The Anaheim Ducks are falling back on a familiar face for their head coaching vacancy.
Anaheim Ducks reportedly set to bring back Randy Carlyle as head coach
Carlyle is a decade removed from bringing a Stanley Cup to Anaheim.
According to TSN’s Darren Dreger (and originally reported by ESPN’s John Buccigross), the Ducks are prepared to announce Randy Carlyle as their new head coach on Tuesday. Carlyle is filling a role vacated by Bruce Boudreau, who was fired after a first round exit in the Stanley Cup Playoffs in May.
Ducks GM Bob Murray and Carlyle have a history. Carlyle coached the Ducks from 2005-2012, bringing the Stanley Cup to Anaheim for the first time in his second season and making the playoffs in all but two years with him at the helm. Carlyle was fired after a slow start to the 2011-12 season. Ironically, the Ducks replaced him with Boudreau, the guy he will now replace.
Carlyle’s last few years were spent in Toronto, where he didn’t find nearly as much success. In the four years with Carlyle behind the bench, the Leafs made the playoffs only once, including a dramatic fall-off after that lone appearance that saw the franchise tumble out of playoff contention and into a full franchise rebuild by the time Carlyle was fired in 2015. During his tenure in Toronto, Carlyle was much-maligned for his team’s general failure on a number of levels. Perhaps Murray thinks familiarity will bring Carlyle back to his days of coaching success a decade ago.
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