Ron Wilson knows all too well the situation that Toronto Maple Leafs head coach Randy Carlyle is in.
He lived it.
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After the Maple Leafs’ (9-8-2) 9-2 blowout loss at home on Tuesday against the Nashville Predators, Wilson spoke to ESPN.com’s Pierre LeBrun on Wednesday. The former Leafs bench boss talked about the pressures and difficult expectations there are as the head coach of one of North America’s biggest franchises.
“I just feel so bad for Randy [Carlyle], and I actually feel bad for the players, too,” Wilson said. “Every team goes through bad spells. The Leafs are still over .500, and people there are thinking the Titanic is going down. I’ve lived it.”
Wilson was fired by former Maple Leafs general manager Brian Burke halfway through the 2011-12 season and replaced by Carlyle. During parts of his four seasons with the Leafs, Wilson had a 130-135-45 record and did not make a post-season appearance.
Part of the problem, according to Wilson, is the atmosphere and fans at the Air Canada Centre. While the Leafs have been known to sell out the 19,800-seat arena on many nights, it certainly doesn’t feel that way.
“It’s a morgue at the start of the game,” Wilson said. “You score a couple of goals early on the Leafs and then the crowd wakes up and starts to give it to the Leafs instead of encouraging them.
“I was watching last night and at the start of the second period, all the platinum [seats] are totally empty,” Wilson said. “It looked on TV like nobody was in the building. Everybody in Toronto talks about how bad it is in Florida, but in Toronto everyone sitting in the platinums are down in the suite drinking and they’re not even paying attention to the team. Hockey seems to be secondary, which is a shame.”
Leafs players weren’t letting their coach take all the blame.
While talking to reporters on Wednesday, captain Dion Phaneuf was quick to point out that it is the players’ responsibility to perform on the ice.
“We support Randy and our job is to play,” Phaneuf told reporters. “You guys obviously are going to ask questions and point fingers and that’s part of playing in a market like this.
“And when we get beat the way that we got beat, us as players deserve to take the blame because he’s not out there playing. The coaching staff is not out there playing.”
Wilson went on to comment on the fact that fans are throwing their sweaters onto the ice in disgust of the team’s play. That didn’t go over well with Wilson, who is currently living at his home in South Carolina.
“And now with the throwing of the jerseys on the ice, does it get any worse than that? That’s despicable,” said Wilson. “I know a lot of people say Toronto is the best place to play, but that’s only if it’s going miraculously well.”
The Leafs will have a chance to redeem themselves when they host Steven Stamkos and the Tampa Bay Lightning Thursday at home.
