Sabres Daily: Keefe Likely Staying In Toronto; Cup Ratings Low

The Toronto Maple Leafs have not announced any final decision regarding the disposition of head coach Sheldon Keefe, but TSN’s Darren Dreger reported on Friday that he and GM Brad Treliving are interviewing candidates to replace Spencer Carbery and that a contract extension is likely.

Keefe coached under former Leafs GM Kyle Dubas for over a decade going back to the OHL’s Soo Greyhounds, but Dubas inherited two-time Stanley Cup-winning head coach Mike Sullivan when he took over as president of the Pittsburgh Penguins last month.

Pretty sweet Stanley Cup made of drones hovering above the arena pic.twitter.com/rWndZizzgX

— Jesse Granger (@JesseGranger_) June 18, 2023

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Stanley Cup Final Ratings Lowest In 16 Years

The NHL signing their new television contract with ESPN and Turner Broadcasting may have resulted in more money for the league, but in the first season, it did not result in ratings. The Stanley Cup Final, broadcast on TBS and TNT had the lowest ratings in 16 years (not including COVID playoff years 2020 and 2021). The new agreement made this the first Cup Final not on broadcast television since 1994 and the short five-game victory by Vegas contributed to the low numbers.

Airing exclusively on cable for the first time since 1994, the Stanley Cup Final topped only the COVID-affected years of 2020 and 2021 as the least-watched since 2007.

Playoff viewership, which was +2% to a 5-year high entering the SCF, finished -10%. pic.twitter.com/YUyCWovsf5

— Sports Media Watch (@paulsen_smw) June 14, 2023

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