Pens of the Past - Randy Carlyle
by FrankD on Jun 23, 2008 8:30 AM EDT
in Pens of the Past
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PrintGranted Randy Carlyle had better luck winning a Stanley Cup as a coach than he did as a player, that didn't make him any less intimidating on the blue line. After 18 seasons in the NHL, his best stats and career accomplishments came while spending time in Pittsburgh.
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Carlyle was drafted by the Maple Leafs in 1976. His contribution of 5 assist in 46 games, needless to say, failed to impress. After one more year with Toronto in 1977, Carlyle posted a dismal 2-goal, 13-assist performance He really didn't come into his own until he shipped over to the Penguins for the 1978-79 season.
As a Penguin, Carlyle quickly saw his stats on the rise. While Carlyle never scored more than 16 goals in any season, he was pretty consistent in the assist department.
Carlyle's best season came in 1980-81 with the Pens, when he tallied 16 goals and 67 assists for an 83 point All-Star season. It would be his only appearance in the All-Star Game, but all part of his Norris Trophy winning season. Carlyle spent three more seasons with the Pens before shipping off to Winnipeg to play out the remaining 10 years of his career.
Few accolades are listed on Randy Carlyle's resume as a player outside of those few accomplishments, however he was successful in Coaching the Anaheim Ducks to their first Cup run in 2007.
Plenty of hockey analysts have said that some of the best players make for some of the worst coaches, but Randy Carlyle skates on that thin line between good and average as a player and excellent as a coach. In only his second year as the Coach of Anaheim (also his second year as an NHL coach) he brought the team to the Cup and has brought the team to the playoffs in all three seasons. In the year before Anaheim's Championship, the Ducks just missed a Stanley Cup berth, losing to the Edmonton Oilers in the Western Conference.
Be sure to check in next Monday for another installment of Pens of the Past.
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Plenty of hockey analysts have said that some of the best players make for some of the worst coaches, but Randy Carlyle skates on that thin line between good and average as a player and excellent as a coach.
- See Ed Olczyk
zinnnnnnng
One can almost say the same about Gretzky as well. But the thing is, he’ll be there long enough to have a good enough team built around him. So really, it’s not so much his coaching as it is his patience.
FrankD from Pensburgh.com
Plenty of hockey analysts have said that some of the best players make for some of the worst coaches . . .
What do hockey analyst say about hockey analyst that were once good players but bad coaches . . . especially ones that became bad analyst? —-Lets ask Eddy that one.
I like when Eddie O talks about “when I coached him (then insert player’s name – Crosby, Talbot, Fleury).” It’s just funny because he hardly coached any of them. He just kinda stood up on the bench and watched the team lose.
FrankD from Pensburgh.com
Pretty high standards
Carlyle never scored more than 16 goals a game in any season
He must have been pretty good if he approached 16 goals/game at any point! ;)
by WolfpackSteelersFan on Jun 25, 2008 11:03 AM EDT reply actions
bah, thanks for pointing out my screw up!
Yeah, no hockey player who scores less than 16 goals per game is worth my time…
FrankD from Pensburgh.com
No problem :)
Just having a little fun. He played way before I was into hockey, but it’s still good to learn about the history of the Pens.
by WolfpackSteelersFan on Jun 25, 2008 3:19 PM EDT up reply actions
Well same here on the time factor. I just wanted to find a relevant and above average old-timer and talk about em, and Carlyle came to mind.
FrankD from Pensburgh.com
Speaking of old time hockey
I was just reading Dan Rooney’s book, and he mentioned that Pittsburgh used to have a hockey team called the Hornets. No, wait, I just remembered, it was at this link about Joe Tucker, the Steelers first announcer. This was linked from this story at Behind the Steel Curtain.
Anyway, I had no idea the Pens weren’t the first hockey team in Pittsburgh. Ever heard of the Hornets?
by WolfpackSteelersFan on Jun 26, 2008 1:18 PM EDT up reply actions
I had known, but I’m hardly old enough to have remembered. But I do know that the idea of naming them the Penguins was done by an investor’s wife because she liked the idea of alliteration. They also had an actual Penguin as a mascot when the team started out. His name was “Pete”, and he died of pneumonia only a few months into the season. So they got another one and called him “Re-Pete.”
The Penguins’ beat writer Joe Starkey wrote a great book on the history of the team. I’ll see if can work something out with that down the road.
FrankD from Pensburgh.com
Cool. Re-Pete. That’s pretty funny. :) And, who would have expected a penguin to die of pneumonia?
by WolfpackSteelersFan on Jun 27, 2008 10:44 AM EDT up reply actions
I guess that’s kind of the sick humor in it all. The switch between the hot and the cold just got to him I guess.
FrankD from Pensburgh.com
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