Ron Wilson Fired- Randy Carlyle Hired

Well, that was unexpected. In a somewhat surprising move (the job of a coach whose team has just gone 1-9-1 is never safe) the Maple Leafs announced Friday that Ron Wilson had been fired and replace by Randy Carlyle. He of the 2007 Cup winning Anaheim Ducks and noted Burke BFF/Cronie.  

Despite Burke’s insistence that he was not going to make a coaching change, Carlyle will be behind the bench at the Bell Centre tomorrow night. The last time the Leafs and Habs faced off did not go so well, here’s hoping the Leads show up for their new boss. Maybe Lupul will score a hat-trick to spite him.

Thanks to Burke’s impeccable timing members of the MSM had to cancel their plans to get reaction from players and coaching staff. Interestingly enough many Leafs including MacArthur and Schenn declined to comment. Cody Franson, who was not pleased with his ice-time under Wilson earlier in the season said: "it’s part of the game. We will try to move forward."

As with any personnel change in the NHL we get to learn what things were really like beind closed doors. According to Greg Brady, Wilson was not happy with Burke’s addition of Connolly this off-season. I was always puzzled that Connolly didn’t get more of a shot between Kessel and Lupul, now we know why. I look forward to learning more juicy hearsay fuelled tidbits in the coming days. 

The Ron Wilson era is mercifully over. Let the Randy Carlyle era begin. 

It can’t be much worse.