With the second-worst record in the NHL and playing on the second night of back-to-back games, Toronto Maple Leafs head coach Sheldon Keefe says playing against the Chicago Blackhawks didn’t give them much to learn from, good or bad.
It’s not often that a head coach of an NHL team will categorically dismiss everything that came out of a game during the regular season, but that’s what Toronto Maple Leafs head coach Sheldon Keefe did following his team’s 5-2 win against the Chicago Blackhawks, who have the second-worst record in the NHL.
"Frankly speaking, it's a game we're not going to evaluate too much in terms of anything good or bad," Keefe said unprompted. "Wash it and move on, enjoy a day off tomorrow and get ready for Montreal."
When Keefe was asked to elaborate why he felt that way, the coach explained further.
"We got a tired team in here on a back to back, it's a team that...I don't think the game had much life to it," he said. "It's not what you come to expect in terms of what it's like to play in the NHL. There wasn't a lot of emotion in the game."
Chicago fell 16-32-5 this season and going into Thursday's action sits one point ahead of the Columbus Blue Jackets, who hold the worst record in the NHL.
The biggest storyline of the day really centered around Blackhawks winger Patrick Kane and if he will be dealt before the Mar. 3 trade deadline. Requests by the media to talk to Kane following the game were denied.
It's rare when the coach is dismissive over the significance of a regular season game, but it certainly isn't new for Keefe. Last season, the Leafs rested three of its top four stars for the final regular season game before the playoffs began and made similar comments about the significance of it. At that point, the Leafs had already had their playoff standing and opponent locked in.
With Leafs seemingly destined to finish second or third in the Atlantic Division and destined to play the Tampa Bay Lightning in the playoffs (home-ice advantage still in play) there will likely be similar comments like this as Toronto continues to play teams out of a playoff spot.
The Leafs host the Montreal Canadiens (26th out of 32 NHL teams) on Saturday before taking on the Blackhawks on Sunday.