Three years in, Keefe still keeps low profile
By the time Pat Burns had coached his 205th game with the Maple Leafs, he already was a Toronto legend of some standing.
He’d taken the Leafs to the conference finals twice. He’d been as close as the club has been to the Stanley Cup in decades. He was on the nightly news about as often as the prime minister of the day and most days he was louder and more gregarious. He was a face, a force, an unmistakable presence, a distinct forever figure for the sporting ages of this town.
By the time, Pat Quinn had coached his 205th game with the Maple Leafs, he was a man impossible to bypass, completely different from Burns, but equally, and maybe more so, a presence. Everything about him was supersized, his voice, his hands, his cigars, his suits, his choice of steak. He was loud and intelligent and intimidating and in control.
Why do 205 games matter right now? Because Sheldon Keefe coached his 205th game with the Leafs on Monday against the New York Islanders. That represented three years from the time he replaced the almighty Mike Babcock as head coach.
In that time, Keefe’s won more games than either Burns or Quinn did — regular-season games. Yet three years in, with no post-season success to lean on, with so many wins and so much crushing playoff disappointment, it remains difficult and challenging to know exactly who Keefe is, where he is, where he is going, where the team is going with him and what can be accomplished today and down the line?
He doesn’t have the local persona that either Burns or Quinn owned at similar times.
He is a modern-day coach, more talk, more meetings, more video, more statistical input, more viewing on tablets, more assistants than ever before, explaining to players who, once upon a time, didn’t need or welcome that kind of approach.
Burns began his playoff life with the Leafs with a giant come-from-behind victory, a Game 7 overtime win over a Red Wings team that had Steve Yzerman, Sergei Fedorov and Dino Ciccarelli up front and a young Nick Lidstrom on defence.
Quinn began his playoff life with the Leafs with a sixgame victory over Philadelphia, which had John Leclair and Rod Brind’amour up front, with Eric Lindros out of the Flyers lineup. They had a 1-0 win to take the series.
Keefe opened up his playoff life in the NHL in the bubble of downtown Toronto, home games of sorts, without anyone in the stands, losing to the Columbus Blue Jackets, whomever they may be, in five games. It was the before-playoff playoffs. It didn’t leave a good impression on anyone.
The following year, the Leafs lost three straight games and an incredible opportunity, falling to an inferior Montreal Canadiens team. That wasn’t good.
Last May, they represented themselves far better and still lost to the Tampa Bay Lightning in seven. Better — just not good enough.
And now, at the 205-game spot, Keefe has no playoff success to shout about.
Keefe and his team are looking for the first series to call their own. To strut their stuff.
You can learn a lot about a coach in the regular season. You learn more about a hockey coach in the playoffs.
By this time in his career in Toronto, Burns had coached in six rounds and won four of them. Quinn had coached in five rounds and won three of them.
Keefe is still looking to make his mark.
He has done considerable work with the Leafs, especially now as their roster has been diminished by a salary cap, by COVID, by the stunning number of injuries to the blue line, and by a front office’s inability to make things better. However, the Leafs have worked their way into a somewhat impressive defensive team of sorts, among the league’s better clubs playing without the puck.
He has elite scoring talent that isn’t scoring enough at even strength. Like all coaches, he needs his great players to be great, and now he needs a collection of defencemen not exactly ready for prime time to play all the important minutes. .
Keefe’s 205-game record is unmatched. Tomorrow, as always, there will be more questions.
Truth is, three years in and we’re still not sure about him. Just as we’re not certain about what this Leafs team can be.