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Confirmed with Link: Sheldon Keefe Fired -- Discussion Thread

Evilhomer said:
And who on the Leafs will be doing the forechecking? As for grit, I can't wait until this argument falls away. Is Dallas gritty? The Rangers? This idea that there is one path to success (i.e., toughness) is irrational. The Leafs had oodles of grit this year, and it resulted in the same outcome. Turns out grit can't score in the playoffs either. Toughness isn't about how much you can hit or pointing at your biceps like a wrestler - it's about how strong you are at pushing through and creating opportunities, or stopping opposing opportunities, when time and space decrease. Vancouver has piles of grit on its backend, and none of it is helping their best offensive player figure out how to succeed when he doesn't have nearly as much time and space as he has in the regular season. More than anything else, the Leafs need their best players to be their best players when time and space are limited. So far, that hasn't happened with enough consistency. I still think it can, and maybe Berube is the guy who can bring it out of them, but it won't be because of how much grit the team adds.
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While I agree with your overall point that your best players need to be your best players, I think you're barking up the wrong tree by claiming grit and toughness aren't useful in the playoffs/

That grit you're maligning includes players that were tied for 1st and tied for 2nd in scoring for the team. Bertuzzi, Domi, Knies, and Lyubushkin all played a physical game and they all put up as many if not more points than Marner and Tavares. At least Nylander and Matthews have the excuse of missing games and not being fully healthy and John is old and was given more defensive assignments but what's Mitch's excuse? Also the Leafs had a lack of grit every season aside from this one and last and they also suffered a similar fate so I don't think the problem was trying to be grittier.

I would also say that the remaining teams do have a decent amount of grit. Florida and Boston are self-explanatory, Dallas has guys like Benn, Pavelski, Marchement, Robertson, and Tanev. Colorado has guys like Colton, Duhaime, and Manson, plus their core players have demonstrated a fair bit of fight and nastiness in their games over the seasons. Canucks have multiple mutants on their defence and have Miller and Joshua causing havoc up front, Oilers have Kane, Hyman, Perry, Desharnais, Nurse, and Ekholm who all play with an edge and get physical, and Draisaitl can be a nasty piece of work when he wants to be. The softest remaining teams are in the Metro, and even then the Rangers Trouba headhunting and employ the biggest dude in the NHL in Rempe to go along with Trocheck, Goodrow, and Kreider. Hurricanes only really have Staal who's overly physical, but Svechnikov, Jarvis, and Aho all have more hits than Marner did and surprise surprise are scoring at a better clip than he was.

Depending on who the Leafs bring back, right now the forecheckers will be Knies, McMann, Dewar, Tavares, and Reaves when he plays. Bertuzzi if he's brought back will also do that. Matthews can also get in on the forecheck when he wants and if he makes the team Cowan will be a bowling ball on that front too.
 
Burnie97 said:
I saw a tweet that whoever gets Berube is basically getting another NHL coach with him wherever he goes. I think the tweets earlier in the thread.

I've seen Berube talk enough too. I think he could give us a bit of a culture shift. I don't know much about what he does strategically but I know he expects a hard nose game and he'll kind of go along with what Tre wants so I think it's worth a shot.

This is the one year where they can start to mold the team in a different direction and go from here. Next year they'll have even more money to use and can set themselves up nicely for 2026 ;)
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Yeah Berube is similar to Brind'Amour in the way they love to play a hard nosed relentless forechecking system. I mentioned Evason because I was looking at available coaches and I remember his teams being one of the better defensive teams in the league when he was there I believe. Fedorov was another name I saw and his contract wasn't renewed apparently and he won a KHL championship his 1st season coaching and idk if he can run a PP but I just made an assumption he could just for the hell of it.
 
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KaN19 said:
Treliving was the biggest name on the GM market last summer and we hired him without conducting a real search. We're doing the same now with Berube for the head coaching position.

This organization isn't looking to hit home runs anymore. We're going for the safe veteran hires.
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Last time they hired a green GM, we all have seen how that turned out
 
Menzinger said:
Probably like 4-5 years at 5-7 million.

He's likely going to get a huge contract.
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Not that it matters since it's not my money, but I think for a new coach 2-4 years is pretty standard unless you're Babcock level of prestige. Leafs probably don't want to give him more than that I suspect.
 
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Punch Drunk Loov said:
Not that excited about Berube.

Randy Carlyle won a cup as well didn't he? In 3 years a coach can go from champion to a terrible reputation.
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It's probably not only about the cup ring. It probably does help though and it's experience that not many people get to have. The choices to pick from are very slim if you want NHL experience.
 
Menzinger said:
Probably like 4-5 years at 5-7 million.

He's likely going to get a huge contract.
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Well if we are to believe Nick Kypreos, Philly is Berube’s dream job. So a two/three year deal would make sense

GoonieFace said:
Last time they hired a green GM, we all have seen how that turned out
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We’ve also seen what happens when the hire experienced GM’s.

Alex Steen and Carlo Coliacovo for Lee Stempniak bad

Or 2 firsts and a second for Phil Kessel Bad
 
rod rindbermore

Brobust said:
Here's why Joel Quenneville will never be the coach of the Toronto Maple Leafs and it has nothing to do with ethics: he comes with added pressure and the leafs are loathe to do anything that might add to the 'noise' of the market.

They are a bunch of cowards who refuse to do anything with conviction. Oh, but they have conviction in their plan. No, they are plain scared of making moves and being aggressive and tuning out the noise. This is a group that kept Justin Holl after his egregious Game 5 mistake against Columbus because they were afraid that couldn't replace him. JUSTIN HOLL! They are the kid with every tool and resource at their disposal who flunks every exam because his bladder spasms every time he gets near the exam hall.

By the way, I don't care about Quenneville and if more knowledgeable people feel like he shouldn't coach then I will take their word for it. But I do know that there are organizations that don't care because their job is to succeed.
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mlse
number 1 goal is profit
 
I am setting my alarm early tomorrow to use the Confirmed with Link prefix...My Dude.


I made a thread 4 or 5 days ago. Maybe the mods will revive it.
 
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