Tortorella passionately defends Maple Leafs’ Keefe: ‘I hope he does it to all of you’

Liam adam03/11/2022

TORONTO — It took the opposing coach to get someone inside Scotiabank Arena to stand up and defend Sheldon Keefe with anything resembling passion.

As a reporter prefaced a question Wednesday night about the heat the Toronto Maple Leafs bench boss is experiencing amid his group’s disappointing start, Tortorella cut off the reporter before he could get to the point of questioning.

» You know nothing. See, I’m coaching against Sheldon. I think the coaches know the other coaches,” Tortorella began, eyes glued to the Toronto media. “You don’t know what he’s done for this team. I watched from afar. I coached him. We had conversations as a young coach in this league.

“You throw darts at him because you want results. I guess it is. It’s always the coach who throws the darts at him. I know watching him and training him against him, I think he’s a terrific coach.

“I hope he does to all of you, quite honestly. Not tonight. But I have a huge amount of respect for him.”

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Keefe and Tortorella go back a long way, and the coaching brotherhood runs deep.

In November 2019, when Keefe was promoted to the NHL after Mike Babcock was fired, he received a sweet text message from the man who had coached him for two-thirds of his own NHL playing career.

At the turn of the century, Tortorella made it difficult for a young Keefe to earn minutes on the emerging contender Tampa Bay Lightning. Tough lessons and pointed observations have left enough of a mark on Keefe, 42, that he refers to Tortorella as « the foundation » of his coaching methodology.

“When I think back to the coaches I played for, I was very lucky to be part of the Tampa organization at a time when they were looking to rebuild themselves, find an identity and grow,” said Keef. « I couldn’t play on it [2004] the Stanley Cup champion team in Tampa, but I was there throughout the process of growing that team year over year, to the point where it was just too good for me to play.

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The two men faced off here in Keefe’s first taste behind an NHL playoff bench, inside the 2020 bubble, and the Tortorella Blue Jackets ousted Keefe’s favorite Leafs in a series tense five games.

Since that streak, Keefe has led the Leafs to a North Division regular-season title (2021) and guided his club to a franchise-best 115-point campaign (2022).

Tortorella comes to town as a motivator for a depleted Philadelphia Flyers roster, and he’s well aware of the scrutiny Keefe is under in Toronto’s 4-4-2 start.

It’s always the coach who takes over, isn’t it?

« It’s part of our being, and I’m not complaining about it, » Tortorella said.

« But I think he’s a very good coach. And you have no idea what he does for this team.

Gb9

Liam adam03/11/2022

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