Leafs practice goes off the rails; Keefe rips into players, Tavares out for 3 weeks

This just in, Toronto Maple Leafs' captain John Tavares has suffered an oblique strain at practice today and is expected to be out of the team's lineup for three weeks.

The Leafs are already without the services of defensemen Timothy Liljegren and Jake Muzzin due to injury, while unsiged RFA Rasmus Sandin remains on the sidelines. Up front Tavares joins Pierre Engvall on the IR. The Leafs are now down five bodies from their roster and the season hasn't even begun.

Needless to say, this is not the news that the Leafs need heading into a pivotal season. The pressure is on this team to finally break through in the post-season this year and an early injury to their uncontested leader isn't a good way to kick things off.

Incidentally, head coach Sheldon Keefe took his team to task in practice today. Leafs reporter Jonas Seigel reported this morning that Keefe reportedly stopped practice today and ripped into his team for a lacklustre effort. In particular, Keefe took offense at the team's lack of physicality and let them know in no uncertain terms.

Honestly... I like this from Keefe and wish he did it more often.

Leafs' training camp has felt more like a country club than a conditioning camp the past few seasons and the team's lack of killer instinct and lack of physicality is what comes back to bite them in the post-season again and again. Now is the time to set the expectations for the season and let the players know where they stand. For these reasons, I think Keefe is doing the right thing by going hard on his players. The smart players, the leaders, will realize this and will follow his lead to provide others with a positive example. After all, vacation is over. Now it's time to get to work.

It'll be interesting to see how things develop over the next three seasons without Tavares in camp. I full expect him to be present and to make as much of an impact as he can, but nothing speaks louder than your actions on the ice.