New Jersey Devils head coach Sheldon Keefe during a game against the San Jose Sharks, in San Jose, Calif., on Jan. 4.Jeff Chiu/The Associated Press
Sheldon Keefe still strikes the same, familiar pose: with close-cropped greying hair and whistle in mouth, he barks instructions from centre ice as he directs his New Jersey Devils through a practice.
He did the same thing with the Maple Leafs, though with a considerably larger audience. In Toronto, where he coached for four-plus seasons, dozens of reporters from numerous outlets followed his every move on any given day. Now, in New Jersey, where the Devils have reached the postseason only twice in 12 years, it is just the opposite.
Only three members of the media attended Monday’s practice at Prudential Center. They were vastly outnumbered by the club’s own staff of in-house reporters, social media experts and videographers.
Getting one-on-one time with Keefe when he was the Leafs’ head coach was nearly impossible. But with the Devils, he has all the time in the world.
“You don’t get to do this in Toronto,” Keefe, 44, jabbed playfully as he sat for an interview that lasted nearly a half-hour. He greeted a visitor from Toronto warmly: “There’s my good friend!” Clearly he is at ease here. The Devils are playing well and in a strong position to make the playoffs.
On Thursday he returns to Scotiabank Arena for the first time with an opposing team. He isn’t worried about the possibility that he could be booed, which he would not deserve, but, hey, it’s Toronto. He is more excited about renewing old acquaintances with his former team.
His wife, Jackie, and sons, Wyatt, 14, and Landon, 12, still live in Toronto. The boys have pretty much grown up there and the Keefes believed that they needed that stability rather than to be uprooted.
Keefe said there are more similarities than differences when it comes to coaching, but his family life is more difficult.
“The biggest challenge for me is that I am here by myself,” Keefe said on a cold winter day in New Jersey. “My wife is managing everything in Toronto and that has allowed me to invest in this team and my job. I am doing my best from here but I still miss a lot. It’s a tremendous challenge to be a husband and father.”
On off days he flies the 90 minutes or so from Newark or New York City to Toronto, and at times his family visits him. On Sunday, when the Devils were off, he travelled to Michigan and back to watch one of his sons’ hockey games.
“When I do see my family, I value that much more and I’m all in,” Keefe said. “I’ve gained perspective as my kids have gotten older. That’s the biggest adjustment so far.”
“As a coach in Toronto you have so many responsibilities that your brain never shuts off. It is hard to give your family everything when your mind races a mile a minute. Being here has given me a new perspective.”
Keefe’s Maple Leaf teams made the postseason every year he was at the helm but won a playoff round only once. He knew what the stakes were heading into last season and was unsurprised when he was fired. He maintains that he has no hard feelings.
“I have nothing but respect for the organization and the fan base,” Keefe said. “I’m from Greater Toronto, have lived in the GTA for nine years and chose to keep my family there. I would not do that if I didn’t get the level of respect that I got as the head coach from people in the city.”
The Leafs let him go four days after a first-round playoff loss to the Boston Bruins. His only real shortcoming, which he acknowledges, is that he was unable to lead the franchise to a Stanley Cup, like the 22 coaches who preceded him since 1967.
Keefe had been relieved of his duties for only one hour when the Devils called. He was announced as their head coach two weeks later. His regular-season record in Toronto was 212-97-40, which equates to a .665 points percentage, the highest in club history. He led Toronto to 46 or more wins in each of his last three seasons, 50 in 2022-23 and a club-record 54 in 2021-22. He won fewer than 50 per cent of his games in the postseason, however.
Under Keefe’s leadership, New Jersey established a modern NHL record earlier in the season by allowing 20 shots or fewer in seven straight games. The Devils have lost only once in 22 outings when they hold the lead after two periods.
“Sheldon has been awesome so far,” said Dougie Hamilton, a towering veteran defenceman. “He is really good on details. There have been many things we have learned from him so far. From the first day he was here he commanded the dressing room.”
Fans are taking a shine to the team with a devil mascot. Some wear glowing horns at home games like they are attending an AC/DC concert. They chant “too hot” when players score and scold officials over questionable calls with the same naughty chant one hears in all NHL arenas. It goes something like this: “Refs, you shuck. ”
The words “compete, commit and connect” are posted in the dressing room in their practice rink, where three small Stanley Cups stand side by side in one corner. New Jersey won in 1995, 2000 and 2003. Take three bows, Martin Brodeur.
It comes to Toronto with a well-balanced team that has eight skaters with 10 goals or more. It has an elite goaltender in Jacob Markstrom. In the Devils’ last two games they beat Tampa Bay in overtime on Saturday and lost a tough one in a shootout on Tuesday to the defending Stanley Cup champion Florida Panthers, who they have bested in two of three meetings
“There is a lot of belief in the room here,” Keefe said. “I am happy where we are at, but we have a lot of work to do to become a perennially good team.”
The club will practice in Newark on Wednesday morning and then fly to Toronto.
“I’ll get to see my family,” Keefe said late Tuesday night.