He must. Every fan in attendance for the Maple Leafs / Lightning series has. The TV viewers and panelists have. The pundits have.
Justin Holl is getting roasted like a campfire marshmallow in the first round of the Stanley Cup playoffs.
The latest in a long succession of scapegoat Leaf blueliners is putting the likes of Aki Berg and Jake Gardiner to shame. With Holl on the ice in the first five games of the series, the Lightning have outscored the Leafs 14-2. With Holl off the ice, the score is 18-4 Toronto. Of course Holl’s presence on the penalty kill and absence on the power play skew the numbers, but even at 5-on-5 the score is 9-2 Tampa with Holl on the ice. The Lightning get 81.82 percent of total goals scored when No. 3 is out there.
Asked about it after the Leafs’ deflating Game 5 home defeat, in which they lost their 11th straight playoff game in which they could eliminate their opponent, Keefe pointed out that Holl is “not alone” on the ice. It’s true that Holl’s partner, Mark Giordano, has struggled at times in the series too; the Bolts hold an 8-3 edge at 5-on-5 with him out there. But any coach refusing to acknowledge Holl’s disastrous series is either deploying blind loyalty toward his troops or just, uh, blind.
The Leafs are now 12 games into a two-year playoff battle against the Tampa Bay Lightning, and I have to wonder just how much Keefe sees, how capable he is at making adjustments for his team. Because his counterpart, Jon Cooper, is about as good as anyone at doing so.
Take the 2022 series. The Leafs had the NHL’s No. 1 power play in the regular season, and the Bolts found a way to bottle it up, holding it to a 14.3 percent efficiency. The Leafs didn’t score a power-play goal in Game 6 or 7. In the deciding game, Tampa doubled up on them in shots blocked to boot. As the series changed and the Lightning fell behind, they found a way to limit Toronto’s strengths and turned the tide of the series.
This year? Cooper and the Bolts put on a coaching clinic in Game 5. Remember all the talk about the blocker-side weakness and screened point shots beating Vasilevskiy? In his post-game presser, Cooper wryly alluded to the criticism, pointing out that ‘Vasy’ proved everyone wrong, but look closer at this remarkable shot chart circulated by my colleague Mike McKenna on Twitter. Tampa pretty much prevented Toronto from getting any looks in Vasilevskiy’s danger zone in Game 5. They forced the Leafs to alter their method of attack.
Tampa went to work on a tangible adjustment and changed its fate. The Leafs, meanwhile, have been badly outplayed territorially in the past three games of the series, holding scoring chance shares of 35 percent, 35 percent and 40 percent. They have not figured out a way to maintain their offensive zone time, and they’ve badly struggled breaking the puck out of their zone.
And yet Keefe, armed with nine NHL defensemen at his disposal, has refused to touch his top six, even when one pair is getting caved in at an almost historic rate.
He did imply the possibility of some changes for Game 6 during his availability Friday, suggesting, “there are some injuries and things that have to play out throughout the day.” That could be accurate; it could also be protecting an ego of a player he wants to remove from the lneup. Too early to say.
But so far, the only meaningful decision Keefe has made in this series has been to keep left winger Michael Bunting out in Game 5 after he was eligible to return from his three-game suspension. I personally supported that line of thinking, but it backfired. Perhaps we see Bunting back in for Game 6, but in terms of adjustments, that’s the low-hanging fruit. Is Keefe willing to make a bolder move and, for instance, swap Timothy Liljegren in for Holl? If Keefe waits until Game 7, it might be too big of an ask for Liljegren to enter a do-or-die game cold. So why not try him for Game 6? What’s the worst that could happen: Liljegren being on the ice for every Tampa goal? Holl was in Game 5. There’s nowhere to go but up.
Whatever transpires, be it a tweak to the Leafs’ forechecking scheme or some personnel shuffling on defense to assist with breakouts and D-zone coverage, it’s clear Keefe has to do something. Be proactive, not reactive. Otherwise, we’re looking at a déjà vu in which the two-time Stanley Cup winner Cooper coaches circles around Keefe again. That’s not a recipe for Toronto winning a series.
