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Toronto Maple Leafs fires GM Dave Nonis, coach Peter Horachek

By Patrick Schmidt

Mar 23, 2015; Toronto, Ontario, CAN; Toronto Maple Leafs interim head coach Peter Horachek looks up at the scoreboard during a break in the action against Minnesota Wild at the Air Canada Centre. Minnesota defeated Toronto 2-1. Mandatory Credit: John E. Sokolowski-USA TODAY Sports
Mar 23, 2015; Toronto, Ontario, CAN; Toronto Maple Leafs interim head coach Peter Horachek looks up at the scoreboard during a break in the action against Minnesota Wild at the Air Canada Centre. Minnesota defeated Toronto 2-1. Mandatory Credit: John E. Sokolowski-USA TODAY Sports /
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The Toronto Maple Leafs are cleaning house after a dismal season and fired general manager Dave Nonis and coach Peter Horachek.

For the second time this year, the Toronto Maple Leafs have fired their head coach. Toronto terminated Peter Horachek after the Leafs finished with a 30-44-8 record, the fourth-worst record in the NHL.

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Toronto also fired general manager Dave Nonis and Horachek’s assistant coaches, Steve Spott, Chris Dennis and goalie coach Rick St. Croix have been fired as well. These are moves that don’t come as a surprise after the Leafs sank like a stone in water after Randy Carlyle was fired on Jan. 6. Toronto was 21-16-3 at the time of Carlyle’s firing and led the NHL in goals per game.

But after the firing of Carlyle, Toronto went 9-28-5 and lost 16 of the first 18 games with Horachek at the helm, including an embarrassing 11-game losing streak that saw Toronto’s offense disappear.

Toronto once led the league with more than three goals per game but finished the season ranked 24th with an average of 2.5 goals per game. The goaltending wasn’t much better with Jonathan Bernier in net and they finished 25th in goals against and the special teams were lackluster, finishing with the No. 26 power play and No. 22 penalty kill.

With the organization cleaning house this is an important offseason for president Brendan Shanahan who has to find a general manager to build the roster through the draft with young talent and evaluating the players on the roster and determining who will be a part of the team’s future.

Could Phil Kessel be on the way out? How about Dion Phaneuf?

Kessel is a perennial All-Star-caliber player and one of the league’s best scorers, but he seems to have worn out his welcome in Toronto and even chided the local media earlier this year for their criticism of the team’s captain, Phaneuf.

Both players were often mentioned in trade rumors leading up to the trade deadline earlier this year, but their hefty contracts precluded any team from pulling the trigger on at trade. Perhaps the offseason will find more takers where they have more time to manage the salary cap and fit them in under the cap.

Then Shanahan and his new general manager have to find the right head coach to lead the team back to the playoffs and get their first division title since the 1999-2000 season and more importantly, their first Stanley Cup since the 1966-1967 season when they won their 13th Cup.

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