Sheldon Keefe meets with his players to explain his offensive postgame comments

On Monday after the ugly loss at the hands of the Arizona Coyotes, Toronto Maple Leafs head coach Sheldon Keefe called out his own players.

“Our best people have not found their rhythm. The difference between us and Arizona is we have elite players. Our elite players didn’t play like elite players today, couldn’t make a difference, so in that sense, the game is going to be close.”

This was not the first time since the short start of the 2022-23 that the head coach was tough on his own players during postgame comment, calling the loss against their debut against the Montreal Canadiens ‘unacceptable’.

On Wednesday as the Maple Leafs prepare to take on the Dallas Stars on Thursday, forward Mitch Marner told media that Keefe met with the room to explain his postgame comments. This is what he revealed, per team insider David Alter:

“ I talked to him today, he explained what he meant to say and how it came out and everything and I will leave it at that.

“We have closed doors for a reason.”

Coach Keefe has certainly turned up the temperature in the dressing room, but I can’t say I agree with Marner revealing this conversation with his coach to the media. The Maple Leafs certainly need to get on track and Keefe needs to get an answer out of them. I think I would have prefer Marner’s frustration to spill out on the ice and into a better performance.

After all, fans have made it clear too: the Maple Leafs received some boo’s from hometown fans at Scotiabank Arena on Monday night when they departed the ice for the second intermission with Arizona leading 2-0.

For now the Leafs need to focus on the Stars, who couldn’t have had a better start, to the season, winning their first three games and outscoring opponents 13-3.