Leafs’ Keefe inspires brother’s coaching career
Younger sibling serves behind bench in Belfast
Ma ny European relatives of Toronto Maple Leafs players stay up late to watch their favourite sons on game night.
But Adam Keefe set his alarm for 3 a. m. last month in Northern Ireland, to watch the coach. Older brother Sheldon was making his NHL debut with the Leafs in Arizona and Adam wasn’t going to miss it. Not even if his own stint with the Belfast Giants meant he’d put in a long day behind the bench, too.
“Sheldon’s a very humble guy, he’d kept the news about the Toronto job quiet,” laughed Adam, on the phone from his office in SSE Arena. “The text he sent me the day before his first game was typical of that — ‘ tomorrow I’ll be coaching the Leafs.’”
That was a 3-1 win and Sheldon’s squad has hardly slowed down since. He takes a record of 15- 5-2 into Sunrise, Fla., on Sunday after promotion from the AHL Marlies to replace Mike Babcock, re-establishing the Leafs as a playoff contender.
“I watched their first 10 games, always around the time change,” said Adam, who at 35 is four years younger. “I think him being with the Leafs will make me a better coach because I’m watching him and more NHL games a lot closer now.
“He’s always had an influence on me, a guy that worked his way up the ranks, a long journey and now an inspiring guy to look up to.”
Sheldon went further than Adam as an OHL player, being a second- round draft pick of the Tampa Bay Lightning and playing 125 NHL games. He also stopped playing at 25 to pursue coaching, while Adam was still active up to a few years ago with the Giants of the UK’S Elite Ice Hockey League. Unsure what he’d do with his life after retirement, Adam flew home to Brampton to seek advice.
“My body was worn down ( more than 3,000 penalty minutes in the OHL, the minors and playing with the Giants does that to a guy) and Sheldon gave me a firsthand look at what coaching could do for me. I needed a push. The family all met, Sheldon and I looked at some video and he gave me a basic structure to get started.”
Adam transitioned from player- coach. Within a couple of years, he was an assistant with Great Britain’s team that qualified for the top pool at the world championship, where it was beaten by Canada last May.
“Now I know how much work is required,” Adam said. “But when I run into a wall or need some clarity on something, I can contact Sheldon. Of course, I try not to bother him too much, or on a game day. I also realize I’m a young coach and need to know what works for me at this level. But he’s always trying to point me in the right direction, even if it’s something small like ( postgame media) interviews.
“I needed a solid sounding board like him and to get my feet wet and get on my own way.”
Adam said they had their tempestuous moments as kids, with Sheldon, as the older brother, setting the bar high for him to keep up.
“It was something our father ( Brian) instilled in us, a competitive man who demanded the best,” Adam said. “So yes, I battled against him in games and that drove up my compete level. I was not as gifted as him and chose another route, which is why I had all those penalty minutes.”
Though Sheldon’s rise to coach in the NHL happened a year or two faster than most projected as Babcock fell out of favour, Adam never doubted his sibling would make a quick impact, having been the most successful Marlies manager in the farm team’s tenure and 2018 Calder Cup champion.
“He’s righted the Leafs ship pretty quick,” Adam said. “You can say I’m surprised, but not surprised. A handful of people in Pembroke (where Sheldon began with the Tier II Lumber Kings) and our family followed his coaching career from the start. Not many people begin at age 25. From when he got that first job, then met Kyle Dubas (who hired him for the OHL Sault Ste. Marie Greyhounds and later the Marlies as a Leaf exec), winning just kept happening for him.”