Normally I write my sports posts on Mondays, but yesterdays news was too big to wait, and besides this is my shitty blog I can do what I want. I would've wrote something yesterday but I was a little busy getting a fucking root canal, plus it's good to absorb it all for 24 hours... well as good as listening to the cesspool that is the Toronto media is for 24 hours.
It's no secret that I didn't like Randy Carlyle, I thought it was a terrible decision to hire him right from the jump. Carlyle won a Cup everyone says, so fucking what, I could've won a Cup with that Anaheim team with first-ballot hall of famers on the blue line, plus they played the fucking Sens in the Cup Final too, what a gift that was. His young, talented Anaheim team started to falter under him, and he was benching Corey Perry, wanting to trade Ryan Getzlaf, and as soon as Carlyle left Anaheim became a better team. I am not going to sit here and say the Leafs are going to magically become a better team overnight because Randy is gone, but the organization is in a dramatically better place without him around.
Randy should've been fired last off season, any fucking monkey could've told you that, but for some inexplicable reason Brendan Shanahan did not feel the need to come in and rock the boat right away, so instead of firing Randy after the 2-12-0 collapse to end their season, Randy got his trusted assistants fired, and he got a fucking contract extension!! Randy is going to be paid by the Leafs until the end of next season I know coaches don't count under the cap, and the Leafs have money to burn but this is beyond fucking stupid and is a massive misstep of Shanahan's leadership thus far. Essentially the Leafs have wasted a half a season "evaluating" Randy when he should've been shown the door months ago.
Randy is a stubborn old school piece of shit. He can mutter on about "compete" or any other 1970's cliches all he wants, the fact is it was his way or the highway. Carlyle refused to play his 4th line, back in his day the 4th line was reserved for face-punching troglodytes and he insisted on dressing two of them every night last season in Colton Orr and Fraser McClaren, this past off season management took his goons away and he STILL barely plays his fourth line. In case you haven't watched successful teams lately, winning teams consistently roll 4 lines and don't ride their first line into the ground. There was only one way with Randy Carlyle and he continually tried to hammer a square peg into a round hole. Pushed out were players Randy under-utlized like Mikhail Grabovski and Clarke MacArthur, in comes "Randy Players" like David Fucking Clarkson and a glut of bottom 6 players brought in for their "compete". PS I fucking hate that word to describe hockey players, go compete my nuts.
Then there is the fact that Randy is a cancer to younger players. How are young, talented players like Peter Holland supposed to grow when their coach doesn't trust them and nails them to the bench or press box anytime they make a slight mistake or sneeze the wrong way. He leaned on veterans like Jay McClement while refusing to give the Kadri's and Holland's of the world a chance. Even now he is trotting out a career AHLer like Trevor Smith over some of the young guys on the Marlies like Sam Carrick (who just by coincidence was called up today). Jake Gardiner's development has been seriously hindered under Carlyle, hopefully it's not past the point of no return. The Leafs are a defensive mess (due to Randy's systems? Yes most likely) but who always got the flack? It wasn't Captain Dion Phaneuf (I'm a Phaneuf apologist btw) it wasn't old man Stephane Robidas whom the Leafs have signed until he is well into his 50's. It was always Jake, he got nailed to the bench, he spent nights watching from the press box. He gets one player (always a younger one) and picks on them, be it Gardiner or Nazem Kadri last year. I am so glad that Randy is not going to have that chance to ruin William "Snizzbone" Nylander when he is with the team next season.
Carlyle also had very 1970's attitudes on injuries and concussions... do you remember that quote above? According to Dr. Randy HELMETS CAUSE CONCUSSIONS is he fucking mental?!?! Plus his reaction to Jake Gardiner skating for the first time after his concussion "it's about time". How about when Tyler Bozak had his oblique injured and the doctor's held him back "I'm disappointed, I expected him to play". How about when perennial Band Aid Joffrey Lupul was trying to ease back from a groin injury "I don't know why he is not playing". Sure Randy, get players to come back when they are less than 100% because you have some caveman mentality that you should play through any injuries... fuck bud these guys are multi-million dollar investments, I want them to be 100% before they're back so THEY DONT END UP BACK ON THE DISABLED LIST YOU FUCKING SQUID.
So peace out Randy you fucking plug, I guarantee you like his predecessor Wrong Wilson he will not sniff another NHL head coaching job anytime soon. As for the future? Personally I would like to see the Hunter brothers take control of the team. Mark Hunter already works in the front office, I say let him become GM (Dave Nonis is a clown too) and bring Dale in to coach the team. The Hunters turned the London Knights from a 5 win team in the late 90's to perennial OHL contenders. I know OHL is a lot different from the NHL, but I think they can do it.
This article would not be complete if I didn't address the vultures known as the Toronto media. The list is small of the hockey writers I like in Toronto - Bruce Arthur and James Mirtle. That's it. The rest of them can go fuck themselves, ESPECIALLY Damien Cox, Steve Simmons, Cathal Kelly and fucking Dave Feschuk. Wrong Wilson decided to stick his filthy nose into the situation calling up TSN Radio and saying that Phil Kessel was uncoachable, and of course that started a fucking fire storm with the vultures. Dave Feschuk is a mittenstringer at best and a fucking troll at worst, he has written countless articles slamming Phil Kessel for being fat, for being lazy, for having no character. Don't forget Feschuk is the same piece of shit that called James Reimers mother at home demanding comment on his injury... yes he called Reimers mother. Anyways Kessel rightly put Feschuk in his place calling him an idiot when he asked Kessel if he was uncoachable. What kind of fucking answer was he expecting? Did you think Kessel was going to pat your head and give you a trophy, what a fucking troll move that was. Phil Kessel is not the problem with the Leafs, only in fucking Toronto does a perennial 30+ goal scorer and one of the best offensive players in the game receive so much flack. Kessel does all this without playing with a true #1 centre... I am sorry Bozie the only reason you get the points you do is because of Phil, on any other team he'd be a borderline AHLer. These fucking media vultures get morons behind them wanting to run Phil Kessel out of town. Hey remember when the Philadelphia media got behind running Jeff Carter and Mike Richards out of town for their "lack of compete" and partying? Those guys only have two Stanley Cup rings and the Flyers have been nothing short of horse shit since. Phil Kessel is an elite player in the NHL, Cathal Kelly had a turd of an article this morning calling him a "Coca-Cola swilling Holy Fool" (side note: huh?) and demanding he gets traded, to hell with the return. Typical reactionary bullshit. The tabloid rag known as the Toronto Sun had a picture of Phaneuf, Kessel and Gardiner on the front of the Sports Section with the label "The Uncoachables" Hey they are the same retards that shilled for Rob Ford and employ Joe "Where is your Hat?" Warmington and Sue-Ann Levy who is the scum of the universe. They also were over the moon thrilled with the signing of "Wendal Clarkson". Fuck I am just rambling at this point, but the bottom line is the Toronto Sports Media are scum and it's no fucking surprise nobody really wants to sign with the Leafs. The Toronto Sports Media like to claim it's the fans that are insane, but the insane fans are the ones who take the words of pieces of shit like Cox, Simmons, Feschuk and Kelly like gospel.
There is no easy fix with this Leafs team, Nonis has fucked up the cap dishing out massive, unmoveable contracts (dickheads who are yelling to trade Phaneuf, Clarkson and Kessel... get a fucking clue no team are will pick up those contracts). But management is moving in the right direction in firing Carlyle, it was the correct move that was long overdue.
Writing all this has depressed the fuck out of me... I am going to Popeyes.
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