FanHouse Randy Carlyle

In the NHL, coach firings are as common as parking tickets in New York City. Throughout the NHL season I'll be taking a bi-weekly look at five coaches who are the most likely to get fired. Be advised your local coach may be axed at any moment. Consider this fair warning.

Things have changed quite a bit since our last look at coaches with warm cushions. For one, the Lightning are making me look bad at 3-1-3 since the last installment. The Leafs have won a few games and things have gone from bad to an Alexander Daigle brand of awful for the Hurricanes. We'll take a look at all of that and more after the jump.

There's a scene in an old Simpsons episode (the exact episode escapes me) where Otto the bus driver is attending a concert, sitting amongst a sea of spectators who are all standing up, screaming, and enjoying themselves. Otto, annoyed by his line of vision being obstructed by his fellow concert-goers, screamed for everyone else to "sit down, sit down, you're ruining it for the rest of us."

A similar scene played out high atop section E-16 of Mellon Arena on Tuesday night, nearly leading to a fight between two women as the Pittsburgh Penguins and Detroit Red Wings frantically played the final six minutes of the third period of Game 3.

After some late-game fisticuffs on Tuesday, the Detroit Red Wings and Anaheim Ducks are set to take part in a one-and-done Game 7 at Joe Louis Arena, in a contest that has to be more entertaining -- from a competitive standpoint -- than what we saw on Wednesday in Washington. Depending on who you ask, the line brawl in the closing minutes of Game 6 could be a rallying cry for the Red Wings.

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The NHL has decided not to suspend Ducks forward Mike Brown for his first-period hit on Detroit's Jiri Hudler in Game 1, which undoubtedly will upset the Red Wings and will lead to declarations that the league isn't being consistent in its discipline. After all, the argument goes, the league leveled a six-game suspension on Washington's Donald Brashear for a hit on Blair Betts of the Rangers in the first round.

Perhaps the NHL overreacted somewhat in that instance, but in this case, the decision seems warranted. After repeated viewings of Brown's hit on Hudler, I was not convinced it warranted a suspension, particularly a lengthy one.

Throughout their first-round series against top-seed San Jose, the Anaheim Ducks made a habit out of being badly outshot. They did a wonderful job protecting goalie Jonas Hiller, and he was awesome stopping the first shot, whether he got a good look or not.

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There has been a lot of talk about hits to the head in the NHL playoffs so far. Washington's Donald Brashear got a controversial six-game suspension for his shot high on Ranger Blair Betts during Game 6 of their series.

Friday night, Anaheim and Detroit met to open their Western Conference semifinal series. During the first period, the intensity got cranked up big-time on a late and high hit by Anaheim's Mike Brown on Red Wing forward Jiri Hudler in Detroit's 3-2 win.

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Two years ago, a much more heralded Anaheim Ducks team took out Detroit on their way to a Stanley Cup. This time, the Ducks enter a series against the Red Wings as perhaps the most-feared eighth seed in NHL playoff history. That said, they're still an eighth seed, and a decided underdog. Is this the end of "Cinderella"?

Before the Pittsburgh Penguins had Mario Lemieux, Jaromir Jagr, Sidney Crosby and Evgeni Malkin to draw fans to the building, they had to resort to promotional giveaways advertised in cheesy commercials with what are now archaic graphics and technology. They also used superstars such as Rod Schutt and Pat Price to promote their product. I guess Rick Kehoe and Randy Carlyle weren't available.

Let's go back to March 13, 1982, when the first 5,000 adults for the Penguins vs. Colorado Rockies game received a promotional Budweiser picnic jug:

Every Thursday, Earl Sleek will conspire with his pen and scanner to bring you another installment of PuckToons. Hopefully you will find these amusing, relevant, well-drawn, or you're a person who is tolerant towards mediocrity.

The Anaheim Ducks announced a two year extension for head coach Randy Carlyle yesterday, though the OC Register Ducks blog notes that the documents were actually signed seven weeks ago. Carlyle has been the head coach for the Ducks the past three seasons under GM Brian Burke, and has quickly become the most successful coach in the team's history, qualifying for the postseason each year and leading the Ducks to their first Stanley Cup Championship in 2007.

Over at Battle of California, I wrote a post about Carlyle's extension and noted that I have some difficulty expressing the strategic nuances that have made him successful. Still, there's one aspect I can appreciate: Carlyle's constantly grumpy expression. Smiles certainly don't come naturally to the former Norris Trophy winner, and considering the team's success, perhaps that stern countenance contributes to his players' performance.

However he gets his results, I am excited as a Ducks fan for two more years of Carlyle's frowns. Stay grumpy, dude.

An NHL Head Coach wouldn't be doing their job if they weren't whining about the officiating, given that it's their job to help absolve their players of responsibility. Since the refs can't respond, they are a very easy target.

Still, one wonders exactly how refs must feel when a coach calls them out for 'unfair treatment'. Wouldn't you expect the refs to pay an extra bit of attention to that coach's team? Perhaps not, but it doesn't help that Ducks' coach Randy Carlyle is whining about 'unfair treatment'.

The Ducks, who lead the NHL with 654 penalty minutes, further enhanced their reputation as an undisciplined team by taking 12 more penalties in Monday night's 4-3 overtime win over the Columbus Blue Jackets.

"For whatever reason, we seem to be found guilty more often than the opposition that we play and we don't feel that we commit the same amount of crimes," Carlyle said

Yes, Randy, I'm sure the refs get together before the game and scheme, "We gotta get them Ducks and call lots of penalties against them!".

The Ducks play an extremely physical/thuggish style of game. When you have a roster that includes Brad May, Chris Pronger, Ryan Getzlaf, Travis Moen, George Parros, Shane Hnidy, Todd Bertuzzi, and Corey Perry, you should expect to be shorthanded more often than the opposition.

For Carlyle to sit there and cry about officiating indicates that he fails to see that his group of players is all about the crashing and bashing, and that the coach is responsible for the style of play the Ducks bring to the rink on a nightly basis. If you are going to play with fire, expect to get burnt once in awhile. Instead of crying like Britney Spears on a badly-shot home video, how about telling your players to smarten the hell up, huh?