The coach and GM,
To win, players must buy what Carlyle’s selling — and that’s defence
He didn’t get the results he had hoped for, winning just six of the 18 games he coached last season after replacing Ron Wilson.
But Randy Carlyle thinks the time was well spent. The Maple Leafs coach was able to give his players a taste of what they could expect this season and that’s important given the short preparation time for the coming 48-game NHL season.
Coincidentally, Carlyle, 56, begins the 2013 season in the same place he began his tenure as Leafs coach, in Montreal last March 2 after Wilson was fired. Carlyle became the 28th coach in Leafs history and won his first game, a 3-1 victory at the Bell Centre. But Carlyle would lead the Leafs to only five more wins the rest of the season.
If the Leafs are to make their first playoff appearance in eight seasons, player for player they’ll have to buy into Carlyle’s brand of hockey.
That means defence first. The run-and-gun offence is over. Players must believe that stopping a goal is just as important as scoring one. Even snipers such as winger Phil Kessel will be required to backcheck and forecheck.
“We’re not trying to take the creativity away from our offensive players but we have to be more responsible in all three zones,” Carlyle said.
“We have to put a system in place as a coaching staff and then sell it to the players that this is the way we have to play.”
Carlyle isn’t reinventing the wheel with Kessel or any of his other offensive-minded players. He did the same thing with players such as Ryan Getzlaf, Corey Perry and Tee-
“We’re not trying to take the creativity away from our offensive players but we have to be more responsible in all three zones.” COACH RANDY CARLYLE
mu Selanne when he coached the Anaheim Ducks. Those stars all bought what Carlyle was selling and it paid off with a Stanley Cup victory in 2007.
“They’re all elite players,” Carlyle said. “So when it’s Kessel’s turn to be the first player on the backcheck, he better be the first, and when it’s his turn to be the first on the forecheck, he better be the first.” The players have been quick learners during training camp. After all, Carlyle knows a little bit about defence, having won the Norris Trophy as the NHL’s best blueliner when he played for the Pittsburgh Penguins in 1981. Carlyle expects every player to compete for the puck on every shift and on every faceoff. Slackers will be parked at the end of the bench or in the press box. His job isn’t to coddle. It’s to push and push and push some more until they’re better players. Judging by the six-day training camp, the Leafs will have speed this season. That means their transition game — quickly moving the puck up the ice from their end zone — will be crucial to their success. It also will come in handy if, indeed, they are to become aggressive forecheckers who compete for the puck in the opponent’s zone. Not one for fiery speeches, Carlyle gave an inspirational talk to his troops before training camp, telling them the story behind the words “Burn the Boats” written on a board at the back of their dressing room. That slogan has been passed down in history, but one tale tells how Viking warriors showed their brav- ery by burning their boats, instilling fear in their rivals that they wouldn’t be retreating.
What that means for the Leafs is that they’re all in this together with one goal in mind — making the playoffs.
By the time Carlyle took over the Leafs last season, the team was in free fall, going 1-9-1 before the coaching change. The players were tense. Their confidence level had hit bottom. Many couldn’t believe they weren’t going to the playoffs after riding so high earlier in the season, even having challenged for top spot in the NHL standings.
A season-ending injury in early March to Joffrey Lupul took a big part of their offence out of the equation and also had a detrimental effect on Kessel’s game.
Inconsistent goaltending and shaky defence sent the once playoff-bound team sliding down the standings.
Avoiding those kinds of struggles, especially during a shortened season, is crucial, so Carlyle and his coaching staff won’t hesitate to sit players not thinking defence first.
Carlyle started last season as coach of Anaheim but was fired after a 7-13-4 start.
Born in Azilda, Ont., northwest of Sudbury, Carlyle was drafted 30th overall by the Leafs in the 1976 junior draft. He played 17 seasons in the NHL with the Leafs, the Penguins and the Winnipeg Jets, appearing in 1,055 games and scoring 647 points.
Carlyle’s journey to the NHL coaching ranks began as an assistant coach with the Washington Capitals in 2001-02. He got his first NHL head coaching job in 2005 with Anaheim.