The Toronto Maple Leafs are turning to a new voice after firing coach Ron Wilson.
Former Anaheim Ducks coach Randy Carlyle was named as Wilson's replacement on Friday night.
General manager Brian Burke made the move after watching the Leafs crash out of the Eastern Conference playoff race over the last month.
Burke will hold a 10 a.m. press conference in Montreal Saturday morning to address the recent moves. Watch it live on CityNews Channel, Rogers digital channel 15
The box below is tracking "Ron Wilson" on Twitter:
"This was not an easy decision for me to make," said Burke in a statement. "I want to thank Ron for all of his hard work and dedication to our organization over the past four seasons."
As recently as late January, the Leafs appeared to be well on their way to ending a playoff drought that stretches back to 2004. But a 1-9-1 skid starting Feb. 7 sent them spiralling down the standings to 10th place, five points out of a playoff spot, and sealed Wilson's fate.
Burke's relationship with Carlyle goes back to 2005 when Burke hired him as coach in Anaheim.
In the most successful season in Ducks' history, and with Burke at the helm, Carlyle guided the team to their first-ever Stanley Cup championship in 2007.
Carlyle, 55, spent seven seasons as coach in Anaheim and led the team to five playoff appearances. Only Detroit's Mike Babcock has more playoff wins than Carlyle's 36 since 2005-06.
The Sudbury, Ont., native was fired by the Ducks in December after a rocky start to the season.
Burke remained loyal to Wilson until the end — continuing to defend the coach after fans chanted "FI-RE WIL-SON!" at Air Canada Centre to conclude a recent homestand. But eventually he was forced to move in another direction.
"The talk in town doesn't really matter," Wilson had said earlier in the day at a Leafs practice ahead of a game Saturday in Montreal. "We've got a job to do.
"We've got to try to rectify some things and get points on the board. That's where the focus is."
The fourth stop in Wilson's long NHL coaching career was arguably the toughest. Tasked with getting the team back into the playoffs in June 2008, the best the Leafs managed under the veteran coach was a 10th-place finish in the Eastern Conference last season.
Wilson compiled a 130-135-45 record with Toronto and leaves the team sitting fourth on the NHL's all-time list for games coached.
Otherwise, it was far from a milestone season. In their last 11 games, the Leafs allowed 45 goals, an average of more than four per game.
It was clear last summer that Wilson's hold on the job was weakening. In June, Burke fired assistants Keith Acton and Tim Hunter — a long-time Wilson ally — and replaced them with Greg Cronin and Scott Gordon, who held past head coaching experience with the New York Islanders.
Even though Wilson and Burke shared a long history dating back to their time at Providence College in Rhode Island, Wilson was hired for the job in 2008 by interim GM Cliff Fletcher.
He took a combative stance with the media right from the beginning — bringing his Canadian passport to the introductory press conference because he was sensitive to stories hailing him as the franchise's first American coach. He also said "Bring it on" when asked about the scrutiny to come.
It was a rocky ride.
The 56-year-old signed a contract extension in December and will be paid through the end of next season. It remains to be seen whether he'll make his way back to the NHL.
In 1,401 career games with Anaheim, Washington, San Jose and Toronto, he has a 648-561-91 record with 101 ties.
The Leafs have 18 games to play, which is plenty of time to put a streak together to avoid missing the playoffs for a seventh straight season.
They expected more this season, particularly after a strong first half.
"We had a real good chance of being a top-four team in the East at the all-star break and now we're looking at having to put together a bunch of wins to get in the playoffs," said forward Joffrey Lupul. "That's frustrating."
Burke kept his team intact at Monday's trade deadline, believing it can win. They have since lost two in a row.
A bad omen is that their recent slide has left them with exactly the same number of points (65) as they had on the same date a year ago, when they ended up finishing eight points out of the playoffs despite a late spurt of wins.
— With files from sports reporter Bill Beacon in Montreal.