Don Cherry sounds off after Leafs fire Sheldon Keefe
The legendary hockey commentator weighs in after the franchise-altering move from the Leafs.
The Toronto Maple Leafs pulled the trigger on a franchise altering move earlier today, terminating head coach Sheldon Keefe after yet another disappointing early exit from the Stanley Cup Playoffs. Keefe had been one of the longest tenured bench bosses in the NHL, having replaced Mike Babcock in November of 2019.
While Keefe will forever be known as the only coach since Pat Quinn to guide the Leafs to a Round 1 playoff series victory since Pat Quinn in 2004, they were never able to get over the hump during his tenure, and endured far too many disappointments when it mattered most despite productive regular season campaigns.
And now, former NHL head coach and Hockey Night in Canada commentator Don Cherry is weighing in. He wrote the following on his X (formerly known as Twitter) account shortly after the news was announced:
"The Leafs let Sheldon Keefe go. I know how he feels; it's not fun. For all the Leafs fans, ask yourself this: Switch goalies. Who wins the series? Show me a good coach, and I'll show you a good goalie"
Keefe certainly did take some heat for electing to start the struggling Ilya Samsonov for the first four games of the series before replacing him late in Game 4 with Joseph Woll, who would go on to lead the Leafs to victory in the next pair of games to force Game 7.
However, an injury to Woll that he suffered literally with 0.1 seconds left on the clock in Game 6 forced Keefe to go right back to Samsonov for Game 7, in which the Bruins would eventually prevail.
Should Keefe had gone with Woll from the start of the series? The legendary Cherry seems to think so.
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