Maple Leafs fire head coach Randy Carlyle
The Toronto Maple Leafs have fired head coach Randy Carlyle.
The Toronto Maple Leafs have fired head coach Randy Carlyle after spending parts of four seasons behind the bench. The Maple Leafs are currently in fourth place in the Atlantic Division with a 21-16-3 record and hold one of the two wildcard spots in the East.
“I want to thank Randy for all of his hard work and dedication,” said general manager Dave Nonis. “It’s never an easy decision to make when changing your leadership but our team was not trending in the right direction and we felt an immediate change was necessary.”
Carlyle compiled a record of 91-78-19 in 188 games as Toronto's head coach. Assistant coaches Peter Horachek and Steve Spott will handle coaching duties for the Maple Leafs for Wednesday night’s game against the Washington Capitals.
After watching last season disintegrate as the Maple Leafs tumbled mightily out of the playoff picture, this season was starting to look like the same old story with the team running hot and cold, with no consistency to speak of. Having seen that movie so recently, the Leafs brass took action.
This Maple Leafs club has gone through a lot of high peaks and low valleys this year. Carlyle is getting ousted in the middle of the worst stretch of the season for Toronto with seven losses in their last 10 games. That came on the heels of one of their highest peaks as the team enjoyed a six-game winning streak in early to mid-December.
Under Carlyle, Toronto has routinely been among the worst possession teams in the NHL. It was thought that Carlyle may be shown the door after Brendan Shanahan came in as team president last offseason. They fired everyone else instead. The leash was always going to be short this season.
Toronto did go on went on a seemingly miraculous run to the postseason in 2012-13. A Game 7 collapse against the Boston Bruins kept them from winning the series and that game may have turned out to be a microcosm of Toronto Maple Leafs hockey during Carlyle’s tenure.
The former NHL defenseman has an impressive coaching record over his nine-year career with 364 wins and a Stanley Cup title with the Anaheim Ducks in 2007. He may find work again as a result, but it is clear that Carlyle was never really the right fit in Toronto. Instead of clinging to the belief that holding a playoff spot was enough, the Leafs are making a change before it’s too late. It appears they’ve learned from more recent mistakes.
Considering that the team's release says that Horachek and Spott will handle coaching duties Wednesday night and nothing beyond that, it is likely we'll be hearing of more firm plans soon. TSN's Bob McKenzie reports that the most likely scenario is that Horachek ends up as the interim head coach, a role he held last season with the Florida Panthers as well.
There is a fairly lengthy list of experienced NHL head coaches looking for work currently, as well, perhaps most notably former Pittsburgh Penguins coach Dan Bylsma. With Toronto's deep pockets and some star players to work with, they shouldn't have much trouble attracting the person they want if they decide to go outside of the organization.
