After the “Fire Wilson” chants we all knew it was eventually going to happen.  With only two moves on deadline day and another two losses under their belt, Burke was pretty much forced to make the change.  Personally, I like Wilson.  I think he is a good, if not excellent, coach.  But the problem with ALL coaches is that they eventually lose their players.  It was pretty obvious that the players were no longer responding to the man.

I guess it’s probably a good time for Wilson though.  He got a contract extension for Christmas and now gets to earn some money by sitting on the sidelines cursing Leafs fans.  I think it was fairly evident that he didn’t gel with some of our guys (notably Kaberle… anyone remember Kab’s dad speaking out against Wilson??).  It’s unfortunate that we didn’t have the guys to really win some games for Wilson, although I will say our current crop is a lot better than what Wilson had started out with.

Wilson will join the long list of excellent coaches that were shown the door.

Now for the surprise (not) replacement…  Randy Carlyle.  The Toronto Maple Leafs are becoming the Anaheim Ducks of yesteryear.  Obviously Burke has connections over there but is Randy Carlyle really the best candidate?  Probably.  He and Burke won a Cup together back in 2007.

Randy Carlyle played 94 games for the Toronto Maple Leafs between the 1976-77 and 1977-78 seasons before being traded to Pittsburgh.  He scored 2 goals and added 16 assists and was a lovely -15.  After his stint in Toronto, Carlyle went on to Pittsburgh and Winnipeg and had a great career… which is typical of all Leafs rookies (keep an eye on Aulie… you’ll see…).

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