Leafs - Who goes first?

[Hacker]

I don't understand how the phrase 'Great Coach' and the name Paul Maurice go together in the same sentence.....unless it goes something like 'At the awards dinner Toronto Maple Leaf coach Paul Maurice was sitting next to Scotty Bowman, a great coach who is now retired.'

Come on guys Maurice's NHL coaching record is right around .400 - that might be great for the Leafs but it certainly isn't nearly close to being worthy of the 'Great' tag

[jonf]

Nobody could make winners out of the leafs group of players. It's that simple. Ferguson needs to go. Maurice deserves a chance with some real players.

[LobWedge]

I don't understand how the phrase 'Great Coach' and the name Paul Maurice go together in the same sentence.....unless it goes something like 'At the awards dinner Toronto Maple Leaf coach Paul Maurice was sitting next to Scotty Bowman, a great coach who is now retired.'

Come on guys Maurice's NHL coaching record is right around .400 - that might be great for the Leafs but it certainly isn't nearly close to being worthy of the 'Great' tag

Isn't that right around Paddock's career percentage? That doesn't change the fact that he's still a great coach. He's just had the benefit of inheriting an already great team, that was brought along by the likes of Nielson, Martin, and Murray. Maurice was instrumental in helping build Carolina into a contender, but he's inherited a fat, arthritic, old pig, that's blind in one eye. I'd say he's done a great job so far with what he's been dealt.

[Hacker]

Isn't that right around Paddock's career percentage?

You certainly won't hear me call Paddock a great coach - I have issues with him to be sure

The 'Cains were still a good team when Maurice was fired, I'm having problems seeing anything that he's done that would leave me to believe that his a great coach.....personally I think that he fancies himself to be a stand-up comic

[LobWedge]

You certainly won't hear me call Paddock a great coach - I have issues with him to be sure

The 'Cains were still a good team when Maurice was fired, I'm having problems seeing anything that he's done that would leave me to believe that his a great coach.....personally I think that he fancies himself to be a stand-up comic

Dude, you gotta have a sense of humour if you're going to coach in Toronto. It's the only way to keep the media from eating you alive.

[Hacker]

Dude, you gotta have a sense of humour if you're going to coach in Toronto. It's the only way to keep the media from eating you alive.

I agree, but you have to be serious at some point - and the way that the Leafs keep blowing games in the final minutes of games I think that a good 'eating alive' is well over due

[LobWedge]

Another huge part of the problem is that there's a ton of money tied up in salaries for at least the next 2 years, on players that are not anywhere near worth it, and nobody else wants at those prices.

Tucker - $9M over the next 3 years
Ponikarovsky - $5M over the next 2
McCabe - $14M over the next 3
Kubina - $10M over the next 2
Gill - $2.1M next year
(glass knees) Coliaicovo - $2.8M over the next 2
Raycroft - $2.2M next year

And, with the exception of Sundin, no signifcant UFA's at the end of this season.

It's gonna get worse before it potentially gets better...

[Golfbum]

JF goes first.
As my doctor said about Maurice, and he is a die hard Leafs Fan
"He can't make Chicken Soup out of Chicken S**T"

The coach can only work with what the GM gives him, and that ain't much right now! 60 shots on net last night against Phillie and they lose the game. I know the goalie made some good saves but come on, 60 shots and only 2 goals? There had to be some quality rebounds there and apparently there were no Leafs hanging around to bang them in the back of the net.