#3. Ron Wilson
Wilson is seventh all-time among Leafs coaches for wins, so why would he make this list?
Well for one, the win total is inflated because there were no more ties. The vast majority of Wilson’s competition coached in times when there were.
Let’s look back at an interview by Brian Burke on March 3, 2012 when he fired Wilson in the middle of his fourth season behind the bench.
"“It became obvious to me in the last week that we needed to make a coaching change if we wanted to try to salvage this season… Two and a half weeks ago we were in the eighth spot, comfortable… I don’t know — I’ve never had this before. I’ve never had a team fall off a cliff like this before in my life. I’ve had dips, I’ve had slumps, I’ve had rough patches. But this is akin to an 18-wheeler going right off a cliff. I’ve never seen anything like it before in my life. I don’t know what happened. I don’t know. I’ve never experienced this.”"
Ouch.
An ’18-wheeler going right off a cliff’ is tough to come back from and it makes sense that Wilson has yet to coach another NHL game anywhere since.
Although Wilson is seventh in wins for Leafs coaches, he’s also seventh in losses for Leafs coaches all-time.
In four seasons, he never made the playoffs and the team was mediocre at best.
Ron Wilson was a crusty old grump with a terrible attitude. He may have been successful in the past, but his style did not work in the modern era where communication was important and players expected to be treated with dignity.