Sheldon Keefe Sheds Light on Reason Behind Benching of Winger in Last Night's Game
Love him or hate him, Sheldon Keefe has won a lot of games as head coach of the Toronto Maple Leafs.
Sometimes he makes some questionable decisions, but overall he's a pretty solid bench boss.
Last night, in a game against the Columbus Blue Jackets, Sheldon Keefe benched winger Pierre Engvall for nearly an entire period. During his post-game interview, Keefe explained and defended the decision:
"It's just habits slipping. It's not just Pierre, it's the whole line ... They got to be competitive. They got to be great defensively. They got to be physical ... & when all that slips, that's not acceptable."
Based on this quote, it does look like Engvall was a bit of a scapegoat last night, but his performance was definitely underwhelming.
The Leafs will need to define the identity of their bottom-six as the deadline approaches. You can't play the core-four 28 minutes a night.
We will see how everything unfolds, but it doesn't look like Engvall is the most trusted guy headed into the playoffs.
Source Maple Leafs Daily:
Sheldon Keefe explains decision to bench winger last night
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