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The Unofficial Fire Ron Wilson/Ron Wilson is the Greatest Thread

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Did anyone catch this yesterday?

Simmons Article


They have that next coach in Dallas Eakins. He is NHL in waiting. He is probably ready now. The next time a team makes a coaching move, he may well be on their speed dial.

The London Knights lost a pretty good junior coach in Dale Hunter when he took the NHL bait and moved back to Washington. Kirk Muller listened to those who said he had to be a head coach, so he left his assistant?s job with the Montreal Canadiens for Nashville?s farm team in Milwaukee: Now the Predators have done fine work in preparing Carolina?s coach for the future.

This is where the Leafs are now. They can?t be completely certain about Wilson, even in this turnaround season, because of his previous history here. This is his fourth year in Toronto. There has been more bad than good. Making the playoffs will almost certainly save his job and earn him a contract extension ? and that seems entirely plausible right now.

But the question may be: If you re-up Wilson, what will it cost your organization?

If you sign Wilson long-term, does that happen at the expense of losing Eakins to another team? Because after Anaheim fires Randy Carlyle and after Columbus fires Scott Arniel and Colorado fires Joe Sacco and Calgary fires Brent Sutter ? all of which can happen shortly ? somebody is eventually going to make a play for Eakins, who was first brought to the Leafs by Maurice.
 
For once Simmons is correct.  Eakins should have been given a shot at the beginning of this season in my opinion.  We'll most likely lose him as a head coach to another team.
 
Zee said:
For once Simmons is correct.  Eakins should have been given a shot at the beginning of this season in my opinion.  We'll most likely lose him as a head coach to another team.
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He's right in that they could lose Eakins but I think the Leafs are doing ok so far this year under Wilson and Dallas is obviously valued as a teacher and for his opinions where he is by Burke too. By all accounts he's doing a great job with the Marlies.
 
Fanatic said:
Simmons Article

...
But the question may be: If you re-up Wilson, what will it cost your organization?

If you sign Wilson long-term, does that happen at the expense of losing Eakins to another team? Because after Anaheim fires Randy Carlyle and after Columbus fires Scott Arniel and Colorado fires Joe Sacco and Calgary fires Brent Sutter ? all of which can happen shortly ? somebody is eventually going to make a play for Eakins, who was first brought to the Leafs by Maurice.
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With that paragraph, Simmons largely dilutes his own 'concern' (not that Simmons is genuinely concerned about the Leafs ...)

In this post, I listed 34 current NHL coaching candidates including Eakins
http://tmlfans.ca/community/index.php?topic=43.msg24917#msg24917
With Maurice and Boudreau and if Carlyle, Arniel, Sacco and Sutter are fired as Simmons speculates, the Leafs would have 39 coaching candidates to replace Wilson without Eakins.

The average tenure of a NHL coach is around 2.6 years. Before Wilson's next deal would be up, most of the current coaches will come available - some who will be replaced by some of the names I've mentioned.

It's a gigantic revolving door. The major loss would be if they missed a Scotty Bowman. Don't know how many of those there are among the 39 but not many if any. Eakins doesn't strike me as a future Bowman.

Like Pat Quinn, I didn't care for Eakins that much as a player but respect him more as a coach. But beyond that, it's a bunch of hand-wringing over very little in my opinion.

Wilson is doing a decent job this season. If Eakins moves on, so be it. There will be plenty of comparable candidates when Wilson's time is up.

On a side note, I watched Muller's PC with the Canes. I was interested in Muller before but lost some interest after his PC. He may be in a little over his head right now. Just the feeling I was left with.
 
On a positive note though, if another team wants to look for a coach in the future, Carlyle is now available, so maybe they leave Eakins alone.  If the Leafs season goes all to hell and we miss the playoffs, Burke will finally fire Wilson, and then maybe Eakins gets the job.
 
Potvin29 said:
What is it about Eakins that appeals to you?  Honestly curious as I don't know much at all about his coaching style.
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Like many other up and coming coaches he's in tune with the younger players. It's no surprise we're seeing guys on the Marlies develop nicely under Eakins.  His teams have been near the top in penalty killing for more than 1 season now.  He's young and he's going to be a great NHL coach some day, I don't want the Leafs organization to lose him.
 
