Dave Nonis addresses reporters at the news conference announcing his appointment as the new general manager of the Maple Leafs on Jan. 9, 2013. (Veronica Henri/QMI Agency)
TORONTO - When Dave Nonis was running the Vancouver Canucks he got a call one day from his old boss, Brian Burke, asking about the availability of Randy Carlyle.
At the time, Carlyle was coach, general manager, president, and just about everything else with the Manitoba Moose of the American Hockey League.
And at the time, Mike Babcock was the incumbent coach of Burke's Anaheim Ducks, hired by the previous general manager and his contract was up.
So Burke made two decisions: 1) to let Babcock walk from Anaheim, which later became controversial to a point because of his immense success in Detroit; 2) to make a pitch to Nonis to bring Carlyle in to coach the Ducks, which became less controversial when Carlyle took the team to the conference final in his first year and the Stanley Cup in his second.
