Fansided

Every current NHL franchise’s most beloved head coach

By Griffin Youngs

(Original Caption) Detroit Red Wings coach Scotty Bowman with the Stanley Cup on day of Red Wings celebratory parade in Detroit. (Photo by © Ralf-Finn Hestoft/CORBIS/Corbis via Getty Images)
(Original Caption) Detroit Red Wings coach Scotty Bowman with the Stanley Cup on day of Red Wings celebratory parade in Detroit. (Photo by © Ralf-Finn Hestoft/CORBIS/Corbis via Getty Images) /
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ANAHEIM, CA – APRIL 14: Head coach Randy Carlyle of the Anaheim Ducks talks during a post-game interview following Game Two of the Western Conference First Round against the San Jose Sharks during the 2018 NHL Stanley Cup Playoffs at Honda Center on April 14, 2018 in Anaheim, California. (Photo by Debora Robinson/NHLI via Getty Images)
ANAHEIM, CA – APRIL 14: Head coach Randy Carlyle of the Anaheim Ducks talks during a post-game interview following Game Two of the Western Conference First Round against the San Jose Sharks during the 2018 NHL Stanley Cup Playoffs at Honda Center on April 14, 2018 in Anaheim, California. (Photo by Debora Robinson/NHLI via Getty Images) /

Anaheim Ducks: Randy Carlyle

A runaway choice for the Anaheim Ducks, Randy Carlyle is the first coach in Ducks history to stay with the team for more than four seasons and the winningest coach in their history.

Carlyle came onboard with Anaheim in the 2005-06 season following the league-wide lockout and the Ducks missing the playoffs the year prior. In his very first season, the Ducks improved by 22 points to qualify for the playoffs, where Carlyle would take them to the Western Conference finals before bowing out to the Edmonton Oilers in five games.

In his second season as an NHL head coach, Carlyle led the Ducks to their first and only Stanley Cup Championship, losing only five games along the way and capping it off with victory over the Ottawa Senators in five games on home ice to clinch the Cup. The Ducks also set the franchise record for points in the same season, a record only passed by the 2014 Ducks, with 116. 

During his first tenure with Anaheim, the Ducks missed the playoffs only once in six seasons and never finished below .500. In the 2011-12 season, however, the Ducks went 7-13-4 in their first 24 games and Carlyle was swiftly given the hook on Nov. 30 to be replaced by Bruce Boudreau.

Carlyle was re-hired by the Ducks in 2016 after a failed tenure in Toronto, and the Ducks picked up right where they left off in his time. The Ducks won the division for the fifth straight season and advanced to the Western Conference Finals before being eliminated by the Nashville Predators in seven games. Unfortunately, this year the Ducks were swept in the first round by the San Jose Sharks.

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