In the lengthy history of the Maple Leafs franchise, only one coach has ever kept his job after missing the playoffs two consecutive seasons.
Take a bow, Ron Wilson.
On second thought, maybe you had better duck instead, given the number of verbal shots being fired in your direction recently.
To understand why the anti-Wilson sentiment continues to grow among fans and media alike, just look at the team’s record since he took over as coach in 2008: 64 wins, 73 losses, 27 overtime/shootout defeats, zero post-season appearances and countless nights of having his teams booed off the ice.
The numbers don’t lie, Ron. They aren’t pretty. And neither are some of the things that are being said about you out on the street.
Keeping all that in mind, what makes you think you are the right man for the job of leading this particular group of youngsters into the 2010-11 season?
“Just by how we finished the season,” Wilson answered Monday. “You need to have talent to make the playoffs. I think with this group, we’ve made a big difference in the last two months of the year.”
Fair point. If Wilson is going to be slagged because of bad stats, it’s only fair that he receives praise for the good ones. To that end, his team’s 11-6-3 run through the final 20 games of the season fuels reason for optimism, to be sure.
Of course, we’ve seen this flick before. Leafs teams in recent memory have made a habit of stepping on the gas pedal and turning it on late in the season, long after their playoff hopes have been extinguished.
Wilson claims it’s different this time around. This time the roster wasn’t full of moribund veterans who made their post-season push far too late. This time, after Brian Burke had cleaned house of the Matt Stajans, the Niklas Hagmans, the Vesa Toskalas and the Jason Blakes, it was a team of kids who impressed management with their potential.
Kids who Wilson said likely would have been on the team out of training camp last October if not for some of the contract and salary cap issues that hovered over the team.
“If I could do anything over again, I’d have gone with all the young guys I thought had made our team at training camp who had out-played a lot of veterans. But I couldn’t do that (because it was easier said than done to dump big salaries on the farm team). Next year, I don’t think we’ll be facing that.
“Players such as Christian Hanson and Tyler Bozak got about 30 or 35 games in at the end a nice dipping of their toes in the pool. We pushed you in the deep end and you were able to get out of it. Next year, you won’t have life jackets. We hope that they do the (conditioning) work in the summer and we come back a different team.”
Good point Ron. Let’s analyse next year.
You will have the same core of youngsters, the guys you feel have so much potential, so much promise.
You likely also will have Nazem Kadri, the Maple Leafs 2009 first-round draft pick who you already have practically pencilled in to the opening night lineup come October.
And you will have, according to your own words Monday, five or six new faces in the lineup too, guys that presumably will boost your talent level up front.
Kris Versteeg, perhaps? Maybe Patrick Sharp? Maybe it’s too early to predict.
But here’s a prediction that should be more concrete: Ron Wilson will be on a short leash next season. At least he should be.
Yes, during previous stints with the U.S. Olympic team, San Jose Sharks and Washington Capitals, Wilson had shown he’s a good coach.
So far in Toronto, however, he hasn’t won. Talent or no talent, that’s the bottom line.
The Leafs won only once in their first 13 outings in ‘09-10, the worst start in team history. To hear Wilson tell it, that horrific stumble out of the gates came with a less-than-ideal roster, one full of certain vets who ultimately were moved.
Now the tide has turned. Come October, he will have the youthful lineup he covets. If that recipe is not successful out of the gates, it will be time to turn the page.
It has to be, doesn’t it?
mike.zeisberger@sunmedia.ca
