Got schooled by a coach who didn't even start the season off as a head coach. Even that head coach knew how to make adjustments mid series. So what the hell is wrong with Keefe? Pathetic.

 

[Mess]

It’s especially concerning when you know you’re going to need cheap young entry levels coming in because of your cap issues. There’s a few in the pipeline now, but they’re the ripes, after that the cupboard is pretty bare abs looking worse moving forward.

When you're mortgaging the future for the present and then failing in the present, you're essentially burning the candle from both ends.

Eventually you will have to pay the piper for those shortcomings, as your prospect pool dries up with lack of picks made, and you struggle with a salary cap built on the concept of cheap entry level contracts (ELC) that can contribute, which are vital to surround your star big money contracts as offsets to have success in a Salary Cap World. Nowhere is this more true then Leafs with 3 of the top 7 highest AAV contracts in the league.

Mortgaging the future to win the Stanley Cup can be sold as a necessary evil to earn ultimate success as the cost of doing business.. However when you have a coach that enters the playoffs as favourites with more skill and talent then the opposition and then get out-coached, and you bow out in disappointing fashion to underdogs like CBJ and Montreal, then you're just digging yourself into a deeper hole.

Pretty soon Dubas is going to run out of draft picks to deal away at this rate, and leaving little residual value on the team in return is not propelling the team forward, its closing its compete window.

 

[DarkKnight]

This coach was a damn embarrassment in the playoffs. Jeff O'Neil had it right. Zero adjustments. He did nothing to adapt. Nothing. He sees his team spiraling and did nothing. Why keep Matthews and Marner together when they were clearly ineffective? Things were trending this way during the season. So much that I made a thread about it.

Why is Keefe so reluctant to split up Matthews and Marner?

You know for a fact Keefe has no idea what he's doing when he makes stupid decisions like putting Marner-Matthews-Tavares on the same line or Marner-Matthews-Nylander on the same line with no strategy. He never once considered splitting them up and having each drive their own line. Even in his post season press conference, he didn't even comment on or acknowledge that option. This team is lost if he's going to continue those stupid decisions.

I knew the series was lost as soon as we lost game 5. So much that I won 5k betting on Montreal after that game. Pathetic playoff coaching by Keefe. Got schooled by a coach who didn't even start the season off as a head coach. Even that head coach knew how to make adjustments mid series. So what the hell is wrong with Keefe? Pathetic.

His biggest mistake this playoff was breaking up the second line, which was a juggernaut, to accommodate less than 100 percent Foligno. What was he thinking? Literally our best line in the series and he forces a rusty Foligno in there, essentially ruined a good thing. I couldn’t believe it, just brain dead coaching to be honest. Kerfoot playing the best hockey of his career, Nylander the best playoff hockey of his career by a mile, Gally fitting in perfect and you break it up because you just have to get damaged goods Foligno in there. That actually scares me, that Keefe would even comprehend mucking with the line. Actually worse than his bizarre love affair with zero left in the tank Jumbo.

Then there is his obvious inability to motivate....to have a team come out like that in Game 6 was embarrassing, then emotionless in 7, he failed there.

 

[Donnie740]

It's not just in hockey, it's prevalent in business everywhere. Executives don't want to hire anyone who is a free thinker. They want someone who is less talented than themselves, someone that can be controlled. Everyone who has their own opinion is creative and thinks outside the box is a threat. So, what does management do? They tout the greatness of some incompetent and most people believe it. Hence, we have the talentless, non-threatening duo we now have in Keefe and Dubas. For anyone to look back over the time that Dubas has run this team, it is impossible not to see how badly this team has regressed. You can be sure that Shanahan has approved every rotten deal and bad decision this undynamic duo has made. In the near future, Shanahan can then blame these two incompetents he hired and start it all over again with someone new. The revolving cycle of losses will continue. It seems unlikely that the board is smart enough or has the guts to put somebody in place that is a free thinker and willing to step outside the box.

Excellent post.

The incompetence actually starts with Shanahan.

Inexperienced new president hires an inexperienced and incompetent little kid to be the GM.

Who in turn hires an inexperienced and incompetent minor league coach.

Nothing but inexperience and incompetence from the top to the bottom.

 

[Stephen]

When you're mortgaging the future for the present and then failing in the present, you're essentially burning the candle from both ends.

Eventually you will have to pay the piper for those shortcomings, as your prospect pool dries up with lack of picks made, and you struggle with a salary cap built on the concept of cheap entry level contracts (ELC) that can contribute, which are vital to surround your star big money contracts as offsets to have success in a Salary Cap World. Nowhere is this more true then Leafs with 3 of the top 7 highest AAV contracts in the league.

