Five things to expect from Randy Carlyle as Toronto Maple Leafs head coach

On Friday night, Toronto Maple Leafs GM Brian Burke fired a former Anaheim coach with whom he had a long-standing personal relationship and hired … well, a former Anaheim coach with whom he had a long-standing personal relationship.

Thus, the Ron Wilson Era ended and the Randy Carlyle Era began. From the Leafs:

Those are the vitals on the new Leafs coach; here are five things to expect from Randy Carlyle in Toronto …

He's Going To Get Defensive

No, not just with the media. Like, on the ice, too.

Eric Duhatschek called Carlyle "an adept defensive coach and the 1981 Norris Trophy winner as a player" in his short profile of the new Leafs coach. After last postseason, when the Ducks lost to the Predators, Carlyle lamented that Anaheim had enough offense to win the series but "we did not defend well enough."

He demands strong defensive zone coverage, but loves a cranked up forecheck that keeps the puck out of his defensive end. Of course, he also likes having a goaltender — be it Giguere or Hiller in Anaheim — that can bail him out. The Leafs afford him no such luxury at the moment. Which brings us to …

The Return of Francois Allaire?

The Leafs goaltending guru had been taking as much heat as Wilson did recently for the underperformance of James Reimer and Jonas Gustavsson. Allaire was the goaltending consultant in Anaheim — deftly developing J.S. Giguere, Ilya Bryzgalov and Jonas Hiller — before leaving to join Burke in Toronto in June 2009.

One assumes that Carlyle's hiring indicates Allaire's status is secure, despite the mounting criticism.

Managing Young Players

One of the knocks on Carlyle is that he's not adept at developing young players. (Yes, even though The Kid Line of Dustin Penner, Ryan Getzlaf and Corey Perry won him a Cup ring.) The Leafs are going to have a great number of them moving up the ranks as the team reloads. Carlyle, meanwhile, is the kind of coach that likes to keep his bench short and his veterans on the ice.

This might have been one of the more compelling arguments for Marlies Coach Dallas Eakins to take over, giving that young core someone to grow with rather than finding a disconnect with Carlyle. But let's see how that reputation plays out in Toronto before judging the new guy's work with the youngin's.

Poor, Poor Joffrey Lupul

How fortunate that Lupul was in Montreal when this news broke, seeing as how it's a city of sublime diversions. Because this is one relationship that needs a-mendin'.

In his second season as a Leaf, Lupul is having a career year with 66 points. Part of the reason, he said, was that Ron Wilson believed in him as a left winger where Carlyle did not. From Ducks Blog last year:

So does Carlyle still believe that or has Lupul proven his point?

That'll no doubt be one of the questions asked at the introductory press conference on Saturday. When the media meets Carlyle for the first time. Which should be interesting.

The Media

Carlyle's gruff demeaner with the media was well-established in Anaheim, although beat writer Eric Stephens says the coach got better over time. From Steve Simmons of QMI:

And it's already starting, as Carlyle arrived in Montreal to be met by the Toronto media:

Final, sarcastic words heard in the clip from the dejected scribes: "Good start ..."

There shall be no honeymoon period for Carlyle in Toronto.