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| Leafs former head coach, Ron Wilson. |
Since Wilson was hired in summer 2008, he had not led the Leafs to the playoffs. His record this year was 29-28-7. Toronto hopes that their new coach will help them make the playoffs for the first time in over 6 years.
Randy Carlyle was an obvious candidate, seeing as how he played with Brian Burke in the late 2000's, and played with the Leafs for a number of years. Carlyle was fired by the Ducks earlier this year after having a not-so-impressive start to the season, 7-13-4. Although the Ducks didn't do well this year under Carlyle, he did lead them to five playoff runs in six years, and posted an impressive record of 273-182-61. Burke may be hoping that Carlyle's playoff and Stanley Cup experience will rub off on the team.
Despite a strong start to the season, the Leafs are struggling to make their way to 8th in the East, after being passed by Winnipeg and Washington. They won their last game over two weeks ago against the struggling Oilers. In their last 10 games, they have only been able to achieve 1 win, allowing 42 goals against and scoring only 23. After a horrific 1-8-1 streak during a crucial part of the season, the Leafs decided it was time for Wilson to go.