Mortgaging the future to win the Stanley Cup can be sold as a necessary evil to earn ultimate success as the cost of doing business.. However when you have a coach that enters the playoffs as favourites with more skill and talent then the opposition and then get out-coached, and you bow out in disappointing fashion to underdogs like CBJ and Montreal, then you're just digging yourself into a deeper hole.

Pretty soon Dubas is going to run out of draft picks to deal away at this rate, and leaving little residual value on the team in return is not propelling the team forward, its closing its compete window.

Their only chance of doubling down with the Big 4 is actually liquidating the middle of the roster like Muzzin, Kerfoot and letting Andersen and Hyman walk. Build up a modest supply of futures with Muzzin and then go spend again in the cap stagnant free agency market again and try to hit on the revamped mix. And then hope the Big 4 are all firing on all cylinders next time.

Or they could just trade Marner and free themselves of this dysfunctional Jenga game.

 

[Atomos2]

His biggest mistake this playoff was breaking up the second line, which was a juggernaut, to accommodate less than 100 percent Foligno. What was he thinking? Literally our best line in the series and he forces a rusty Foligno in there, essentially ruined a good thing. I couldn’t believe it, just brain dead coaching to be honest. Kerfoot playing the best hockey of his career, Nylander the best playoff hockey of his career by a mile, Gally fitting in perfect and you break it up because you just have to get damaged goods Foligno in there. That actually scares me, that Keefe would even comprehend mucking with the line. Actually worse than his bizarre love affair with zero left in the tank Jumbo.

Then there is his obvious inability to motivate....to have a team come out like that in Game 6 was embarrassing, then emotionless in 7, he failed there.

Damn right! Well said. The 2nd line was great. His inability to recognize which lines were working and which were not was crucial. Again it shows his unreasonable assessment of the vets. The acquisition of Foligno was a mess in itself, but to prioritize an injured vet player, who had barely played that many games with the leafs entirely, over the 2nd or 3rd best leaf player in the series was just embarrassing. He was outcoached, simple as that. I'm pretty sure if there was a game 8 or a game 9 in the series the habs would've won those as well because Keefe cannot comprehend how to correctly assess his team or make any of the appropriate changes. Things would've just stayed the same.

 

[killer1980]

As Josh Donaldson said "this isn't the try league; this is the get it done league".

 

[The Masters]

You can't keep Keefe after two terrible playoff losses when Gallant is available. Hawks fired Savard as soon a coach Q became available and the rest is history. Answer, IMO Dubas wants a puppet coach who he can control.

Iv realized shanahan is clueless too. He looked like a hero hiring babs and lou and hasnt done anything since then. Hes clearly not qualified to be a president. Im shocked at his comments from the other day. You cannot already say u want the core 4 to come back. You have to evaluate first. There is serious things wrong with this team.
I just think hes not going to do anything major same with dubas and they will likrly both die on their swords

 

[Stephen]

Dominic Moore on TSN Leafs Lunch making a lot of valid criticisms of Keefe’s lack of adjustments and player utilization in Game 7 and throughout the series. Says the environment that the players are put in is a big issue. Can’t disagree with that.

 

[Guided by Veseys]

The leafs went something like 15-3-4 with Galchenyuk in the lineup and then Keefe scratched him game one. He also scratches dependable Dermott for a completely green Sandin. Just the wrong way to approach the series. Keefe’s moves just continually backfire and then when he doesn’t adjust it ends up being worse. The guy makes adjustments but only when they are unnecessary.

 

[Aus34Matt]

The leafs went something like 15-3-4 with Galchenyuk in the lineup and then Keefe scratched him game one. He also scratches dependable Dermott for a completely green Sandin. Just the wrong way to approach the series. Keefe’s moves just continually backfire and then when he doesn’t adjust it ends up being worse. The guy makes adjustments but only when they are unnecessary.

Give the guy a break, he only played the role as a puppet.

 

[JT AM da real deal]

Keefer needs to go but he is only a puppet coach who follows a lead .. if a solid prez and GM then he would follow their lead too .. I can't think of any team who runs out a league worst PP system and players for 2 months straight or more of incompetence and yet makes zero adjustments to improve it .. at minimum move Mitch to goal line and Matty to net front and use Willy to shoot and change da look so Habs would have to change their PK and who knows there is da surprise factor .. move each of kids to their own line and see if you can get one or two much better matchups .. i could go on and on but ZERO adjustments over 7 games .. coaching was at monkey level .. even bringing back Sandin after he cost team game 1 due to lack of foot speed twice in 1 game was stupid .. again this is a much bigger issue than Keefer though

 

[koyvoo]

Playoff Keefe is like playoff leaf. Not good enough when the hockey games matter.

