Maple Leaf coaching change changes….nothing?

In firing Randy Carlyle, the Leafs did something many felt should have happened at the end of last season. But there’s not much point in debating now whether that was or wasn’t the right move, though it does give pause. Was Shanahan hoping that the players who clearly were disinterested in Carlyle’s message a year ago would tune back in somehow this season?

I think we can try to make a few simple predictions here, which may or may not prove accurate. One is that the next coach will be more of a so-called “player’s coach”.  That’s the way things often go in sports.  When the taciturn, ‘my-way-or-the-highway’ guy is let go, management brings in someone with a track record of being player-friendly. If that happens, I have little doubt the Leafs will respond favourably for a while and win a number of games. (The historical side note here is that Paul Maurice was a player’s coach, though demanding.  Ron Wilson was supposed to be even tougher, and Carlyle harder to play for still. Nowadays, most any coach preaches discipline, defense and being hard to play against. There aren’t many around who will just let the players do whatever they want…)

When a new coach is hired in Toronto, at that point we will no doubt hear the players rave about what a good communicator he is; how the new system is a breath of fresh air and so easy to follow. These will be subtle digs at Carlyle, all the while ensuring they take none of the blame for unsatisfactory results. 

I haven’t read the stories today, only the headlines. Often, players in these circumstances will say (at least for public consumption), “we didn't do our jobs…".  That said, I doubt this group will even bother to try and make that claim.  They will likely be relieved that they are not being held accountable.

Coaching changes can make a difference, of course. History is filled with instances in all sports where, when the right person hits town, things can change in a hurry. It happened in the NFL with Vine Lombardi when I was a youngster back in 1959. Heck, in that same era, Punch Imlach, pictured at right, essentially hired himself back in the early stages of the 1958-’59 NHL season when he was Toronto’s assistant General Manager, and that turned out pretty well for Leaf fans…)

But often times, the uptick in a team’s play under a new coach is temporary.  Old habits are hard to break, especially if the players (and the team’s leadership) are more about words than a genuine commitment to doing all the little things that make winning in the NHL so difficult.

The Leaf roster has been turned over several times since the 2006-’07 season. But some guys have been here long enough to have seen coaches come and go.

My question is: now that those Leaf supporters who wanted Carlyle gone (I was on the fence, though I could understand why some fans wanted a change) have had their wish come true, will we now turn our attention to the guys on the ice?  Will we set the bar of expectation higher, finally?

Someone here made a relevant comment the other day about Steve Yzerman in his early (first ten years, almost) Detroit days. He was an excellent offensive player and the Red Wings were a nice team. But they weren’t winning anything and weren’t going to until their best players played at both ends of the ice every night.  Scotty Bowman eventually made sure that was the case.

Now, Scotty’s not coming in to coach the Leafs. But regardless of who does, it is up to the players to deliver.  We can all hope that Mike Babock will indeed come here, but even if he does, that’s no guarantee he is “the one”. (I don’t see a Lidstrom in this lineup, much less an Yzerman, Chelios, Draper, Maltby, etc.)

Yes, sometimes a new coach can inspire the troops, understood. And every once in a while, the commitment to changing habits does last. It happened with Yzerman and Mike Modano and many others, who learned over time that championship teams are not built on personal stats, but on grinding your way to wins. You need skill, for sure, but teams that win have 20 guys (or close to it) who will skate through a wall to make a play.

So yes, a new coach can motivate players. But ultimately, that motivation also has to come from within.  Does this group in Toronto have the will to do what it takes?  Or will they be what they have been for years—a nice team that, when the mood strikes, can score and win some games when their goalie is really good?

I’ve long said here I’m looking not so much behind the bench, but at the players.  I still am.