I’m not complaining. I think there’s a lot of reasons why it went wrong in Toronto.
It’s a lot better than some of the other options.
Leafs fan chiming in
Keefe wasn't the problem in Toronto, especially not this year. The star players badly underperformed, without Matthews for half the series, Nylander missing 3 games, he got this team to a game 7 OT. The defense was stellar.
Issue was our guys couldn't bury their chances.
Just couldn't run it back for a 6th year, I think you guys will like him a lot.
Very smart defensively and gets his guys to commit to a 200ft game, Matthews really developed defensively under him, knows how to play a smart defensive system. Offensively he likes to get his blue liners in on the forecheck, winger drops back to the blue line, he believes in puck possession vs safe shut down D. So expect your D to go in for pucks along the board and have the winger drop back for support quite often, led to a lot of O-zone time and chances.
Biggest challenge for him has always been he overthinks, he just outthinks himself. He's a really smart coach and understands the game well, he just (in the playoffs at least) panics? sometimes and just second guesses himself. We all have that one guy in our fantasy leagues, who has his lineup set and then at the last second makes a change, that's Keefe.
But new GM in Toronto, it was just time for a new voice, really likeable guy, great coach, I think you guys will be happy with him. He knows how to build a strong relationship with his players and utilizes his tools (player personnel) really well.
Wishing Keefe and you guys the best, great coach and despite the failures in Toronto, nothing but respect for him.