Are there any coaches liked less than Ron Wilson? His comments about Team Canada after their Olympic victory against his American squad have put him under the spotlight and fans are calling for his head. Now back as the head honcho of the last-place team in the Eastern Conference, Wilson is once again just the most recent of a string of Leaf coaches who are going through rough times. The three worst records in the NHL belong to the Hurricanes, Leafs, and Oilers. With a combined record of 63-100-24, all three have more than just that in common. The three coaches are the three most recent heads of the Maple Leafs.

Quinn coached the Leafs from the 1998-99 season until 2005-06 and made the playoffs in all but his final season. His record was 300-196-52-26. He never had a losing season with the Leafs, and they even finished first in the Northeast Division in 2000, but bowed out in the second round of the playoffs. Quinn hasn’t been able to match his pre-lockout success within the NHL, but it still seen as one of the better offensively-minded coaches working today.

Maurice is a different story. Since 1995-96, he’s been the head coach of three NHL teams, including two stints with the Hurricanes. He replaced Quinn in Toronto for two seasons and compiled a 76-66-22 record, failing to make the playoffs in both seasons. His coaching career has been a roller-coaster ride, having wild successes followed by terrible performances. He’s not been able to find much stability with his players, and that may be as much due to his youth as a coach (he’s still only 43 years old) as it is his style.

While the Maple Leafs themselves are not following a pattern of destruction with their coaches, they’re certainly not learning from their mistakes. Quinn’s track record before his final season and his career since has been rather admirable. Maurice and Wilson have been similar. The Leafs’ problem is that they are not bringing in the right coaches for the players they have. Their players are not buying in to the system and are seemingly becoming comfortable with mediocrity. As long as the checks keep coming in, the Leafs will keep playing poorly. Toronto doesn’t need more player changes to fix the culture; they need to start with a coach who will set the vision that his players will buy into. They’ve not had that for years.