"Hated everything about it": Keefe calls out Leafs players for not responding to Marchand
The Toronto Maple Leafs have been made well aware that their lack of response to Brad Marchand’s hit on Timothy Liljegren wasn’t acceptable.
On Thursday night, Liljegren and Marchand were engaged in a puck battle, which resulted in Liljegren going down hard into the boards. The 24-year-old has since been placed on long-term injured reserve, showing just how devastating of a blow he took.
While the play was deemed an accident by the on-ice officials, one still couldn’t help but notice the lack of response from the Leafs, who did absolutely nothing to Marchand afterward. It was disappointing given some of the players they brought in this offseason to help address their team toughness, specifically Ryan Reaves. Speaking with reporters this morning, Reaves acknowledged that the entire team discussed the lack of response.
“We talked about it, it was addressed in the room,” Reaves said. “It’ll change going forward.”
Leafs fans are certainly hoping that’s the case, as Reaves’ non-response had some questioning exactly why Brad Treliving chose to sign him to a three-year, $4.05 million deal this offseason. It’s not as though he has been a big contributor in other areas, as he is pointless through 10 games while averaging less than eight minutes in ice time.
As for discussing it in the room, you can bet that discussion was led by Sheldon Keefe, who was clearly irate with Marchand the other night, going as far as to scream at him from the bench. He too spoke with reporters today, and wasn’t shy to share his thoughts on how his team handled things.
“I hated everything about it,” Keefe said bluntly. “We addressed it.”
Given how much this entire incident has been talked about by both fans and media, one would hope that the Leafs begin playing a much more passionate and fiery game moving forward. They will look to do that tonight as they are set to take on the Buffalo Sabres beginning at 7:00 pm ET.
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