Keefe named OHL Coach of the Year

Friday April 17, 2015

Toronto, ON – The Ontario Hockey League today announced that Sheldon Keefe of the Sault Ste. Marie Greyhounds is the 2014-15 recipient of the Matt Leyden Trophy awarded annually to the OHL’s Coach of the Year.

In just his third season behind the Greyhounds’ bench, Keefe guided the club to an OHL-best 54-12-0-2 record earning a second straight West Division crown along with the club’s first Hamilton Spectator Trophy since 1984-85 setting a new franchise record with 110 points. The club’s .809 winning percentage and 342 goals scored were also top marks across the OHL and the entire Canadian Hockey League.

“Winning this award is a tremendous honour and one that would not be possible without the talented and committed players we have as well as the excellent people that I have the privilege of working with every day in Sault Ste. Marie,” said Keefe. “Joe Cirella, AJ MacLean, and Rich Rotenberg are some of the best in the business at what they do and this accomplishment should reflect equally on them and our entire staff. I am grateful that the program as a whole has earned the respect of our peers around the league.”

Keefe becomes the first Greyhounds head coach to win the award since Craig Hartsburg during the 2001-02 season. Terry Crisp is the only other Greyhounds head coach to win the award doing so twice in 1982-83 and 1984-85, the last two times the Hounds captured the regular season title.  Crisp and Hartsburg, who also won with Guelph in 1994-95, are among the list of 10 coaches who have won the award multiple times along with Brian Kilrea, Dale Hunter, Bert Templeton, George Burnett, Gary Agnew, Peter DeBoer, Bob Boughner, and Mike Vellucci. 

“Coming into the Greyhounds Organization, I could tell on day one how much passion Sheldon has for the game,” said Greyhounds General Manager Kyle Raftis. “Sheldon’s commitment, maturity and relentless approach to coaching and development not only pushes our players to grow each day, but it inspires the entire organization. The Soo Greyhounds are privileged to be able to learn from his knowledge, skills and work ethic that he brings to the rink every day. This award could not have gone to a more deserving person and coach. On behalf of the organization, I would like to congratulate Sheldon on winning the Matt Leyden Trophy for Coach of the Year.”

Prior to joining the Greyhounds in December 2012, the 34-year-old from Brampton, ON, served as head coach and general manager of the CCHL’s Pembroke Lumber Kings winning five straight league titles and a 2011 Royal Bank Cup national title.  On the ice, Keefe played two OHL seasons winning Rookie of the Year honours with the Barrie Colts in 1999, then led the league in scoring in 2000 with 121 points in 66 games helping the Colts win an OHL championship.  He was selected by the Tampa Bay Lightning in the second round of the 1999 NHL Entry Draft and played five seasons of professional hockey including 125 NHL games.

“Congratulations to Sheldon on this prestigious award,” said Greyhounds captain Darnell Nurse. “We could not be luckier to have Sheldon as the coach of our team. The amount of work he puts into preparing us for each game and his ability to motivate our team, has pushed this organization to a new level.”

The Matt Leyden Trophy is voted on by the member teams of the Ontario Hockey League. In a first round of balloting, teams vote for the top coaches, within their own conference. The top three nominees from both the Eastern and Western conferences are declared as finalists. A second round of voting is then conducted on a league wide basis where teams vote for any of the six finalists. At no time during the voting can a team vote for their own candidate. Coaches receive five points for a first place vote, three points for a second place vote and one point for a third place vote.

Keefe finished first in the voting process with 55 points, ahead of first year head coach Jeff Brown of the Ottawa 67’s who received 46 voting points, and last year’s recipient D.J Smith of the Oshawa Generals who finished third in voting with 38 points.

“I owe an incredible amount of gratitude to our former General Manager Kyle Dubas, our President Dr. Lou Lukenda, our Board of Directors and General Manger Kyle Raftis for believing in me and providing the opportunity to coach in the best junior hockey league in the world,” added Keefe.  “Coaching in general would not be possible for me without the continued support and understanding of my wife Jackie and our two sons Landon & Wyatt.”

Keefe will be formally presented with the award at the 2014-15 OHL Awards Ceremony taking place Tuesday June 9 at the Hockey Hall of Fame in Toronto, and will also be the OHL’s nominee for Canadian Hockey League Coach of the Year.