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DENVER — Some 21 years ago, Sheldon Keefe was on the way to getting the best of Jason Spezza in the Ontario Hockey League.

A couple of decades later, Keefe wants to get the best out of Spezza with the Maple Leafs.

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There’s the potential for an increased role for the 36-year-old Spezza with the Keefe-coached Leafs that didn’t exist under Mike Babcock, who was fired on Wednesday.

“I feel like the system fits how I play and now I have to go and be a good contributor,” Spezza said on Friday after the Leafs practised at Joy Burns Arena on the campus of the University of Denver.

“I’m excited about the opportunity. I have always just been looking for a role here and looking to be part of a really good club.”

Specifically, how can the system that Keefe wants to implement help bring out the talent in Spezza?

“There is a little more emphasis on controlling the puck and puck possession and that is something that is a strength in my game and something that I can even do better once we get back in the mode of it,” said Spezza, best-described as a hockey nerd who soaks up as much of the game as possible as his NHL career nears an end.