Ahead of the Leafs vs. Devils matchup, New Jersey head coach Sheldon Keefe discussed the Blue Jays advancing to the World Series, the Leafs’ lineup post-Mitch Marner, and his own team’s start to the season.
What was it like watching the Jays game last night?
Keefe: It was great fun. It brought me back to being a kid a little bit, watching with my kids. It was great to have that moment. It is a great day, all around. Vladdy coming in wearing Auston’s jersey — what a great moment for the city, for Auston, for the Leafs, and for hockey. For all of it to come together is just outstanding. It will be an exciting World Series.
Do you have a favourite Blue Jays memory?
Keefe: The Carter homerun is the one that stands out. It was also my first year in Toronto when I started with the Marlies, when I was there for the bat-flip moment. There was a big gap between those two moments.
My youngest is 13, so for him, I was about the same age when the Jays last won the World Series. It was a cool moment. I am sure there are countless stories like that with those connections. It’s very cool.
Do you have a World Series prediction?
Keefe: No. It will be fun, I know that. But predictions? I don’t watch enough baseball to tell you that, but I am very much on the bandwagon here.
Does it feel different coming into town this time around, after it was so new last year?
Keefe: It does, up until about 45 seconds ago when I stood right here. It felt like any other road game, for the most part. It is certainly different this time around, the whole experience.
I have so many now-established relationships that were still fresh and new with players and staff last year. Everything is feeling a lot more comfortable, I would say, and natural. That is important for me — and for our team — as we look to take a step.
How different do the Maple Leafs look to you, without Mitch Marner?
Keefe: It certainly is different. Mitch is such a dynamic player, did so many things, and touched the game in so many areas. Obviously, they look different in the way that they are able to spread it around, get greater depth, and change the identity of the group elsewhere.
The challenge remains the same. They have so many great threats. Auston and Willy are controlling so much out there. Their defense, which was so good for them last season, is intact, as well as their goaltending.
There are a lot of things to be focused on with this group. I have a tremendous amount of respect for them and the players. Our guys will have to be ready today, and the coaches will have to do their job.
Max Domi will play with Auston Matthews and Matthew Knies tonight. What does your team need to be aware of with the Leafs‘ top line?
Keefe: Max will be excited. Auston really enjoyed that connection when those guys were matched together. I like the line; I like the look of it. We didn’t get to it until later in the season. Mitch was injured at the time, if I recall correctly. It fits that way.
Whoever plays alongside Auston and Knies…. With the steps Knies has taken, he has changed the dynamic of this team a lot with the skill set and size he has to pair with Auston. It will be a big focus coming in here, as it always is.
What stands out about John Tavares’ play and the way he has been able to sustain it?
Keefe: It is not surprising. The way he prepares and the work he puts in is an obsessive process that he goes through to take care of himself and be ready to play. That is why he has been such a great player for so long and will continue to be for years to come.
He is another guy who impacts a game in a lot of different ways, from his faceoffs to his play around the net, to the goal he scored off the rush the other night. He can do a lot of different things. He and Willy have been good together for a long time.
The Leafs are coming off a loss where their goalie called out their performance. What sort of an opponent are you expecting?
Keefe: I expect a motivated opponent for a lot of reasons. From my time here, any time something like that occurs, the group rallies and comes out with a great effort.
With our group, we just have to continue to get better. We have had a tough schedule in terms of the quality of opponents we’ve played. It is not new for us in that way. We just have to go out with a similar type of mindset, but make sure we are good for 60 minutes.
What have you liked about the way your team has played in the last four games?
Keefe: We have found some different ways to win games. The foundation is that the penalty kill is extremely strong, even though we have taken too many penalties. It has really helped us. It has continued from last season, which has been really great to see in the early going. It will be put to the test today.
There is also how we have managed games at different times. We have been behind and stayed with it, not allowing teams to really build leads on us, and then eventually taking over. Or we’ve controlled play from the start and managed the game throughout. All of those things have been really good, and it has all been a very good response to what was a really poor outing in game one to start the season. We’ve liked where we have gone from there.
As I said to our guys, through five games, we have liked our results, but our process, our details, and our structure have to get to another level if we want to be able to sustain our play. That is what we have been talking about.
The iPads have become such a big thing on the bench in the NHL. Is there such a thing as too much information for players in-game?
Keefe: I would say so. I definitely would say that, especially in the moment in the game.
In fact, in my time here toward the end in Toronto over my last couple of seasons, we started to talk to the players about staying off the iPads unless it is a TV timeout or something like that, where they want to check in on something and want to make sure it is something strategic or tactical to look at, rather than a goalie who made a big save on you, or you flubbed on a pass. Don’t waste your time on that. Stay in the moment, and move quickly onto the very next thing.
We have touched on that a little bit here. We haven’t gotten into it too much because it has been a long list of things I have been trying to work through in the last year. But it is something that I think you have to be conscious of as a staff — to not overdo it — because there is so much technology and so much information available.
You have to keep the players’ minds free. It is challenging because they come in an era where they are used to having things at their fingertips. They want the information. It is a balance, no question.
