The Anaheim Ducks Relieve Randy Carlyle of His Duties

The Anaheim Ducks announced this afternoon that they have relieved head coach, Randy Carlyle, of his duties.

This season has been rough for the Anaheim Ducks and fans alike. The team started the season off on a decent foot, although they were playing horribly, by winning five of their first seven games. From there, the season turned into a nightmare.

Between October 20th and November 1st, the Anaheim Ducks went winless in seven games. After breaking their losing streak, the team went on to win quite a few games, including their impressive comeback in Washington.

However, in December, that came to a startling halt again when the Ducks lost 12 games in a row, surpassing the previous franchise record for consecutive losses. One might think that after a streak like that, the organization might seek someone else to take over the coaching duties.

Nevertheless, to everyone’s surprise, Randy Carlyle remained the bench boss in Anaheim. Two consecutive wins broke the streak, but it didn’t take long before “Streak 3.0” reared its ugly head and now currently stands at seven games lost.

More from Pucks of a Feather

• Who could the Anaheim Ducks consider presenting offer sheets to?
• Is Pierre-Luc Dubois on the cards for the rebuilding Anaheim Ducks?
• Making the case for the Anaheim Ducks to trade with the Edmonton Oilers
• Anaheim Ducks might benefit tremendously by trading John Gibson
• How close are the Anaheim Ducks to becoming contenders again?

At this point in the season, with the current state of the team, any thought of having a shot at the playoffs was long gone. Bob Murray had previously stated that the team was not looking into a coaching replacement, and fans began losing hope in the team they loved.

A few days ago, many faithful Orange Alliance Members received information to renew their season tickets for next season. To no surprise, many of you made it clear that you would not be renewing your season tickets with the Anaheim Ducks.

Shortly thereafter, Vice President and General Manager, Bob Murray, finally pulled the trigger. Earlier this afternoon, it was announced that Randy Carlyle would be relieved of his coaching duties effective immediately. His replacement? None other than Bob Murray himself.

The rest of this season is going to be quite interesting as we watch the Ducks General Manager take up the position of the “big cheese” behind the bench. Having never coached an NHL game in his career, one can only assume he’s there to put pressure on the team. The most logical assumption is that the assistant coaches will be doing most of the actual coaching for the rest of the season.

With only a few months left in the NHL season, it is going to be interesting to see if the absence of Randy Carlyle makes any bit of difference. Bob Murray is putting his neck out on the line and I think all of us, whether we’re supportive of the move or not, are interested to see what changes GMBM can make to this team.

We will go more in-depth on the firing of Randy Carlyle and Bob Murray’s new position as interim head coach as things develop over the week. For now, let’s just rejoice in the fact that real change is headed to Anaheim.

What are your thoughts on the Anaheim Ducks firing Randy Carlyle? Do you believe that Bob Murray is the right choice for interim coach? Let us know by leaving a comment down below!