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Ex-Leafs coach Wilson knows what Carlyle’s going through

Ron Wilson

Toronto Maple Leafs coach Ron Wilson reacts as he watches his team trail the Carolina Hurricanes 4-0 late in the second period of an NHL game in Toronto on Tuesday, March 2, 2010. (AP Photo/The Canadian Press, Chris Young)

AP

The man who was behind the bench for the last Maple Leafs’ regular-season collapse feels badly for the guy who’s behind the bench for their current one.

“I really feel for the coaching staff and, above all, for [head coach Randy Carlyle] right now,” Ron Wilson told ESPN.com today. “He’s got the same thousand-yard stare that I had. But at the end, you almost feel like it’s completely out of your control, everything takes on a life of its own. It’s unbelievable.”

Wilson was fired in March of 2012 after Toronto went 1-9-1 to fall out of a playoff spot. Carlyle’s Leafs have dropped eight straight to do the same.

“I watched the last two games this weekend; I thought they played OK in those games, but right now they’ve got no puck luck,” said Wilson. “It’s like maybe they used up all their puck luck earlier in the season when they were getting outshot but still won games. You might say they had a lot of puck luck in those games and it’s dried up now. A lot of the players are squeezing their sticks right now, which tends to happens in these situations.”

Related: Leafs collapse should be cautionary tale for young Avs