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Sheldon Keefe Under Fire After Throwing One Specific Devils Player Under the Bus in Press Conference

Originally posted on House of Hockey | By Tom Banks | Last updated Mar 23, 2025 9:13 AM ET

The New Jersey Devils have struggled as of late, and now Head Coach Sheldon Keefe is under fire again after lashing out and calling out one of his players.

Despite a red-hot start to the 2024/25 season, the New Jersey Devils are struggling mightily, as they now find themselves close to the Wild Card race in the Eastern Conference while maintaining a small lead in third place in the Metropolitan Division.

A few weeks ago, Keefe came under fire for calling out the play of Luke Hughes and Simon Nemec, and after the teams 3-2 loss to the Ottawa Senators, he's at it again as he reacted to a comment from one of his players.

Following the loss, Jonathan Kovacevic was asked about the teams play, and he simply stated that they needed to find their Stanley Cup Playoffs mentality, and when Keefe was asked about this comment, his response was short, sharp and pointed.

He needs to play better, that would help.

As mentioned, this isn't the first time this has happened in 2024/25, but every time Keefe has done it, the player in question has responded, so perhaps this tough love approach from the coach is exactly what is needed.

Some fans may be okay with this type of comment, but others definitely aren't, as there was plenty of backlash for Keefe in the comments on social media from many different fans.

With just nine wins in their past 20 games however, it's unclear what's needed for this team to find their footing again this season, and with some of their top names out for the remainder of the regular season, this is a team that could eventually fall out of a playoff position, so perhaps this type of reaction from Keefe isn't what's needed at this point.

This article first appeared on House of Hockey and was syndicated with permission.

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