Keefe and his son didn’t let COVID spoil Christmas
Coach now facing challenge of getting club back up to speed
One positive Keefe in Vancouver, one positive Keefe at home.
Didn’t leave much pandemic refuge for Maple Leafs coach Sheldon Keefe, when half the family had been stricken by COVID contagion last week. Although it did allow for the Keefes to self-isolate en famille in their own domicile, albeit with prudent precautions.
“Our family was already in isolation inside our house as it was. So I went into that environment and we were able to be together, but separately in isolation. It was definitely different and unique, but we found our way through it as a family and were able to spend Christmas together. Wearing masks at home, which felt a little strange. But that’s the times that we’re living here, and we’re happy that now myself and my son are through it.”
Around the time Keefe got coronavirus-nailed after the team landed in Vancouver — on what became a hotel holding pattern road trip with three games postponed — his younger son also tested positive, though without symptoms. “We’re not sure if it was (from) school or with his own hockey team, where there were cases.”
Not so mild an affliction for coachdad, who spent five “pretty tough” days contending with manifestations of the microbe. Knocked him off his feet miserably enough that he actually couldn’t obsess about his team’s situation, with 14 players and seven staff down for the count as the plague ripped through the club.
The club’s head physician, Dr. Noah Forman, urged Keefe to concentrate on getting well. “Dr. Forman told me to forget about being coach of the Leafs for a period of time, just worry about myself and getting better. I thought it would be easier said than done,” he said, still sounding congested. “But it hit me hard enough, to the point where you really were just focused on getting better and resting.”
Five more days of recuperation and the Leafs bench boss was back on the ice for practice on Tuesday, as players emerging from isolation have begun filtering back at varying stages of recovery. From a distance, more recently, Keefe had been coordinating with his coaching staff, livestreaming and Zooming. As his condition improved, so did the itch to get back in the saddle.
The entire NHL has been walloped by the Omicron variant, with scores of games bracketing the holiday break postponed. For the Leafs in particular, the unwanted furlough interrupted a 17-4-1 roll. They were in a groove, especially after dismantling the Oilers 5-1. That game, Dec. 14 in Edmonton, was their last before the pestilence burrowed into their midst.
“It seems like forever ago we played against Edmonton and played a very strong game, got a good road game,” said Keefe. “It felt like we were setting ourselves up for a good road trip.”
When their next engagement, in Calgary, was deferred, Keefe had been pleased that the team would enjoy back-to-back practices in
Vancouver, a rarity this season. Cancelled, and the club scrambled to bring everybody home, segregating the infected from the clear on separate flights, Keefe and his contingent arriving on a red-eye.
Transmission anxiety for the Leafs who have thus far avoided contamination remains at high pitch, with an aggressive — if symptomatically milder — variant. Players await daily testing results with the same apprehension women often have for pregnancy tests.
“They’re on edge and on guard in terms of what’s going on around them,” said Keefe. “Waiting, like, ‘When’s my turn?’ kind of thing.”
Travis Dermott was among those freshly returned to the ice and feeling it. He’d tested positive in Vancouver as well, with headaches and night sweats. “It was stressful waiting for that negative test. The last few days have been interesting, to say the least. I hope everyone had a good holiday season, mine was a little bit different. Just happy to have that behind me now.”
Keefe, in fact, was dumbstruck when his test came back positive because he’d been feeling fine. Went egg-shaped quickly, though.
With players in staggered stages of recovery, the objective now is bringing them up to game fitness by Saturday when they host Ottawa at Scotiabank Arena, assuming it’s a go. The league late Tuesday afternoon postponed another nine games involving Canadian clubs, but the Jan. 1 date with the Senators
was not specifically mentioned.
The Leafs are looking to reclaim their mojo, too, following the outbreak lull.
“It’s a challenge, for sure,” Keefe admits, although most opponents are in the same pickle. “We’re just trying to find out what’s best for the players and what they need. We’re not thinking too much of what we had done up to this point, because I think this is so unique.”
As recent inclusions came off the ice Tuesday, they were gassed and sore. “A lot of comments that it actually felt worse than the first day of training camp,” said Keefe. “At least when you’re going into training camp, you’ve been on the ice every day and ramping up towards that.
But going from isolation to stepping on the ice and going to an NHL practice, that’s a challenge.”
Additional players will get sprung in the coming days, following Wednesday’s off-day.
“We’ve got to find ways to get them up to speed and put them in positions to succeed, in terms of ramping back up at a time when the rest of the group is already here.”
Two more full-ish practices Thursday and Friday and Keefe expects the team will be in decent shape by, well, 2022 actually, assuming no further schedule upheaval. Structure, which the Leafs are all the time banging on about, was dropped in this week’s practices, while scrimmaging has been reintroduced, a dollop at a time.
“We know how we want to play and how we need to play as a team, and what we’ve been successful with,” said Keefe. “We’ve just got to make sure we’re intelligent about how we get our players back to that point.”
He’s encouraged by the upbeat mood of the team, collectively. “I feel like the vibe is good. Guys are really just happy to be back together again.
“It’s not an easy time for anyone, what we’ve been through here as a group. We were very fortunate, really. It’s been about a year where we went with no cases at all within our organization, and now it’s hit us here like it has so many other teams.
“So, I’m happy with how we’ve come out of it.”
A lot of comments that it actually felt worse than the first day of training camp. Going from isolation to stepping on the ice and going to an NHL practice, that’s a challenge.
LEAF COACH SHELDON KEEFE ON PLAYERS RETURNING FROM COVID PROTOCOL