Keefe was completely out coached vs Florida. The same thing hurt them every game. Quick strike offence off a turnover. Keefe did nothing until they were down 3-0. And all he said was, I thought we played well enough to win but it didn't go out way. It never does for Keefe in the playoffs. Tampa being the outlier where they were the better team but the Leafs won. Sort of the opposite of the year before.

Keefe should be demoted to the Ahl.

The reason Florida was able to generate so much off of turnovers was because we had become such a slow team. That’s a personnel issue…. Mikheyev and engvall replaced with Jarnkrok and Oreilly on top of Bordie, McCabe, Tavares, Giordano, Schenn, etc.

Going into those playoffs, that was probably our biggest Achilles heel, and Florida capitalized on that. Everyone knew that. When you get bad goaltending, you’re flaws are bound to appear worse than they are.

If there’s anything Keefe actually should’ve done, it was motivating them to be more aggressive offensively and not let Bobrovsky get confidence early in the series, especially in games 1 and 2. I believe that was something he actually mentioned after they were eliminated. However, that’s more of a ‘vibe’ thing and I’m not sure if there’s anything tactically they could’ve done different with the way Bob was playing.

To be fair to Keefe as well, I saw this stat and this makes your point about the fan base perfectly. Over Keefe’s career he’s rarely lost 4 games straight. And when he does, they bounce back strong:
2020-21: 0-3-2 ➡️ 7-0-2
2021-22: 0-3-1 ➡️ 15-2-1
2022-23: 0-2-2 ➡️ 15-1-4
2023-24: 0-2-2 ➡️ 11-2-4

The fab base likes to be irrational and emotional when things aren’t going right. It’s ridiculous. Like a couple users told me earlier: “Keefe only has a good record because of the core 4” - so they can blame the core 4 players for the wins but can’t hold them accountable for their loses? HAH. It’s no wonder why players don’t like signing in Toronto.

Keefe didn't do anything. He should have turned the team into a trap team vs Florida. Very patient, wait for the chances to come because Florida gives them up big time. But get you when you attack aggressively. Should have been trying to win games 1-0 instead of 5-1 because they mentality saw them lose 3-2

When the losses come off the other team just our coaching Keefe he absolutely deserves the heat. The team rarely comes prepared to play and that is the coach. He doesn't hold his own players accountable either. Keefe's record is a mirage. I think he's a fine regular season coach of he has the players he wants (the core paired with a bottom 6 of defensive low risk possession guys) but when you play a team in a 7 game series you have to make adjustments to what the opposition does. Every team has made changes that sink TO in the playoffs but the Leafs have never done that under Keefe. It's always the same thing, the Leafs look good for a game or two and then the offence disappears. Why? Because what TO does offensively never changes. The players do exactly what Keefe wants and when it stops working it's because the other team has made adjustments. Keefe doesn't do that and that's why he needs to go.

It's legitimately refreshing to hear talk of the other Canadian teams such as the Canucks, Oilers, Jets and even Flames (vomit.. with their trade chips) from the media instead of Leafs madness 24/7.
It feels like a warm blanket to watch the Leafs self implode. Steve Dangle is actually tolerable as a clown car.

Dom had the stat that outside their core 4, the Leafs are now a below average team and the core isnt close to as dominant in previous years. Tavares, notably, has taken a big step back. Let the turmoil and bad contracts come to fruition.

Again, you’re one of the users on here that wants to blame the players when they win but not when they lose. You can’t have it both ways.

You say the team doesn’t come to play.. the was the same issue under Babcock. Too many slow starts that cost the team. So how can you keep blaming the coaches when it’s the same core that has the issues with multiple coaches? Hell the same players can’t make a line change without getting too many men on the ice and that was the same under Babcock - that’s a personnel issue. Not the coach.

Doesn’t hold players accountable? He benches guys all the time. Liljegren gets benched. Timmins gets scratched (thank god). Robertson scratched a limited ice time. All because they aren’t playing good or giving the team any positive impact. If you’re thinking he doesn’t hold the core 4 accountable because he doesn’t bench them or scratch them then you’re just completely nuts kid. You don’t bench players that make $11M per season - Shanahan would have him fired instantly if he did that. That’s not how you run a business.

How can you sit there and say Keefe has the roster he wants when he’s come out and said that he doesn’t? He literally said he doesn’t know who he can trust in key moments - that’s a message to Treliving to go out and acquire guys he can trust. Saying he has the roster he wants is just pure ignorance when the coach is saying the exact opposite.

