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CHL coach of the year Sheldon Keefe hired by Leafs' AHL club
If it was not a very poorly kept secret, it certainly seemed inevitable. For the second off-season in succession, the Toronto Maple Leafs have hired a hockey mind from the Sault Ste. Marie Greyhounds, with assistant GM Kyle Dubas hiring Sheldon Keefe as a head coach for the second time in their careers.
The Leafs made it officlal Monday that Keefe will guide the AHL's Toronto Marlies, putting the defending OHL regular-season champs in the market for a new coach.
From the Maple Leafs:
“As we went through this process, given our goal of finding an elite young coach to develop our prospects with the Marlies, it was clear to our management group that Sheldon Keefe was the best choice for our organization,” Dubas said in a statement. “For nearly a decade — since he arrived in Pembroke and through his time in Sault Ste. Marie – Sheldon has simply excelled at maximizing each player’s potential while coaching very successful teams at the same time.
“We feel we have a solid group of young prospects with the Marlies and we look forward to Sheldon leading them beginning with our Development Camp in early July.” (mapleleafs.nhl.com)
While it took Keefe time to earn a second chance in the mainstream of big-time pucks, it's certainly been a rapid rise since Dubas and the 'Hounds brought him into the OHL in late 2012. In that time, not necessarily because he was something of an exile, Keefe did become a relative early adaptor with the new school of coaching, embracing analytics and abjuring the traditional, tried-and-true notion of having a top six and bottom six among his forward corps. That was certainly catalytic in the Greyhounds having a 110-point season before getting caught in the Connor McDavid undertow in the league semifinal. It also jibes with how the Leafs are planning to utlize the Marlies.
Keefe's ascension to the AHL means there are three OHL head coaching vacancies. The Kitchener Rangers might fill internally by promoting associate coach Mike Van Ryn.
The Greyhounds stayed within the league for Dubas' successor when they hired Kyle Raftis, who had been the OHL's director of recruiting. Raftis would have a chance to put his own stamp on the team, but there is something to be said for continuity when a team is coming off two successful seasons in a row.
Neate Sager is a writer for Yahoo! Canada Sports. Follow him on Twitter @neatebuzzthenet.
