Maple Leafs Fire Head Coach Sheldon Keefe

The foregone conclusion has become a reality in Toronto: the Maple Leafs have fired head coach Sheldon Keefe.

Keefe took over as the head coach in Toronto in November of 2019, replacing Mike Babcock. He ranks fifth all-time in wins among Maple Leafs head coaches. From the Leafs’ release: “Keefe coached the Maple Leafs to a 212-97-40 record in 349 regular season games. The club recorded three consecutive 100-point seasons under Keefe, including a team-record 115-point season in 2021-22.”

But after another disappointing first-round exit from the Stanley Cup Playoffs, the organization decided to go in a different direction.

Since the end of last season, 18 NHL teams have made a coaching change. And Keefe had a two-year contract extension that hadn’t even started yet.

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Tab Bamford has been writing about the Chicago Blackhawks for almost two decades. He joined Bleacher Nation as the lead Blackhawks writer in May 2022. Tab is a member of the Professional Hockey Writers Association and is the author of two books about the Blackhawks: "100 Things Blackhawks Fans Should Know & Do Before They Die" (Triumph Books) and "Chicago Blackhawks: An Illustrated Timeline" (Reedy Press, 2021). Find him on Twitter/X/Instagram/Threads at @The1Tab

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