Wilson To Be Named Leafs Coach. First Round Success Here We Come!

...Not any second round success, mind you. But after three seasons of NO rounds of success, I think we should take what we can get. The Leafs could do a lot better than Ron Wilson in the coach department, but they could do a lot worse...like, say, anyone that Richard Peddie thinks is good. I wonder if Peddie has brought up hiring his son-in-law yet? It seems like exactly the type of thing he'd do. Here is a memo from my desk I'm going to pass up the line to the folks at MLSE:

Please keep in mind that the Leafs have been my life my entire life, and I only care about them winning the Stanley Cup. But I'm not a rich, arrogant 50-something businessman whose dream it is to one day live in a house made of money. So, what the fuck do I know?

Ron Wilson. I'm not a fan of his per se, as I've mentioned, he was only able to get some strong Sharks teams to heroically underproduce in the playoffs after good regular seasons. What I do like about him is his aura of strength. I've written before about how the Leafs benefit most when led by a passionate, charismatic coach. I don't doubt that Wilson has those qualities. With the daily trial by fire that goes with playing in Toronto, we need a group of men who are steeled by that, not withered by it. Wilson is someone who can push some of that heat out onto the ice where it belongs. At the very least, he'll always get a rise out the Leafs. Can you see Darcy get challenged and go to war for Wilson? Definitely. Can you see him hate Wilson's guts, and play hard in spite of him? Yes again.

Myself, I like what Alec Brownscome had to say on that website. He's elected Craig Hartsburg. Alec points out that Hartsburg is a coach with a great eye for young talent, and paired with the right assistants (his suggestions: Dale Hunter and Doug Gilmour), he'd be able to inspire and motivate a Leaf squad clearly needing to go with a youth movement. It's a whole side of the possible coaching coin that deserves a thought or two. I'd link you to Alec's article directly, but it'd mean sending you over to, you know, that site. Personally, I'd much rather send you here or here or here or here or here or here or here or here or here or here.

Oh yes, one more thing: The Red Wings were 30 seconds away from winning the Stanley Cup last night when the Penguins scored after Brian Rafalski failed to clear the puck out of the zone. Look at your watch, feel how long 30 seconds is, and think about just how short an amount of time that is.

SPECIAL, I KNEW I'D F IT UP SOMEHOW UPDATE: HERE!