Post by torontogm on Feb 10, 2015 22:54:53 GMT -5
Toronto, ON - It has been a wild ride in Toronto the last couple of days. The allegedly "dormant" Leafs organization made a coaching change just two days after making a pair of trades, one of which impacted the Marlies. The club added gritty Landon Ferraro in return for flashy sniper Reid Boucher. Both players had been struggling with their respective clubs.
"We believe that Reid has a lot of talent, but in the end we felt a change was needed and Landon is more likely to fit our needs long term," said GM Graber at the time of the deal.
The move to fire coach Glen Gulutzan after 31 games was something of a surprise because Gulutzan was viewed as a rising star when he arrived, but the club has not been as strong during the regular season, and continued to struggle in the post season. The club brought in seasoned veteran Cory Clouston to take the reins and steer the club in the right direction.
"I believe we have a talented roster here that has underperformed. It could be the leadership in the room, it could be many things, but as is often the case, the coach takes the blame," said Clouston. "I will be carefully assessing every player's role on the team over the next 10 games and hopefully come up with a consistent mix that works."
There was no question that there was greater energy on the ice for the new coach, albeit against a Seattle Thunderbirds club that has struggled recently as well.
The Marlies jumped out to a 2-0 lead on a pair of goals by Aaron Palushaj in the first period, who scored again in the third to complete the hat trick. The club added another pair of goals in the second after Benn Ferriero had cut the lead to 2-1. Seattle scored early in the third to make it 4-2 before Palushaj's goal put the Marlies in the driver's seat. Ferreiro added another goal late in the third to make it a respectable 5-3.
Coach Clouston opted to go with eight defensemen and had Palushaj, Brett Sterling, Casey Wellman, Mark Stone, and Jordan Weal all on the ice for more than 20 minutes apiece.
"That will not be a pattern, but those guys showed me a lot of jump. You work hard you'll get the ice," said the coach.
The Marlies have a day off before hosting the Oakland Seals, who sit in second place in the Western Conference. That should be a good test for a new look Marlies squad.
--- Barbie Q. Pork for the Toronto Sporting News
"We believe that Reid has a lot of talent, but in the end we felt a change was needed and Landon is more likely to fit our needs long term," said GM Graber at the time of the deal.
The move to fire coach Glen Gulutzan after 31 games was something of a surprise because Gulutzan was viewed as a rising star when he arrived, but the club has not been as strong during the regular season, and continued to struggle in the post season. The club brought in seasoned veteran Cory Clouston to take the reins and steer the club in the right direction.
"I believe we have a talented roster here that has underperformed. It could be the leadership in the room, it could be many things, but as is often the case, the coach takes the blame," said Clouston. "I will be carefully assessing every player's role on the team over the next 10 games and hopefully come up with a consistent mix that works."
There was no question that there was greater energy on the ice for the new coach, albeit against a Seattle Thunderbirds club that has struggled recently as well.
The Marlies jumped out to a 2-0 lead on a pair of goals by Aaron Palushaj in the first period, who scored again in the third to complete the hat trick. The club added another pair of goals in the second after Benn Ferriero had cut the lead to 2-1. Seattle scored early in the third to make it 4-2 before Palushaj's goal put the Marlies in the driver's seat. Ferreiro added another goal late in the third to make it a respectable 5-3.
Coach Clouston opted to go with eight defensemen and had Palushaj, Brett Sterling, Casey Wellman, Mark Stone, and Jordan Weal all on the ice for more than 20 minutes apiece.
"That will not be a pattern, but those guys showed me a lot of jump. You work hard you'll get the ice," said the coach.
The Marlies have a day off before hosting the Oakland Seals, who sit in second place in the Western Conference. That should be a good test for a new look Marlies squad.
--- Barbie Q. Pork for the Toronto Sporting News