Maybe they just lose in playoffs because the roster isn’t good enough. The defence has never been good enough to shut down guys in the playoffs because the way it was constructed was to defend by playing offence. That’s Shanahan’s fault. Jim Montgomery got out coached by Florida last playoffs. So did Rod Brind’Amour.. I don’t see their fan bases calling for them to be fired. Hell Carolina couldn’t score against Florida either. But again, no one calls for their jobs. Only Keefe’s cause he’s in Toronto and Leafs fans are probably the most emotional fans in sports and they don’t know how to control them. They overreact way too quick.

The irony here is stunning

1. I never said take Bert off the PP. My suggestion is to add Gregor to one of the units. Traffic in front matters.

2. Liligren: so he goes into a slump and you decrease his role or bench him? As a young player, this does nothing for his confidence. You have to let him.play through it; more one on one coaching, talk to the kid. He is obviously part.of the big picture, so you play him as such.

3. The Robertson-Domi-Jarnkrok unit was actually surprising good. It produced. It could drive play o some level. Defensively not a fan, but when these are the puzzle pieces you are given, and they fit on some.level, you go with it. (I will note I don't see Robertson as a long term fit, but, where he could have been a viable trade chip to balance that line, his constant benching tanks his value again).

4. Not obsessed with Timmins. But, he is a solid 2-way defender who can produce offensively the back end. He is only 24. Room to grow. And when Giordano and Brodie are looking Ling in the tooth, playing Timmins to manage workload between the vets makes sense. Keeps them fresher. Not overplayed. Allows Timmins game to grow if it will. (Note: like Roberston, I no longer see Timmins in Toronto long term. His skill set isn't what the team needs. And like Robertson, his constant benching detracts from any value he has).

I will add, out side of the Benoit signing (and I loved it), the UFA signings I hated. Bertuzzi was the type if player needed, not at $5.5 million. Domi at $3 million wasa head scratcher on many levels. Only way I felt itmade any sense is if he was reunited with Marner tonsee if they could recapture their London chemistry (and we are yet to see it). Klingberg made me vomit.

These additions (outside of Klingberg, as it was just so stupid) gave Keefe line up flexibility I simply don't see him using. Only defense (pun intended) Keefe has is Van Ryn's defensive systems have proven terrible - and a guy I don't see back next year.... but as a coach, you would recognize it and maybe reassign Van Ryn.

Every coach has a shelf life. I think Keefe's is up.

Who said we as a fanbase don't hold the core 4 accountable?

That I'd an awefully bold assertion. Out of the core 4, the only one whose playoff performance isn't crotiqued is (shockingly) Nylander. He finds a way to produce.

Leafs fans are brutally harsh on Marner's offense going cold. Harsh on Matthews as well.

Oh no. We do hold them accountable.

But here is the flip side.

Keefe's deployment of the 4 over the course of an 82 game season has them playing around 23 minutes a game. So, how much gas is left in the tank when it matters? Now Nylander, sees about 20 minutes..... and is ready for the show. In form, not burnt out.

Keefe has has a bench, but has rarely used it.

This is not to suggest the fanbase doesn't recognize the big guys don't need to find another gear. They definitely do.

You just made my point even further about the roster not being good enough.. Keefe has to over play the core 4 because the depth isn’t good enough. A third line of Robertson-Domi-Jarnkrok is terrible defensively. You can’t trust that so you have to give more defensive minutes to the guys he trusts in his own end.. like Matthews and Marner.

No I didn't.

You want to win a division, play the big 4. And that isn't happening.

You want to win in the playoffs? Manage your bench over 82 games, then play the big 4 more in the playoffs.

He doesn't play his bench. Ever. Where I agree the Roberston-Domi-Jarkrok 3rd unit was bad defensively, they were on the positive side of the goal differential ledger. So there is that. Even that 4th line of Gregor-Kampf-McMann isn't horrible. It does what it is supposed to do.

And he has certainly had better depth than this in the past..... same strategy. Same results. For how many years?

I will never say this team should have won a Cup by now, but it is also fair to say they should have won more than 1 playoff series in 5 years.

I will maintain - Tortarella's team is not as good. Yet, they are winning games. He plays his bench.....

Nashville, no where near as good on paper, running with the Leafs, because they play the bench.

I can do this all day. Top end talent is great. But if you don't manage minutes, it ends in 1st round losses year after year after year.