Toronto Maple Leafs head coach Sheldon Keefe isn’t pleased with the character of his team.
Speaking with reporters on Saturday morning , Keefe said he “hated everything” about Toronto’s lack of response to Boston Bruins forward Brad Marchand injuring Maple Leafs defenseman Timothy Liljegren.
“It’s not what we want to be about,” said Keefe. “At times, we’ve responded very well in those situations in the past. It’s about consistency though.”
The incident occurred late in the first period of their game on Thursday night. Liljegren and Marchand raced toward a loose puck in the Maple Leafs’ zone, with Marchand getting tangled up with the defender, causing Liljegren’s left skate to crash into the boards.
None of Toronto’s players went after Marchand, leading to fans and pundits questioning the team’s lack of pushback to physical squads like the Bruins or the Tampa Bay Lightning, something new general manager Brad Treliving hoped to eradicate this offseason with the acquisition of Ryan Reaves, Tyler Bertuzzi and Max Domi.
But Keefe doesn’t think that has an effect on the competition.
“Brad Marchand doesn’t care about Ryan Reaves or anyone else, that’s been established,” he said.
Keefe also confirmed that Liljegren suffered a high-ankle sprain, with the team announcing he would be placed on long-term injured reserve.
Reaves, who has two fights so far this season, said the team addressed the lack of physical response after the game.
“We talked about it. We addressed it in the room…it’ll be changed going forward,” he said.
Marchand was seen talking to Ryan Reaves on the bench while Liljegren was being helped off the ice.
“It’s just lucky I wasn’t on the ice with him,” Reaves said. “Unfortunately they had last change so I didn’t get any shifts against them. That’s hockey.”
The Bruins won’t have to wait too long to see what the Maple Leafs’ response will be, as the two teams face off again on Dec. 2 in Toronto.
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