It took Sheldon Keefe a few months to give those booking his demise some pause for thought.
According to BetOnline.ag, the gambling site which listed him as the NHL coach most likely to be fired first back in training camp, he’s now 16-to-1 odds to win the Jack Adams Award as coach of the year, seventh overall behind the 3-to-2 favourite Jim Montgomery of division rival Boston.
In September, Keefe was 13-2 to be let go first, a hangover from the Maple Leafs’ most recent opening-round playoff flop. He was far down BetOnline.ag’s Adams list at 28-to-1 on Dec. 1, but the Leafs stayed hot and are still within striking distance of Montgomery’s Bruins as the NHL’s halfway point of the schedule approaches.
Before Tuesday’s home game against the Blues, the Leafs record was 23-8-6.
“He’s honest with us about what our job is, he’s very passionate,” first-year Leaf forward Zach Aston-Reese said of Keefe. “He just has a good way of getting his point across without being insulting or too coddling.”
Not that Keefe wasn’t on the hot seat, especially after a four-game Western road trip didn’t yield a win at the end of October, concurrent with a string of injuries in goal and on defence. He preached patience throughout.
“That was good advice,” Aston-Reese said. “The way he runs practices, the way training camp was run, everything … he’s pushed the right buttons.”
MAKE HAY IN BAY DAYS
With Tuesday’s game, the Leafs begin a home-friendly January schedule of 10 at home, just five on the road and a further four of five at Scotiabank Arena to start February.
Yet Keefe says he’s concerned about his team getting overly comfortable.
“You never want to get too complacent within that (schedule), especially against a team like St. Louis, that plays very well on the road.
“We’re excited to be at home, but understand there is work required. The kind of things we bring to the road we want to bring back here.”
UNITED IN CONCERN
Watching the Damar Hamlin episode play out on TV Monday night brought back chilling memories for St. Louis coach Craig Berube. Jay Bouwmeester collapsed on the Blues’ bench near Berube after a cardiac episode almost three years ago in a game in Anaheim. The defenceman was revived with a defibrillator, but at 36 his playing career was done.
“This carries over to all sports and life,” Berube said. “It puts everything in perspective: people’s health, life and death. I was watching last night, it was terrible to see.”
ONCE A LEAF
On a lighter note, Berube was asked about being part of the 10-player Doug Gilmour trade, 31 years ago this week. He’d only been a Leaf 40 games at that stage, albeit enough to compile 12 points and 109 penalty minutes before he was off to Calgary.
“I was somewhere around Toronto and I think it was (Leaf teammate) Mike Bullard who ended up finding me and telling me I was traded. We hung out a lot and drove to practices. (Hearing all the names) I thought he was full of it.”
POWER (SKATING) COUPLE
Defenceman Morgan Rielly managed to hold back some big news when he spoke to the media Tuesday morning, but not Tessa Virtue.
The retired ice dancer revealed on a podcast that she and long-time beau Rielly are now engaged. They were introduced through mutual friends and spent early COVID-19 quarantine time together in Vancouver in Rielly’s home province of B.C. and have lived in Toronto for a while. Rielly is 28, Virtue 33.
Virtue was inducted into the Order of Canada with her long-time skating partner, Scott Moir, last year.
LOOSE LEAFS
Defenceman Carl Dahlstrom is skating by himself as he continues his recovery from autumn shoulder surgery. Don’t forget about him as playoff insurance. “He’s a long way off from entering the equation, but it’s nice to see,” Keefe said. “He’s sort of a forgotten guy, but with the number of injuries we went through, he wasn’t forgotten by me. He was going to be one of our first call-ups” … Tuesday was the only true home game for GTA natives Robert Thomas and Jordan Kyrou on the Blues. Together they were looking at securing between 55 to 60 tickets … Many Leafs watched the Canada – Slovakia game Monday night and of course were wowed by Connor Bedard’s overtime winner. “Pretty nice, he’s done a good job the past couple of tournaments,” world junior veteran Morgan Rielly said. Keefe thought it was “inevitable” Canada would bury one of its many chances though he white-knuckled it as well as everyone else in overtime. “We’re certainly fortunate (Bedard) is a Canadian boy.”
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