Did John Tavares and Morgan Rielly Call Out Sheldon Keefe After One of the Worst Losses of the Season? The Maple Leafs Need to Fix This Now

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Dawson Mckenzie
November 2, 2023 (12:45)

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After their loss against the LA Kings, John Tavares and Morgan Rielly had some interesting comments that some are construing to be shots against Keefe and Treliving.

Tavares and Rielly Make Comments After Kings Loss That Are Raising Eyebrows

The Leafs are coming off what is easily their worst performance of the season thus far to the LA Kings, laying an egg in their first game at home after their long road trip. The Leafs looked underwhelming and low energy for the entirety of the game, and were even booed by fans in attendance.

That isn't what captain John Tavares had to say about the game though, as he took an opportunity to compliment the LA Kings depth and structure.

John Tavares: «They're very structured and very deep. Those are the types of teams that, with where we wanna go, that's the type of hockey we'll be playing against»

Additionally, Morgan Rielly also had some comments on the LA Kings and how the Leafs have struggled against good teams in the past.

Morgan Rielly: «You wanna learn how to win against teams who play this way»

While these might seem like pretty standard comments, some are speculating that they could be calling out head coach Sheldon Keefe and Brad Treliving, as Tavares and Rielly want to be structured similarly to the Kings. Here's what one Leafs' content creator had to say.

I don't know. I don't know if I'm looking too deep into it, but it almost seems like they're calling out the coaching staff, even the GM, Brad Treliving, for putting the personnel together that can't get the job done. The LA Kings are a very good and structured team, and it's almost like they're saying, we want to play like that.

Leafs Shouldn't Throw The Baby Out With the Bathwater After Early Season Loss

This loss against the Kings is one that the Leafs need to move on from. There are going to be losses in any season, and some terrible games, however, they need to stick to their plan and move forward. Winning their matchup tonight against the 8-0-1 Bruins would be a huge step in the right direction.

Rielly on showdown in Boston: "It's big ... Awesome this time of year. You want those challenges. You want those close games. You want to be competitive. You want to play against the best players, the best teams so we got a chance to do that on Thursday"