Kyle Dubas gives Sheldon Keefe a vote of confidence before claiming some players can't handle pressure

PUBLICATION

Sam Hutch
November 15, 2022 (10:26)

SHARE THIS STORY

The Toronto Maple Leafs haven't started nearly as well as you would have expected. A team that has seemed to be perennial contenders, but have never seemed to live up to expectations. So much so that you have to think something has to change.

Yesterday, the Maple Leafs General Manager, Kyle Dubas met with the media and as Luke Fox of Sportsnet reports, gave head coach Sheldon Keefe a vote of confidence.

There's never anything about him that isn't purposeful.... The group is still responsive to him, very much so � and are willing to play for him when things aren't going necessarily well.

If you're Dubas, what else are you supposed to say? Normally, when a GM has to come out and give you a vote of confidence that's usually a sign the clock is ticking on your time behind the bench.

Dubas continued his presser by saying he believes the Leafs injuries and poor stretches this early are in fact a very positive thing.

It's a very positive thing. You learn a lot about the people that you're with day in and day out. You learn who can handle it, who may not be able to.

In theory, this would be a good response, however with the amount of playoff failures under this regime, one would think Dubas would give us a little more. So if Dubas is in a spot where he sees players not being able to handle the pressure, it might be time to move on from those pieces.

POLL
Is Sheldon Keefe the right coach to get the Leafs out of the 1st round?
Yes, he will this year	21	22.6 %
He's the right coach, but the players are wrong	33	35.5 %
No, he's not a good enough coach	39	41.9 %
List of polls