The Toronto Maple Leafs have been a wildly inconsistent bunch all season and as a result, Randy Carlyle was fired as head coach late Monday night. GM Dave Nonis said Carlyle’s firing was a tough decision but one he felt necessary to send a message to his team that they need to play at a higher level more often.
“One of the things you’ve all heard me talk about is consistency,” Nonis said. “We need to see some level of consistency. We all agree we had some good stretches here but I can’t stand here and tell you our group’s been consistent.”
A new coach was not named, but Nonis said the team will turn to assistant coaches Peter Horachek and Steve Spott on an interim basis.
“We’ll look at (a new coach) over the next couple of days,” Nonis said. “Today was about making a change. We have two quality coaches that we’re confident in to lead us onto the ice (Wednesday) night.”
The Leafs host the Washington Capitals at Air Canada Centre on Wednesday. They are currently just barely clinging to the 8th and final playoff spot in the NHL’s Eastern Conference with 45 points. This had been Carlyle’s 4th season as coach of the Leafs. He was previously head coach of the Anaheim Ducks, where they won the Stanley Cup in 2007.
[The Star]
