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Sheldon Keefe Abruptly Ends Press Conference After One Question

Originally posted on Blade of Steel | Last updated Mar 23, 2025 9:12 AM ET

Former Toronto Maple Leafs head coach Sheldon Keefe, now with the New Jersey Devils, surprised reporters after ending his presser abruptly after a single question.

The New Jersey Devils hired former Toronto Maple Leafs head coach Sheldon Keefe during the summer with the expectation that he could help carry them to the mountaintop of the NHL's Eastern Conference.

In his usual trademark style, Keefe was less than forgiving to a young Devils defenseman who he decided to single out as having a poor performance following New Jersey's 3-2 loss to the Ottawa Senators on Saturday.

When told that defenseman Johnathan Kovacevic said that the Devils needed a playoff mentality for the rest of the year, Keefe quickly interjected with a point blank statement:

Kovacevic just needs to play better. That would help.

Keefe then took no more questions and abruptly ended his post-game media availability.

Kovacevic took an ill-advised penalty during New Jersey's loss, sending the puck out of play in his defensive zone which automatically resulted in a delay of game penalty.

Kovacevic discussed the need to make Prudential Center an intimidating place for opposition players to play in, the source of the remarks that Keefe was asked about:

We have a pretty home-heavy schedule the rest of the way here (and) we've got to make this place a hard place to play.
That's something that we want to take pride in. We're in a fight, and hopefully that gets us in that playoff mentality (with) 10, 11 games out, and we carry that into the playoffs. So obviously the results (lately) are tough, but we're in a fight here and we're not going to back down.

The Devils recently gave Kovacevic, who has 17 points (1G, 16A) in 71 games, a 5-year contract extension worth $20 million.

Keefe can't afford to have his team let him down like this, as we've seen in Toronto he may have a leash, but either way each failure, it gets shorter and shorter.

This article first appeared on Blade of Steel and was syndicated with permission.

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