Keefe reflects on quickly joining Devils: ‘It's a privilege to be in the NHL’
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Sheldon Keefe says he had a pretty good sense of what was coming after the Toronto Maple Leafs fell to the Boston Bruins in the first round of the playoffs last season.
Despite a two-year extension that was set to kick in, Keefe was let go as head coach of the Leafs on May 9 after four-plus seasons at the helm with a record of 212-97-40.
Keefe had the comfort to take as much time as he needed to recharge after five playoff runs and four opening-round exits with Toronto, but just two weeks later he was named head coach of the New Jersey Devils.
“Professionally, I thought - you know what? I could grow a lot,” Keefe said in an interview on The Ray & Dregs podcast released Friday.
“That was sort of on my mind. You’re kind of preparing for that. You had a pretty good sense of what might be coming in Toronto as we were unable to get the success that we expected to have there. So, that was on my mind for sure.”
Following his dismissal, Keefe recorded a goodbye message to Leafs Nation while standing on the shores of Lake Ontario, a two-minute walk from his Oakville, Ont., home.
Keefe, who was not at a cottage as some suspected, took a moment to collect his thoughts.
“You have been through a grind over the last bit,” Keefe said. “And not just because it’s Toronto, not just because of the market, but also it's your first time in the NHL as a coach.
“We went through everything. … It wasn't really until my third season I actually had a [normal] training camp."
Soon after his in-person dismissal meeting with Leafs executives Brendan Shanahan and Brad Treliving, Keefe was told by Treliving to expect a call from Devils president and general manager Tom Fitzgerald.
It only took a few days of conversation and a trip to New Jersey for Keefe to determine he was ready to step behind the bench again.
“It just really felt, at that point, that not only was it a great opportunity because [Fitzgerald] was a great fit. He felt very strongly about me, which was very reassuring,” said Keefe, who currently has the Devils sitting atop the Metropolitan Division at 21-11-3.
“But then you just look at the opportunity here - the players, the talent level, the ownership. … As more time passed, because I still was not quite certain what to do. Then there's the opportunity and it's just, you know what, you're a hockey coach and you're a hockey guy, and this is a tremendous opportunity. It's a privilege to be in the NHL, so get to work.”