Sheldon Keefe, Toronto Maple Leafs head coach
Sheldon Keefe, Toronto Maple Leafs head coach
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Ahead of Wednesday’s game against the Senators, Sheldon Keefe discussed the holiday break, the status of his injured players, and Fraser Minten captaining the WJC Canadian team.

Morning Skate Lines – Dec. 27

What is Mark Giordano’s status?

Keefe: He is not going to play tonight, but he is really close. We will get him into a full practice day tomorrow with the group and make a decision from there, but he is definitely close.

How about Ryan Reaves?

Keefe: I don’t have an update exactly. He hasn’t skated yet that I know of. He is not close.

How close is Joseph Woll?

Keefe: I haven’t had a Woll update in a while. He hasn’t been on skates or anything like that. As expected with that injury, it is going to be a while.

Ilya Samsonov was the first guy on the ice for the morning skate today. Have you talked with him, or are you leaving him to do his work?

Keefe: I haven’t talked to him since coming back today. I talked to him before he left. It was a chance for him to forget about hockey for a few days, enjoy his family, enjoy some time away from it all, and come back refreshed and ready to go.

I haven’t been able to connect with everybody yet, but the guys I’ve spoken to seemed to have enjoyed their time and are excited to get back to it.

Fraser Minten was named captain of Team Canada at the WJCs. What are your thoughts on that?

Keefe: Tremendous honour and recognition for him. Credit to the character that he has. It is not necessarily surprising. I am sure that team is full of guys who have tremendous leadership qualities, but he is an impressive young man.

You never quite know how it is all going to work out. I am not overly connected with what is happening with the team and the players, but you are not surprised that he is able to make that type of impression on his teammates and coaches.

Are you able to completely detach from the team and game on the days off? If not, is there something new or different you are looking to implement?

Keefe: I was able to detach until yesterday. You are getting back and preparing for today, finishing up your post-game from your last game, and getting ready for today.

In terms of implementing or changing anything, I don’t think there is anything like that, but we are excited for a practice day tomorrow. We haven’t practiced much as a team in the last month.

The fact that you are coming back into a three-in-four with a back-to-back and some travel is something you have to be mindful of, but we have some things we have been wanting to clean up that we have been working through in video. A chance to get on the ice will allow us to do that. We hope we can be better just on the adjustments we have been talking through on video. I think the extra practice reps will help us.

What is the difficulty of coming back from the break a little cold after three days off?

Keefe: The difficulty is just the uncertainty. You never know. Sometimes, you overthink it. The guys are great, refreshed, and excited to get back to play. Sometimes, it looks like you haven’t skated and have been out of your routine. You are never quite sure.

Energy was good this morning. To that end, we are happy with how the morning went. It seems like the guys are refreshed and excited to get back playing.

Is there a clean slate feel to it?

Keefe: I don’t know if I would say that. I don’t feel that way. To me, the Columbus game is still fresh in my mind. We went through some things this morning that we liked and didn’t like from the other night that we want to continue to build on.

From that perspective, I feel like it is enough time away that you can get some rest, refresh, and get away, but also, you are still pretty connected to what has been going on with the team.

It is not the halfway point, but it is a marker on the schedule. It gives you a chance to kind of breathe and step back a little bit. I still think we are pretty much connected to where we are at as a team.

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