Promising an off-season change “towards reshaping the team,” Maple Leafs general manager Dave Nonis gave coach Randy Carlyle a two-year extension while firing three assistant coaches Thursday.

“I’m not going to make grand predictions about major moves but we’re going to make some major changes,” Nonis said. “This was the first and probably the most important decision we were going to make in the off-season.”

Carlyle has been criticized in the past for being too hard on his players, and there were rumblings that the team was quitting on him. But Nonis said he had full confidence in Carlyle’s ability to communicate with the players, citing the team’s ability to get into the playoffs a season ago.

“If you’ve seen it being done before with a lot of the same players and that coach leading that group, I know it can happen,” Nonis said. “It has happened with this group before. He has reached them before. He has reached them at times this year.

“We feel he is the guy that can get through to this group.”

RECAP OF NEWS CONFERENCE

Carlyle presided over a historic collapse that saw the Leafs lose 12 of the last 14 games, including eight in a row, to drop from third place in the conference to well out of a playoff spot. He said he wasn’t sure he would remain as coach even with one year left on his deal.

“The last month has been trying for everybody,” said Carlyle. “The one thing that sticks out is there was a level of compete and a level of success this group was able to achieve for a certain period of time.

“We feel this group can continue to grow to a higher level. We have to push for a little bit more.”

Carlyle said he believes his team plays a style of hockey that is close to what is being played in the playoffs.

“I look at what kind of style is being played and I don’t think it’s that different from what we’re trying to convince our players to play,” said the coach. “I don’t think you see a rush game being played on the ice. It’s a skating game, it’s a physical game, it’s a puck-movement game.

“We have a skating hockey club. There are areas of the game we need to change. We have to be an aggressive hockey club that has to be on the puck and be strong on the forecheck.”

That Carlyle not only survived the train-wreck that was the Leafs season but also got a two-year extension did not play well with fans of the team on social media.

But the fact that fans wanted blood for the embarrassing late-season collapse that has become synonymous with the team apparently didn’t matter to either Nonis or new president Brendan Shanahan.

“If you’re worried about optics in this market, it’s going to be a disaster,” said Nonis on a conference call explaining the Carlyle extension. “You have to make a decision based on what you think is the best decision for the organization.

“This, in our minds, was truly the best option. We believe he can get the job done for us. The optics don’t really matter to us. If you’re looking to please people, you’re probably going to make some poor decisions.”

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Nonis made it clear a few times that Shanahan was involved in the decision to retain Carlyle. Shanahan — who as president presumably has final say on all hockey matters — was not on the conference call.

For Carlyle, it was bittersweet. Three of his assistants — Dave Farrish, Scott Gordon and Greg Cronin — were fired. Goalie coach Rick St. Croix was retained.

Farrish is Carlyle’s best friend. They played junior hockey together. Farrish has been Carlyle’s assistant here and in Anaheim. They are neighbours at their cottages up north.

“It’s a tough day,” said Carlyle. “The game of hockey is a great game. But the business of hockey is an awful one. This is an awful day in our life in our relationship between Dave Farrish and myself.”

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