First, a quick story. Whenever you hear the name Robbie Ftorek, you think of the head coach who was hitting all the wrong buttons with a talented roster. Eventually, when the wins stopped, the quirks of Ftorek’s coaching style boiled over. The players revolted, and Ftorek was fired. No more missed bus stops and veteran benchings.
Of course, the Devils would go on to win the Stanley Cup that season with Larry Robinson behind the bench. Ftorek actually still has his name on the Cup for that season, but he was not the coach, and the players were thrilled with that fact.
It’s not random that we’re bringing this up now. The feel of 2000 is very similar to the feel of 2026. It goes beyond tuning a head coach out. It’s outright disdain for the man behind the bench.
Do we think the players dislike Keefe like the players of 2000 disliked Ftorek? It’s hard to imagine the emotions running that high, but their level of play feels similar.
The New Jersey Devils got destroyed in a game they absolutely had to have on Tuesday night. This comes after another example of bad play that led to a lopsided loss on Saturday against the Ottawa Senators. These are two teams also fighting for playoff positioning in the Eastern Conference, and the Devils lost handedly in regulation.
The Devils were probably the better defensive team in the first two periods on Tuesday, but they didn’t score, so it didn’t matter. The Devils finished the day with a shutout for their efforts.
It was not a fun watch. The Devils were coasting through the game. Whether that was the intention is not here nor there. What we have to discuss is what we see.
And Keefe obviously noticed that the situation had hit a fever point. In his postgame comments, he was clear that the effort wasn’t good enough, and he needs more from the players.
"It's part confidence, it's partially mental toughness. We're not mentally tough enough, clearly. These are critical moments in our season.... You gotta find a way to make a play. Get yourself a lead. Get going. Well, okay, you don't. But don't wilt. "Sheldon Keefe, Devils head coach
This hire started out with such high hopes, but the Keefe experiment isn't working. The team appears to be playing to win every game 2-1, and sometimes, they are lucky to get two goals. Eighteen times this season, the Devils have scored one goal or fewer.
When asked if Keefe is considering major changes to his coaching staff or his system, his body language made it clear that there's frustration from his side. He believes in the system, but he's having trouble getting belief from the players.
"I don't believe it's a system issue, not for a second. I've been coaching for 20 years. I think anyone who's ever played with me or coached with me on my staff knows how I see the game and what I look for and what I like in our players and our team. Players got to step up here. "Sheldon Keefe, Devils head coach
Clearly, Keefe thinks he's doing what he needs to be doing without the corresponding results. He's tried some things, but they haven't led to results. He needs to take responsibility for that.
To be fair, he's taken plenty of responsibility all year, but this felt fractured. This felt like a breaking point for the coach. The frustration boiled over, and he held back as best he could in front of the media. To see the full media availability, we've linked it below: