Confirmed with Link: Sheldon Keefe Fired -- Discussion Thread

[Ianturnedbull]

I am setting my alarm early tomorrow to use the Confirmed with Link prefix...My Dude.


I made a thread 4 or 5 days ago. Maybe the mods will revive it.

 

[trellaine201]

Berube using all these other teams to get more money lol, Leafs are suckers for giving out huge contracts and term. I would never give Berube $5 per year!

 

[Evilhomer]

While I agree with your overall point that your best players need to be your best players, I think you're barking up the wrong tree by claiming grit and toughness aren't useful in the playoffs/

That grit you're maligning includes players that were tied for 1st and tied for 2nd in scoring for the team. Bertuzzi, Domi, Knies, and Lyubushkin all played a physical game and they all put up as many if not more points than Marner and Tavares. At least Nylander and Matthews have the excuse of missing games and not being fully healthy and John is old and was given more defensive assignments but what's Mitch's excuse? Also the Leafs had a lack of grit every season aside from this one and last and they also suffered a similar fate so I don't think the problem was trying to be grittier.

I would also say that the remaining teams do have a decent amount of grit. Florida and Boston are self-explanatory, Dallas has guys like Benn, Pavelski, Marchement, Robertson, and Tanev. Colorado has guys like Colton, Duhaime, and Manson, plus their core players have demonstrated a fair bit of fight and nastiness in their games over the seasons. Canucks have multiple mutants on their defence and have Miller and Joshua causing havoc up front, Oilers have Kane, Hyman, Perry, Desharnais, Nurse, and Ekholm who all play with an edge and get physical, and Draisaitl can be a nasty piece of work when he wants to be. The softest remaining teams are in the Metro, and even then the Rangers Trouba headhunting and employ the biggest dude in the NHL in Rempe to go along with Trocheck, Goodrow, and Kreider. Hurricanes only really have Staal who's overly physical, but Svechnikov, Jarvis, and Aho all have more hits than Marner did and surprise surprise are scoring at a better clip than he was.

Depending on who the Leafs bring back, right now the forecheckers will be Knies, McMann, Dewar, Tavares, and Reaves when he plays. Bertuzzi if he's brought back will also do that. Matthews can also get in on the forecheck when he wants and if he makes the team Cowan will be a bowling ball on that front too.

Don't misunderstand me - of course toughness is important. It's table stakes. A team has to have it in order to win. All I'm saying is that toughness in the absence of performance will never be enough. I don't think the Leafs need to add more toughness - I think they just need their best players to perform when they have less time and space.

The caveat this year was that the "injuries" to Nylander and Matthews were simply bizarre. Perfectly healthy for basically an entire season and then the moment the playoffs start, things turned goofy. It can't and shouldn't be used an excuse, but it seems perfectly Toronto.

 

[kevsh]

I can't wait for the camera to catch Berube's reaction the first time Nylander pulls up to avoid being hit on a dump-in.

And the reaction by management when the newly signed $11.5M player is benched by the newly signed coach 45 seconds into the first pre-season game.

I have a feeling that relationship is going to be a rocky one.

 

[Suntouchable13]

I still think Rod is the better coach. People can disagree, and that's fine. I just like what they have done there in Carolina, even though they did not win the cup yet. I'd rather give Rod the bag than go after Berube.

 

[LaPlante94]

No matter who the coach is it will be nice to see the team being a relentless forechecking team that smothers teams and maybe a team that can cycle properly more consistently. The amount of times I've watched our team cycle a puck down low behind the net and no player in the area at all because we had one in front of the net tied up and another in the high slot or near the blue line was starting to piss me off.

 

[weems]

Grain of salt, etc.

 

[Buds17]

Berube has atleast won a ring

Of course. Berube's best showing after that Cup win though is a loss in Round 2. By comparison, Brind'Amour has coached in two Conference Finals and never missed the playoffs. Then again, even one Cup would mean A LOT.

 

[Cassell]

I still think Rod is the better coach. People can disagree, and that's fine. I just like what they have done there in Carolina, even though they did not win the cup yet. I'd rather give Rod the bag than go after Berube.

I agree. I think Berube is a perfectly fine coach and I don’t really have any reservations about seeing him as the next coach of the Leafs. But if the decision is between Brind’Amour and Berube, I go with Brind’Amour. The guy has been coach of Carolina for five years and gone to the conference finals twice.

Side note: game six couldn’t have gone better, as far as potentially seeing Carolina sever ties with Rod. Blow a 3-1 lead and end up losing in regulation, on home ice no less. I feel like this could potentially nudge management in the “bye-bye Rod” direction.

 

[PromisedLand]

Canes fans are done with Rod; think the dude is a moron. I've seen Rod coach for a while and I am a bit iffy with him. IMHO I think Rod has done a lot worse with a better roster than Canes have put together (minus a goalie) compared to the Leafs

 

[CelticDruid]

Canes fans are done with Rod; think the dude is a moron. I've seen Rod coach for a while and I am a bit iffy with him. IMHO I think Rod has done a lot worse with a better roster than Canes have put together (minus a goalie) compared to the Leafs

I hope we get Berube.

 

[LaPlante94]

Of course. Berube's best showing after that Cup win though is a loss in Round 2. By comparison, Brind'Amour has coached in two Conference Finals and never missed the playoffs.

