Randy Carlyle, the winningest coach in Ducks history, and Stanley Cup champion was fired last night. Most Ducks fans have wanted him out for a while, but its hard to forget how much he did for this team. With the exception of the 2003 team that made it all the way to game 7 of the Stanley Cup finals, Carlyle has been the head coach for all the Ducks deep runs in the playoffs. Unfortunately for him, and the Ducks they just got in too deep of a hole to not make some kind of major change. The major change is usually a big trade, or the firing of the head coach, and this time it is the head coach that goes. I am grateful of the cup Carlyle brought the Ducks, but one problem he seemed to have was the failure to adapt to the players he has. The Ducks have a very talented group this year, and are still playing awful and some say there are players that just stopped listening. If that is the case then maybe a new voice is exactly what the Ducks needed.
Can “Super Bruce” save the day? He did it once before. In the 07′-08′ season he took a last place Capitals all the way to winning the Division. I will be realistic here and say that a comeback that big is out of the question. There is no way the Ducks can win the division, but can Boudreau turn the Ducks around enough to sneak back into the playoff race? Now that is a possibility. It definitely won’t be easy, but there is enough skill in the lineup that if Boudreau can breathe some life back into the players it could make for at least an exciting attempt at a comeback. As a fan that is all you are asking right? To have the games be exciting again! I can’t wait for his first game as coach tomorrow against Philadelphia. As a Duck fan there hasn’t been too much to be excited about, so at the very least this move will make the games fun to watch again. I don’t watch too many eastern conference games over here in california but i have followed the Capitals in the playoffs, and one thing that I really liked about Boudreau is the emotions he shows. When the Capitals win a game you know it. Boudreau jumps and cheers, which is something that is never seen from Carlyle who looks like he just wants to get back into the locker room as soon as he can showing little emotion after a big win. Maybe the Ducks players can benefit from that, or at least a change of pace. It will also be very interesting how the Ducks offense will change. Will Boudreau be able to get more out of a player like Ryan Getzlaf who has a ton of talent, but has been off to a slow start and has yet to take his game to the next level like we know he is capable of. Also I have noticed with the revolving door the Ducks have had on defense the last few years a few players have said it is hard to adapt to Carlyles style of defense system. Hopefully Boudreau can put in a defense system that the Ducks players can thrive in.
I was a little surprised to see assistant coach Mike Foligno also get fired being that the Ducks penalty killing unit has been one of the few bright spots this season.
Good luck to Randy Carlyle and the rest of the coaching staff.
This will be a hard hole to get out of this season, but hopefully “Super Bruce” can save the day!
