Is Randy Carlyle the Right Guy for the Job in Toronto?

As it's been passed around by now, the Leafs fired Ron Wilson yesterday and replaced him with former Ducks' coach Randy Carlyle. The general consensus is that he's the wrong guy due to various reasons. He's just like Wilson, he's surly, he hates the media, he's not a "players coach", so on and so forth. And for what it's worth, I'm on board with all those. I especially don't like the whole situation that went down with him and Lupul before he was traded.

Alas, as of the press conference this morning in Montreal, apparently Lupul and Carlyle kissed and made up, and "the past is the past", and there allegedly won't be any issues with them. We'll see about that. I'm a bit of a skeptic and have my doubts.

The media is saying that Carlyle has his good points, though. Along with owning the second best playoff record since the lockout (Babcock is first), Carlyle is a strong defensive coach and can bring structure to a "young Leafs team". I feel as if the Leafs (Burke) need to do a lot more than change coaches, though. There are players, who shall remain nameless, that I feel would be better suited elsewhere, but then again, I'm just a random guy behind a computer, and I don't know anything about anything.

With all that said, Carlyle and the Leafs did defeat the Canadiens tonight by a score of 3-1, but it's also just one game. Time will tell, I suppose, but I have a feeling it's still going to be a while before Leafs Nation can plan a Stanley Cup Parade.

Brian Burke on TSN1050

If you've got an extra 17 minutes, go ahead and listen to Brian Burke talking about everything from the Leafs' goalie situation, to Rick Nash, and even about Lent (including how he quit drinking for the month of January). It's a long clip as I said, and takes roughly a good minute and a half to get into the good stuff, but it's still rather entertaining, as one can imagine with Brian Burke being handed a microphone.