Greg Wyshynski, ESPNMay 28, 2024, 01:36 PM ET
CloseGreg Wyshynski is ESPN’s senior NHL writer.
NEWARK, N.J. — Sheldon Keefe was asked about his vision for the New Jersey Devils, who hired him as their new head coach last week.
“The vision is to win the Stanley Cup,” said Keefe, who was fired by the Toronto Maple Leafs after they lost in Game 7 to the Boston Bruins in the first round of the playoffs.
“You cannot win the Stanley Cup until you make the playoffs. You cannot win the Stanley Cup until you win the first round of the playoffs. And you can’t do any of that until you get to win each day,” he said. “So that’s really what my focus on: It’s establishing a process that we’ll adhere to on a daily basis and ultimately seek the sustained high performance that will lead us to have opportunities to compete for Stanley Cup.”
Keefe said a key to that process is challenging his players to be better — including the Devils collection of young stars like Jack and Luke Hughes, Jesper Bratt and Nico Hischier. Keefe worked with another young talented core during his five years in Toronto — including Auston Matthews, Mitch Marner and William Nylander — and learned lessons on how to challenge his new players in New Jersey.
“I can vividly recall a meeting I have with Auston Matthews a couple of weeks on the job [in Toronto],” said Keefe. “It was very evident to me that these are hockey players, just like every player you’ve coach at every other level. These are guys that want to be guided. They want information, they want to know that you can make them better and how you’re going to do that. They want to know that their feedback is valued, but they want to be pushed, they want to be challenged and they want to be great. And that’s really all you’re looking for as a coach is to have that.”
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Source link : https://www.espn.com/nhl/story/_/id/40234810/new-devils-coach-sheldon-keefe-challenge-young-core
Author : Greg Wyshynski
Publish date : 2024-05-28 18:36:08
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