Sheldon Keefe ejected from tonight's game
With the Toronto Maple Leafs trailing the Vegas Golden Knights 4-2 late in the game, the Maple Leafs pressing to try and close the gap. Unfortunately 200 feet from his own net Mitch Marner gets called for a tripping penalty in the offensive zone. From the referee's angle it appeared as if Marner got a stick into the feet of Chandler Stephenson.
However, upon review it's clear that Marner's stick only makes contact with the shin guard, before Stephenson went down rather easily.
The Maple Leafs were furious at the call, but no one more so than Head Coach Sheldon Keefe. Keefe immediately made it clear that he felt this was a dive. Keefe was caught on camera repeatedly shouting:
Well the referees gave Keefe some leeway, as they continued into the next stoppage in play Keefe refused to give up his battle and continued screaming at the referees. According to the broadcast the last straw was Keefe telling the officials, "I'll tell you when I'm done."
That was the last straw as the refs made the decision to finally issue Keefe a game misconduct and send the coach to the locker room.
The Maple Leafs would go onto lose 6-2, but the real question after the game will be surrounding the coaching. Will the league issue Keefe an additional penalty? Keefe was fined last season for criticism of the officials, and this could be another punishment.
| POLL | ||
Should Sheldon Keefe be fined for this outburst? | ||
| Yes, it's unprofessional | 126 | 47 % |
| No, he was justified | 130 | 48.5 % |
| I'm not sure | 12 | 4.5 % |
| List of polls | ||
