Toronto Maple Leafs head coach Sheldon Keefe and Buffalo Sabres bench boss Don Granato have both been fined $25,000 for separate incidents on Tuesday.

 

Toronto’s Keefe Ejected, Fined $25k vs. Vegas

Maple Leafs head coach Sheldon Keefe was frustrated with penalty calls during Tuesday night’s game against the Vegas Golden Knights in Toronto.  Vegas was leading by two, and had been called for only one penalty all game, compared to two for the Leafs. (We’re not counting the automatic puck-over-glass call on Toronto’s Bobby McMann.)  It wasn’t the calls, but the non-calls that had Keefe fired up.  At least, right up until what he thought was a bad call on Mitch Marner for tripping. 

Keefe unloaded on referee Peter MacDougall, who warned the coach. When Keefe got back at it after the power play was over, the refs had heard enough.  Keefe was ejected from the game, picking up a game misconduct.

 

 

Keefe kept a tight lip after the game.  When asked about comments made to the refs, the Leafs’ coach cut off the question. 

“Not going there,” Keefe replied. “I’m not going there.”

On Thursday, the league taked on a $25,000 fine for “unprofessional conduct directed at the officials that resulted in a game misconduct penalty” during Tuesday’s game. 

 

Buffalo’s Granato Given Minor Penalty, Fined $25k vs. Florida

Sabres head coach Don Granato objected to the officiating in Tuesday’s game. A tripping call issued to Buffalo’s Zach Benson appeared to push him over the edge.   

Granato yelled at referees T.J. Luxmore and Michael Markovic, earning himself a bench minor penalty for unsportsmanlike contact.  While he wasn’t tossed from the game, he put his team down two men, giving the Panthers a two-minute 5-on-3 power play.

The Panthers scored the eventual game-winning goal on the ensuing power play. 

Granato spoke at length in his post-game press conference following the 3-2 loss to the Panthers.

“You lose and the way it happened is extremely aggravating and extremely disappointing..  and I’m not talking about our players. What transpired there is disappointing.”

“Do I regret anything? What I watched transpire in that game  — from one minute before the incident where they gave Greenway a double minor, Cousins goes into Greenway. The whistle blows. [Cousins] initiates it by going shoulder into Greenway’s chest. Then has his hands up and protects himself. It goes down and they give Greenway four. Greenway gets four out of it. That’s just not right. That’s hard to watch.”

“A minute before that you watch Krebs take punches to the head with no call whatsoever, with a linesman in between and he’s still taking punches to the head. The second guy comes in and pulls his helmet off. No call. That’s extremely frustrating.”

“Another one that wasn’t right for me:  Benson’s going after a puck, has a tug, gets pushed down and ends up tripping Mikkola. There’s another player involved with that too.”

“Very, very tough night in regard to that. At some point you got to stand up for your team. You’re put in that position as a coach. It’s a tough position to be in, but you can’t sit and watch. You watch so much and at some point you got to stand up for your team. You do.” 

“My frustration is not our players, I’ll tell you that.”
When asked about penalties called on Benson, Granato sidestepped the question. 
“I’m glad you brought that up and not me.”
The NHL announced Granato’s fine of $25,000 on Thursday. Like Keefe, the fine was for “unprofessional conduct directed at the officials” during Tuesday’s game.