No question the honeymoon is over for Ron Wilson this season. He has got to produce or he will be gone. A lot of things are working against Wilson. When you look at what happened with Lee Stempniak, you begin to wonder. A former 27-goal scorer with St. Louis, he scored just 25 goals in 123 games with the Leafs. Then when traded to Phoenix, he scores 14 goals in just 18 games. If he continues to score at a similar pace this season, you begin to wonder why Ron Wilson couldn't take advantage of his scoring ability.
1. His track record
Wilson has coached 1255 regular season games in the NHL with a 582-499-101-73 record. That's pretty good but what have you done for us lately? With the Leafs he has been just 64-73-27 with 24th and 29th finishes. Not so good for a coach being paid #1.4 million per season. With the Mighty Ducks it took him four season to get into the playoffs. The Capitals were a playoff team in his first season. He got into the playoffs in his second season with the Sharks. But the Leafs who haven't been in the playoffs for six season there can be no more waiting. But his playoff record is not too impressive just 47-48 with no Stanley Cup and only one appearance in the Finals 13 years ago.
2. Leaf talent and depth
Let's face it the Maple Leafs finished below every team but the Oilers last season and they didn't undergo a major rebuild in the offseason. They added only Kris Versteeg as a top 6 forward so they will be relying on inexperienced players like Tyler Bozak and Nazem Kadri to turn the team around. Good luck with that one. Certainly the late season trade that brought Dion Phaneuf will help and hopefully Jonas Gustavsson's health issues are behind him. There just isn't a lot of top end talent here. There isn't really going to be much depth on the farm team waiting for a call. Last season the Leafs drained the Marlies of their top talent and by the end of the season, tough guy Andre Deveaux was top goal scorer.
3. His personality
Ron Wilson is prickly and abrasive. So basically he is fine sending out barbs but doesn't like to receive them. His rant with Fan reporter Howard Berger last season was embarrassing. He has no problems calling out players publicly and denies that he has problems getting along with his players. He repeated that denial this summer when Tomas Kaberle's father was quoted in the Czech news stating the coach couldn't see how anyone could get along with Wilson. There is no question that Wilson is not a player's coach. So with the limited talent he has to work with, will be able to get his players to give him a maximum effort in order to make the playoffs. The players understand that a poor start would likely cost the coach his job. There won't be any tears shed if that happens.
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