Armstrong destroyed that teams depth every year after that cup win though. Losing Pietrangelo didn't help either and everything went downhill from there. Buchnevich trade was the only good thing he did after the cup win. Rod seems to get better teams every year and still doesn't win. Don't think it makes him a bad coach but I don't think it makes him much better than Berube.

 

[Evilhomer]

No matter who the coach is it will be nice to see the team being a relentless forechecking team that smothers teams and maybe a team that can cycle properly more consistently. The amount of times I've watched our team cycle a puck down low behind the net and no player in the area at all because we had one in front of the net tied up and another in the high slot or near the blue line was starting to piss me off.

Who on this current Leafs team is going to play this way? If that's the style they want to play, it's going to require one heck of an overhaul of the roster.

 

[Divine]

Berube probably punching the air right now.

The Leafs have no reason not to wait to see what happens with Brind'Amour now

 

[Brobust]

Of course. Berube's best showing after that Cup win though is a loss in Round 2. By comparison, Brind'Amour has coached in two Conference Finals and never missed the playoffs.

One coach's GM decided to replace Pietrangelo with a combo of Krug, Faulk and Nick Leddy.

 

[Evilhomer]

Berube probably punching the air right now.

The Leafs have no reason not to wait to see what happens with Brind'Amour now

I'd be willing to bet that the Leafs will hire Berube long before any decision is made by Carolina when it comes to Brind'Amour. I think Treliving has probably wanted Berube the moment St. Louis let him go.

 

[Divine]

I'd be willing to bet that the Leafs will hire Berube long before any decision is made by Carolina when it comes to Brind'Amour. I think Treliving has probably wanted Berube the moment St. Louis let him go.

If that's true why wasn't he hired already?

 

[Buds17]

Armstrong destroyed that teams depth every year after that cup win though. Losing Pietrangelo didn't help either and everything went downhill from there. Buchnevich trade was the only good thing he did after the cup win. Rod seems to get better teams every year and still doesn't win. Don't think it makes him a bad coach but I don't think it makes him much better than Berube.

That's more than fair. I'm basically just rejecting the notion that Berube is automatically ahead because of that Cup ring. Either option at least figures to be an upgrade over what we previously had at the helm.

 

[Martin Skoula]

Canes fans are done with Rod; think the dude is a moron. I've seen Rod coach for a while and I am a bit iffy with him. IMHO I think Rod has done a lot worse with a better roster than Canes have put together (minus a goalie) compared to the Leafs

They don’t have the game breakers to overcome how much of a mental midget Andersen is. Turns out having good two way bottom-6ers doesn’t matter that much when your biggest offensive threat is Aho.

 

[LaPlante94]

Who on this current Leafs team is going to play this way? If that's the style they want to play, it's going to require one heck of an overhaul of the roster.

I think quite a few guys on the team now are willing to play that way. Even in the recent series against Boston Tavares was playing aggressive and finishing every check and averaged like 5 hits a game. I think Holmberg can benefit from a system like that because he's very solid on his skates and protects the puck well and I think proper coaching/system he can really break out. Knies will really benefit from it. Marner might be the odd man out but who knows, maybe he buys in. 4th line already plays that way but maybe they go for more of a checking C over Kampf and try to move him somehow. Even Nylander has grown and showed he's more willing to battle along the boards.

That's more than fair. I'm basically just rejecting the notion that Berube is automatically ahead because of that Cup ring. Either option at least figures to be an upgrade over what we previously had at the helm.

I think both are very similar coaches tbh so hiring one over the other to me isn't a huge deal. I think the benefit with Berube is I believe he only has 1 assistant coach in mind he wants and the others are gonna be picked together unlike Rod who I think wants his same exact staff and for them all to get paid which is respectable, but maybe not what a team wants to do.

 

[Clark4Ever]

I think it's risky for the Leafs to wait on Brind'Amour. Berube has other potential suitors and likely won't wait around. Even if Brind'Amour eventually gets fired, there's no guarantee he would choose Toronto.

Besides, I think Berube is a better fit for the type of roster Treliving is trying to put together.

 

[LaPlante94]

I'm surprised Keefe hasn't been hired yet tbh. Is everyone really waiting out for Rod to officially hire their 2nd options?

 

[MSZ]

I'm surprised Keefe hasn't been hired yet tbh. Is everyone really waiting out for Rod to officially hire their 2nd options?

He is probably waiting for Dubas to officially cut ties with Sullivan.

 

[colchar]

Berube using all these other teams to get more money

You have no idea what is or is not happening, nor why.

lol

Lol? What are you, 12?

Leafs are suckers for giving out huge contracts and term.

Why? They have more money than God and the coach's salary has no effect on anything else, so who gives a shit?

I would never give Berube $5 per year!

Which explains why no NHL teams are calling you to interview for jobs.

I still think Rod is the better coach. People can disagree, and that's fine. I just like what they have done there in Carolina, even though they did not win the cup yet. I'd rather give Rod the bag than go after Berube.

Um, you realize he is employed by another team right? They can't even talk to him right now. And if he does get canned, I can see him going to join Francis with whom he has a long relationship. Why focus on someone who isn't even available right now, and might not be at all?

 

[colchar]

View attachment 871930

Who the hell is Dan Powers and why should we care what he says?