Sheldon Keefe has had to deal with a number of challenges in his first season as Toronto Maple Leafs head coach, replacing the fired Mike Babcock last November, dealing with the highs and lows of an inconsistent club and with key injuries on the blueline, but nothing could prepare him for the unprecedented shutdown of the league last month and the uncertainty of whether the 2019-20 season will be completed.
"It certainly has been eventful and I think my own experience and my own journey has been very unique and very exciting on so many levels. Of course, going through what we're going through now isn't exciting for anybody. So I think as we look back on it, we'll remember what we're going through right now more than anything." Keefe said in a conference call on Tuesday. "There's so many things that are happening that are more important, more significant than anything that's happened with myself, my family or the team, so (I'm) trying to keep things in perspective as much as I can, while recognizing you still have a job to do and I gotta stay focused every day to keep working towards making our group better."
The current situation of if and when the season resumes is fluid and in the hands of NHL Commissioner Gary Bettman and whether the COVID-19 pandemic is brought under control in the next few months, but Keefe is trying to be prepared for how long he will have to get his players up to speed when the league is restarted.
"In terms of how long it would take us to get back up to speed, I don't know that you can pinpoint any particular time. The NHL and the NHLPA will decide on that and whatever the time, we'll utilize that time the best of our ability and be prepared and that's really what we can focus on." Keefe said. "My communication has been really directly with our own staff and they have stayed in consistent contact with the NHL Coaches Association and things that are happening there and they're much like the Players Association, they're organizing things and what's happening around different teams."
The Leafs head coach has remained in contact with his players during the current shutdown and quarantine, trying to keep them abreast of items that his coaching staff have been working on, but that has proven to be difficult without the benefit of being in the same room at the same time.
"The obvious challenges (are) the distance. You don't have the face-to-face contact and then you're not able to sit across from someone and really talk them through something or show them something. Like everybody, we're adapting to the situation. We're trying to find the balance as a coaching staff and I myself am finding the balance of giving the players space to deal with the things that they need to deal with. Everybody has their own situations happening and uncertainty being what it is." Keefe said. "I am staying in contact with guys, be it directly through phone calls, text messages (or) emails. On both sides of things, we are trying to stay connected to keep them involved in letting them know what we're working on and what we're working towards and the coaching staff."
Keefe also gave his thoughts on the signing of KHL forward Alexander Barabanov, who agreed to a one-year contract on Tuesday.
"We're really excited to add another player to the fold here that we think has got great experience, a great skill set, very high character as well. (He) just checks a lot of the boxes that they're always looking for when you're adding a player that you fully expected to step in and be an important part of your team." Keefe said. (It was) great work by (Leafs Senior Director of Player Evaluation) Jim Paliafito again, to first identify him but then put in the work to allow him to sort through all the different options that Alex had available to him to ultimately settle on Toronto, so we're excited to have them."
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