Deebo said:
Zee said:
Sometimes I hate twitter for dashing my hopes so quickly.
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Common sense should have prevented you from having hopes of this nature to begin with.
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I hate when common sense is brought into an argument. It just flatlines the whole discussion. ;)
 
If the Leafs fall out of the playoffs again this season it will have already been too late.  Wilson will then get fired, and i'll throw out the old "I told you so" posts. Burke being loyal to Wilson is one thing, holding onto him for too long is quite another.  His expiration date should have been up last April.
 
Zee said:
If the Leafs fall out of the playoffs again this season it will have already been too late.  Wilson will then get fired, and i'll throw out the old "I told you so" posts. Burke being loyal to Wilson is one thing, holding onto him for too long is quite another.  His expiration date should have been up last April.
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I agreed with you last April. I would have fired him.

But we have a new season. I think he's done a pretty good job. If he misses the playoffs, I won't say "I told you so" because of his effort to date. But I will once again agree that he be shown the door.

If they go into a deep slump and fall badly in the standings, I'll be suggesting replacements.

In the interim, I'm cheering him on and hoping he's successful because he's the coach of my team. If he loses his job during the season, it can't bode well for our chances of making the playoffs.
 
Zee said:
If the Leafs fall out of the playoffs again this season it will have already been too late.  Wilson will then get fired, and i'll throw out the old "I told you so" posts. Burke being loyal to Wilson is one thing, holding onto him for too long is quite another.  His expiration date should have been up last April.
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Who would you have told what?

I didn't say he shouldn't have been fired in April or we will definitley make the playoffs with him, just that common sense would dictate that he won't be fired in the immediate future.
 
cw said:
If he loses his job during the season, it can't bode well for our chances of making the playoffs.
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St. Louis is 8-1-2 since Hitchcock took over.  Just saying.  ;)
 
Zee said:
For once Simmons is correct.  Eakins should have been given a shot at the beginning of this season in my opinion.  We'll most
likely lose him as a head coach to another team.
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Dallas Eakins will, in all likelihood, coach in the NHL someday, whether it'd be for the Leafs, or some other outfit.  Still, just as some people describe Eakins has having a good rapport with the younger players, (as evidenced by the suuccess experienced by the Marlies this season), there is no indication whatsoever to pinpoint Eakins with great NHL success, should he ever make the jump there.

As with any good coach, it often depends on how said person's capabilites in dealing with the players on a higher professionl level (the NHL), and, the kind of players willing to listen, learn, and play your style.  Very important cmponents for success at the NHL level.
 
Right now, Wilson does not deserve to be fired.  We have to face the facts that even though the Leafs tried their very best, but were not match for the Bruins who are just a very good team.  I am not even sure if Reimer would have made a difference.  It will be interesting what happens when Reimer plays against them Saturday. 

Despite the loss I still see this team making the playoffs as long as they continue to play hard and use their speed, but the one thing the Leafs lacked last night was a big power forward who can score - a Roberts type player with some grit.  That is the type of player the Leafs need if they want to be considered as one of the top teams. 

 
Yeah, I don't think Reimer would have made a lot of difference last night.

It was two plays that stuck out to me, the Schenn moment and Chara being wide open in front after Lupul blew a tire/refs missed a call that was a real difference on the score sheet.
 
Zee said:
cw said:
If he loses his job during the season, it can't bode well for our chances of making the playoffs.
Click to expand...

St. Louis is 8-1-2 since Hitchcock took over.  Just saying.  ;)
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Was St. Louis fighting it out for the division lead playing .600 hockey when they gassed their coach? Nope. They were below .500.

Coaching changes don't always work out. A coaching change is not a guarantee to a better result. It's often a desperate act to get a different result with the same players.

I think a bunch of Leafs fans would be quite pleased if the talent on this club played .600 hockey for the balance of the year.

There is zero sign that the players have quit or tuned Wilson out.

Until Wilson falters, I'd leave well enough alone.

Reminds me a little of an Aesop's Fable. The one about the dog that looks into the water with a piece of meat in it's mouth ...  ;)
 
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