That was the opening statement of Toronto Maple Leafs CEO Keith Pelley regarding the recent dismissal of head coach Sheldon Keefe after nine seasons and following a game seven loss in the first round of the Stanley Cup playoffs.
President Brendan Shanahan says Keefe took a lot of responsibility for the loss, but he says the accountability is actually on him.
The team will “look at everything” over the summer.
In terms of the injuries that have plagued some of the key players on the team, GM Brad Treliving says Bobby McMann suffered an MCL sprain on his knee, while Auston Matthews became “real sick” with a virus “that stuck with him.”
“He suffered a hit in game 4. While we couldn’t rule out..and we don’t know if it was a combination of the sickness, the hit, but he was presenting head injury issues, so we just pulled him, and we weren’t going to clear him until those injuries cleared, which they did on the morning or the afternoon of game 7.”
Shanahan says they have to dive into the situation, to address the team’s performance, which is “not acceptable.”