The New Jersey Devils West Coast road trip did not go the way anyone would have wanted it to. Despite a great win in LA this past Saturday, a 1-3-0 record isn’t good enough for a team looking to be a true contender. Not only did the team look poor in most of those defeats, but it also prevented them from increasing their point lead over the teams behind them in the standings. Instead of having a six to eight or so point lead on the teams trailing them, the Devils now find themselves with only four points separating them and the teams at the bottom of the division standings. Not only were fans rightfully calling them out, but so was Head Coach Sheldon Keefe.
A couple of different articles have come out during the team’s most recent streak of play featuring Keefe’s comments regarding the team’s efforts not being good enough. He’s mentioned lack or urgency, the effort not being good, and the outcome being what the team deserves, among other remarks made to the media. He even went so far as to say the team was playing, “a lot of really bad hockey” lately. After watching the games, I’m hard pressed to disagree with him as well.
Now maybe it seems strange to hear a coach calling out a team that is currently sitting high in the NHL standings. The Devils at time of writing are tied for third on overall points, and fifth on points percentage. Yet, I think it’s actually a good thing to hear Keefe being critical. While the focal points of his comments have leaned more towards the defense, he’s not singling anyone out, and seems to be holding the group accountable as a whole right now. Hopefully this is the wake up call they need and we don’t get to a point where individual names are needing to be dropped. An early wake-up call is better than a late one or one that never comes as well. If the Devils start to realize their faults now, and begin cleaning up those sooner rather than later, it should lead to fewer games with poor starts and zone collapses like we saw on the road trip.
While I’m okay with Keefe calling out the players, I do hope he’s holding his coaching staff (and himself) just as accountable. Coaching decisions, line combinations and player deployment also play roles in team performance; while a lot of the road trip issues came from poor on ice decisions, putting players in spots where they weren’t going to be effective didn’t help either. I know injuries are also affecting deployment right now (we miss you Brett Pesce, get well soon), but if Keefe is holding the available players accountable, he should also be holding himself and his staff accountable for their missteps.
Once again, I’m happy to see the team being looked at through a critical lens so early in the season. Not only does it show that the team is trying to improve, but I prefer the honesty over excuses. Saying we’re not good enough is better than “not our night” or “tough building” any day of the week. Sheldon Keefe is keeping his standards high for the team in alignment with expectations for this Devils squad. Now let’s just hope that the criticism propels the Devils past their current adversity to become a stronger, more consistent team.
What are your thoughts on Sheldon Keefe choosing to be critical now; are you happy that he did it early while the Devils are high in the standings, or would you rather he have waited? Do you think there should be more blame on players, or coaches, or should it be shared? Are you hopeful that the coaching staff recognizing the team’s deficiencies now will lead to them fixing the problems sooner? Leave any and all comments below and thanks as always for reading!