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TORONTO — Ron Wilson made no assurances that he will take the Toronto Maple Leafs back to the glory days of 1967, the last time the franchise won the Stanley Cup, but he expects his new NHL club to be knocking on destiny's door in two seasons.
Wilson, who grew up rooting for the Leafs, was drafted by Toronto and played 64 games for the Leafs in the late 1970s, was introduced as the 27th head coach in club history after signing a four-year contract worth $6-million yesterday.
He takes over a team that was left in a sad state of affairs by the general manager-coach tandem of John Ferguson and Paul Maurice. The Leafs missed the playoffs three seasons in a row, but Wilson was not disheartened by the task that lies ahead.
"We may have to take a step back in order to go ahead," said Wilson, who grew up in Fort Erie, Ont. "But I want to make this team better. I'm not going to say it will be 1967 all over again, but don't forget a few years ago when Pat Quinn was here, this team was close to going all the way.
Toronto Maple Leafs new head coach Ron Wilson, left, and general manager Cliff Fletcher pose with a team jersey during a news conference in Toronto on Tuesday. (Mike Cassese/Reuters)
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"I have learned as a coach that you want to put yourself into a position to knock on the door. If we can be knocking on the door in two years, that would be a tremendous accomplishment and then all we have to do is knock the door down."
In his 36-minute news conference, Wilson eloquently discussed a bevy of subjects, ranging from individual players on the Leafs' roster to his background. He often showed a sense of humour in explaining his ways and his past.
"I left Fort Erie in 1967, right after the Leafs won the Stanley Cup, so it might be my fault," Wilson said, jokingly. "All kidding aside, I don't worry about curses. The New York Rangers buried their curse. I'm a huge baseball fan and the worse day in my life was when the Boston Red Sox came from three games down [in 2004] to beat the Yankees and the Babe Ruth curse went out the window."
Wilson was born in Windsor, Ont., but spent most of the first 13 seasons of his life living in Fort Erie while his father Larry played for the old Buffalo Bisons of the AHL. The younger Wilson cheered for the Leafs and his favourite player was Dave Keon. When Wilson played for the Leafs, his wore Keon's sweater number, 14, and had the jersey autographed by Keon. After his playing days were over in Toronto, Wilson pinched his own sweater and it hangs in his home in Hilton Head, S.C., three decades later.
Wilson went out of his way to talk about his Canadian roots, probably because of a run-in he had with a TSN reporter last month in the Stanley Cup playoffs in his final days as the San Jose Sharks' coach. The reporter asked Wilson, "Do you need a little more out of your captain [Patrick Marleau]?" Wilson snapped back, "It's always freaking negative. That's TSN, that's Canada."
Wilson was asked whether he was prepared for the intense daily scrutiny in Toronto?
"Bring it on," he said. "You're going to find that I'm not the Antichrist that I've been made out to be by a couple of people who haven't taken a liking to me.
"In coaching, this job can beat you up and you forget what you have just did or said in the heat of the moment. Have I ever done some of these things? No. If I did, I would literally be a Cybil-type of coach with another personality."
Wilson made the point of showing the assembled news media that he still has a Canadian passport, slipping it out of his jacket pocket and putting it on display.
He explained he became a U.S. citizen while at Providence College so that he could play for the U.S. national team in the mid-1970s, a period in which Canada did not have a team that competed at the world championship or Olympics.
What will be Wilson's first item on his to-do list? He said he will review videotape on each of the Leafs' players under contract so he can discuss with interim Leafs GM Cliff Fletcher his opinion of each player.
Although he doesn't know what the makeup of the Leafs' roster will be when training camp opens in three months, he indicated he wants to install a stingy defensive structure and better penalty killing.
"If you look at my track record, I do have the numbers to back that up — defensively and with special teams — I can make a difference here," said Wilson, who compiled a 206-134-45 record with the Sharks.
The beaten-up Leafs faithful certainly hope that will be the case.
