Devils' Sheldon Keefe calls out team for 'lack of balls' vs. Maple Leafs

New Jersey Devils head coach Sheldon Keefe is fed up with his hockey club. The team has been inconsistent of late and Keefe feels there's a big reason why, it's because of a 'lack of balls'.

This all stems from the Devils being down 2-0 to the Maple Leafs on Tuesday night, and captain Nico Hischier took matters into his own hands, dropping the gloves off a faceoff with the much bigger Matthew Knies of the Leafs. It did not go well for Hischier, who was dropped rather easily. Keefe loved what he saw from his captain as far as mentality goes, but it didn't spark the team, they lost 4-0, and Keefe was pissed off after the game.

“I mean, do I want our captain and one of our best players fighting when we’re down 2-0 in the third period? Absolutely not,” Keefe said. “But do we need some guys to step up to show some emotion and show some balls and play with some urgency and competitiveness and step out of character? Yeah, we need more of that.”

“So to that end, I like it. I like that Nico did it and hopefully it rubs off on the rest of the group in a positive way. I didn’t think that it did in that moment, but you want to talk about gut checks, there’s one. Your captain’s out there taking on a big guy stepping out of character. We’ll see what we have with out group. But we need more guys that are going to show a little bit more if you’re not going to score, give is a little bit more competitively and physically and show that you’re working to find your way. There’s not enough of that. We’re just kind of going about our business.”

Knies vs Hischier pic.twitter.com/len4Bu8gMW
— Omar (@TicTacTOmar) December 31, 2025

The Devils enter the new year with a 20-17-2 record, sitting three points out of a playoff spot. While they've dealt with a slew of injuries, Keefe feels the entire team needs to dig in more, and show some guts and emotion heading into the second half of the season.