By Patrick Powell (@Gordsie)
AP
With the Leafs sitting in 11th place in the Eastern Conference on Friday, March 2, 2012, TSN’s Darren Dreger first reported that the Toronto Maple Leafs have fired head coach Ron Wilson.
Pierre LeBrun of TSN and ESPN has confirmed Dreger’s report.
Wilson, who became head coach of the “Buds” in June of 2008, guided the team to a disappointing 130-135-5 mark without reaching the playoffs. He finished no higher than fourth in the Northeast Division in each of his three, full-seasons behind the Leafs’ bench. The team has not reached the playoffs since 2004, the season immediately prior to the most recent lockout.
Wilson now holds a dubious distinction with Ken Hitchcock- they are the only two head coaches to be fired by three, different NHL teams during Barry Trotz’s tenure as head coach of the Nashville Predators (August 6, 1997-present).
The Leafs entered the 2011-2012 with renewed optimism. Youngsters like defensemen Luke Schenn (who has been a healthy scratch often of late), Carl Gunnarson, and Jake Gardiner were a year older and hopefully more matured. Moreover, Leafs’ brass expressed high hopes for chemistry between sniper Phil Kessel and Joffrey Lupul, who was acquired in February, 2011 (along with Gardiner) for Francois Beauchemin as well as veterans like Colby Armstrong. While the Kessel-Lupul combination has worked effectively, the young forwards and young defensemen have not progressed as expected from a collective standpoint. Despite the fact that the Leafs have scored the fifth most goals in the Eastern Conference, their defense and goaltending have been suspect, having allowed 200 goals, second worst in the Eastern Conference.
After posting an impressive 2.60 goals against average and .921 save percentage in 37 games in the 2011-2012 campaign, 23 year old James Reimer entered a sophomore slump in 2011-2012. This season, his save percentage has plummeted to .899 with a 3.07 goals average.
Reimer’s partner between the pipes, Jonas Gustavsson, has better numbers for the season (2.92 GAA, .904 SV%), but he has lost his last seven decisions. He has allowed at least four goals in six of those seven games.
According to multiple reports, the Leafs have hired former Anaheim Ducks’ head coach, Randy Carlyle. The newest coach of the Leafs has a Stanley Cup on his resume (2007). The Leafs are hoping that Carlyle can repeat that feat in Toronto. His first test behind the Leafs’ bench comes Saturday night against Montreal. Welcome to the bright lights, big city of Hockey Night in Canada with tremendous pressure from a rabid hockey city to make the climb into the playoffs, Mr. Carlyle.
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