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TORONTO – Reigning PWHL MVP and scoring champ Natalie Spooner will miss the start of the regular season for the Toronto Sceptres, general manager Gina Kingsbury announced Tuesday on the first day of training camp.
The 33-year-old Spooner had knee surgery on her left anterior cruciate ligament (ACL) after she was checked into the boards by Minnesota’s Grace Zumwinkle in Game 3 of their best-of-five semifinal series on May 13.
She had a goal and an assist in three playoff games but did not finish the series. Toronto was up 2-1 in the semifinal at that time and eventually fell 3-2 in the series.
Spooner led the PWHL with 27 points in 24 games. Her 20 goals, including five game-winners, were nine more than the closest skater.
Kingsbury said there is no timeline, as the team wants the Toronto native at 100 per cent, but added that “she is doing really well” in her recovery.
The Sceptres open the PWHL season on Nov. 30 when they host the Boston Fleet.
This report by The Canadian Press was first published Nov. 12, 2024.
LAHORE, Pakistan (AP) — A top official of the Pakistan Cricket Board declined Friday to confirm media reports that India has decided against playing any games in host Pakistan during next year’s Champions Trophy.
“My view is if there’s any problems, they (India) should tell us in writing,” PCB chairman Mohsin Naqvi told reporters in Lahore. “I’ll share that with the media as well as with the government as soon as I get such a letter.”
Indian media reported Friday that the Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI) has communicated its concerns to all the Champions Trophy stakeholders, including the PCB, over the Feb. 19-March 9 tournament and would not play in arch-rival Pakistan.
The Times of India said that “Dubai is a strong candidate to host the fixtures involving the Men in Blue” for the 50-over tournament.
Such a solution would see Pakistan having to travel to a neutral venue to play India in a group match, with another potential meeting later in the tournament if both teams advanced from their group. The final is scheduled for March 9 in Pakistan with the specific venue not yet decided.
“Our stance is clear,” Naqvi said. “They need to give us in writing any objections they may have. Until now, no discussion of the hybrid model has happened, nor are we prepared to accept one.”
Political tensions have stopped bilateral cricket between the two nations since 2008 and they have competed in only multi-nation tournaments, including ICC World Cups.
“Cricket should be free of politics,” Naqvi said. “Any sport should not be entangled with politics. Our preparations for the Champions Trophy will continue unabated, and this will be a successful event.”
The PCB has already spent millions of dollars on the upgrade of stadiums in Karachi, Lahore and Rawalpindi which are due to host 15 Champions Trophy games. Naqvi hoped all the three stadiums will be ready over the next two months.
“Almost every country wants the Champions Trophy to be played here (in Pakistan),” Naqvi said. “I don’t think anyone should make this a political matter, and I don’t expect they will. I expect the tournament will be held at the home of the official hosts.”
Eight countries – Pakistan, India, Bangladesh, England, Australia, South Africa, New Zealand and Afghanistan – are due to compete in the tournament, the schedule of which is yet to be announced by the International Cricket Council.
“Normally the ICC announces the schedule of any major tournament 100 days before the event, and I hope they will announce it very soon,” Naqvi said.
RIYADH, Saudi Arabia – Ottawa‘s Gabriela Dabrowski and Erin Routliffe of New Zealand are through to the doubles final at the WTA Finals after a 7-6 (7), 6-1 victory over Nicole Melichar-Martinez of the United States and Australia’s Ellen Perez in semifinal action Friday.
Dabrowski and Routliffe won a hard-fought first set against serve when Routliffe’s quick reaction at the net to defend a Perez shot gave the duo set point, causing Perez to throw down her racket in frustration.
The second seeds then cruised through the second set, winning match point on serve when Melichar-Martinez couldn’t handle Routliffe’s shot.
The showdown was a rematch of last year’s semifinal, which Melichar-Martinez and Perez won in a super tiebreak.
Dabrowski and Routliffe will face the winner of a match between Katerina Siniakova and Taylor Townsend, and Hao-Ching Chan and Veronika Kudermetova in the final on Saturday.
Dabrowski is aiming to become the first Canadian to win a WTA Finals title.
This report by The Canadian Press was first published Nov. 8, 2024.