 

[Duffman955]

Can we get Gallant please

Thanks

 

[Stephen]

The leafs went something like 15-3-4 with Galchenyuk in the lineup and then Keefe scratched him game one. He also scratches dependable Dermott for a completely green Sandin. Just the wrong way to approach the series. Keefe’s moves just continually backfire and then when he doesn’t adjust it ends up being worse. The guy makes adjustments but only when they are unnecessary.

Keefe makes a lot of silly decisions that have no discernible positive impact. When the CBJ series started he was messing around with using the visitors bench to mentally prepare for the series as the non home team at Scotiabank. But seemed to come up short on actual motivation or any kind of tactical acknowledgement of CBJ or their adjustments.

His yo-yo’ing of prospects is needless tinkering. Promoting Nick Robertson to darkhorse playoff candidate last year only to scratch him in Game 5 for a guy coming off injuries with no future with the team was weird.

The Dermott for Sandin revolving door also didn’t take chemistry into consideration or a clear path of promotion for the younger Sandin. I can only imagine what kind confidence destroying approach it is to get subbed out when you’re good and then back in and struggle and then subbed out again.

Overplaying Matthews and Marner even though the Habs had shut them down was so bad. Especially when Nylander was hot and he was incapable of playing him more to get just one more goal.

Unable to fix the PP like it was rocket science.

Inability to tell Joe Thornton apart from Jason Spezza and which veteran you could lean on.

Inability to motivate the team. Whatever he was saying before games was evidently putting everyone to sleep or making them anxious enough to play scared in the last 3 games.

 

[Donnie740]

There literally wasn’t a single thing that Keefe did well in the series.

I’d love to hear some examples from anyone who believes otherwise.

 

[The Hanging Jowl]

I personally think Keefe is the single biggest reason they lost. Won't be sad to see him go.

 

[Ziggdiezan]

His biggest mistake this playoff was breaking up the second line, which was a juggernaut, to accommodate less than 100 percent Foligno. What was he thinking? Literally our best line in the series and he forces a rusty Foligno in there, essentially ruined a good thing. I couldn’t believe it, just brain dead coaching to be honest. Kerfoot playing the best hockey of his career, Nylander the best playoff hockey of his career by a mile, Gally fitting in perfect and you break it up because you just have to get damaged goods Foligno in there. That actually scares me, that Keefe would even comprehend mucking with the line. Actually worse than his bizarre love affair with zero left in the tank Jumbo.

Then there is his obvious inability to motivate....to have a team come out like that in Game 6 was embarrassing, then emotionless in 7, he failed there.

Unfortunately I think Foligno was forced into the lineup for optics. Management was preparing for the chance of another 1st round exit and knew that if Foligno played like 2 playoff games for a 1st rounder it would look really bad.

I can't think of any other reason because it was clear from his first shift he wasn't in game condition. Literally couldn't skate

 

[DarkKnight]

Unfortunately I think Foligno was forced into the lineup for optics. Management was preparing for the chance of another 1st round exit and knew that if Foligno played like 2 playoff games for a 1st rounder it would look really bad.

I can't think of any other reason because it was clear from his first shift he wasn't in game condition. Literally couldn't skate

That’s a bad look as well, optics over reason. I’d say the same thing about the deference to Jumbo, how Keefe could watch game film and excuse what he saw, escapes me..like we owed him something.

This playoff loss looks worse with each passing day, when you digest what we gave up, what we will lose, what were stuck with and where we are going.

 

[Mickey Marner]

That’s a bad look as well, optics over reason. I’d say the same thing about the deference to Jumbo, how Keefe could watch game film and excuse what he saw, escapes me..like we owed him something.

This playoff loss looks worse with each passing day, when you digest what we gave up, what we will lose, what were stuck with and where we are going.

Yeah, the Thornton thing was beyond the pale. It's not like old man Jagr, where even if he's slow, you can't get the puck off off him and he still has the shot and puck skills. This team would've found a way to snatch defeat from the hands of victory regardless, but dressing Thornton over obviously better players leaves a bad taste in my mouth. Easily the worst playoff performance from a Leafs coach in my lifetime and he's got second place too.