Kevin McGran’s LeafsBeat, a weekly look at what’s happened with the Leafs, appears every Tuesday by noon.

Seems a lot of people want to fire Randy Carlyle. It seems knee-jerk or at least a needless “let’s start again” approach. This is not to say Carlyle’s job is safe. Coaches are after all hired to be fired.

So let’s call this the Carlyle Watch edition of LeafsBeat.

A firing offence?

One of Carlyle’s firing offences it seems is that he doesn’t have a fourth line that can score. Why send Peter Holland to the minors? He could score. There was outrage.

Holland was recalled Monday when Jerry D’Amigo was sent down.

It probably won’t matter. When has Carlyle ever wanted a fourth line that could score?

Carlyle is very much a top-6 bottom-6 kind of coach. He gives players defined roles. The top-6 forwards are supposed to score. The bottom six are supposed to check and provide energy.

The problem is the bottom three of that bottom six have been wildly inconsistent partially due to injuries and partially due to who-knows-what.

Colton Orr for sure has been a shadow of himself this season compared to last. Sure he fights but he’s not looking for trouble. He only fights if trouble comes looking for him.

For the most part other teams steer clear of Orr and Frazer McLaren unless it’s a young buck looking to make a name for himself.

In fact, to these eyes Orr actually seems averse to fighting. The pop psychologists here at LeafsBeat think it has something to do that opening night fight with Montreal’s George Parros. The concussion Parros suffered when Orr fell and dragged Parros down was ugly. Whatever the case, Orr hasn’t been the same. He hasn’t even skated the same. Hasn’t gone into the corners hard. Hasn’t come out with the puck.

The so-called fourth line has not been intimidating. They have not sacrificed for the team. They have not lifted their teammates’ spirits. They did that quite a bit last year. Carlyle would hold them up as an example: If Orr could do that for you Carlyle would say maybe you could play a little tougher or block a shot for him.

For the most part the Leafs did. They were a tough team to play against.

But he can’t hold up the fourth line as a shining example of competitiveness this season.

Perhaps because of that the fourth line has seen a revolving door of players. Orr and McLaren. Jerred Smithson sometimes. D’Amigo. Troy Bodie other times. Carter Ashton and Holland again.

And perhaps because of that the fourth line barely plays.

It is because the fourth line hasn’t done what it is supposed to do that people look at it and wonder. Wouldn’t a line of Holland with D’Amigo and Ashton be a better option? Young, hungry — speedy — kids who might one day use this experience towards playing higher up the lineup.

It would take a fundamental change in the way Carlyle approaches hockey for that to happen.

Also the Leafs are big on being patient with young talent and, in Holland’s case, see 20 minutes a game with the Marlies rather than eight minutes a game with the Leafs.

But it is unfair to fire Carlyle for deploying his troops exactly the way he said he would. It’s not unfair, however, to do something about the troops who aren’t able to play the way they once did and the way the coach wants them to.

“We have got to continue to ramp up our compete,” says Carlyle. “That’s as simple as I can put it. That’s team toughness. That’s team competitiveness. That’s really what we’re asking for.

“In today’s hockey it’s not all about the body check or the fight. It’s about getting inside it’s about being on the puck first (and) good strong forechecking.”

Not like last year: One thing that stands out about the Leafs this year is how unlike they are from last year’s team.

The 2013 Maple Leafs were a hard team to play against. They had modelled themselves on the Boston Bruins — the best team in the East and the one that plays the most physically — and came within a whisker of beating them in the playoffs.

The Bruins have continued to play that way. The Leafs are “nowhere near” the compete level they showed last season, says Carlyle.

“We’ve been scratching our heads and trying to figure out why,” said the Leafs coach. “Our compete level has to go to a level where we’re satisfied. It’s as simple as off a face-off, competing for space, blocking people. There’s a tremendous amount of blocking-out going on on face-offs now. It’s a chance for us to come up with more pucks. We were and we have been guilty of standing around in those situations.

“We’re receiving the game; we’re standing around. That is, I would say, the biggest mystery for the coaching staff. When we’ve (played hard) we’ve been effective. Then for whatever reason we’re not doing it.”

Is that Carlyle’s fault? He can only tell his players what to do. If they’re not doing it, it says more about his players than about Carlyle.

Bruins rely on leaders

So how do the Bruins do it? To a man they say it starts with leadership.

“It comes from the top” said forward Shawn Thornton, who points to team president Cam Neely, a power forward in his day. “Look at Mr. Neely how he runs things. It’s how he performed every night (as an NHLer).

“Our leaders on our team expect it from each other and we’re not afraid to hold each other accountable if we’re not bringing it. In the last seven years since I’ve been here it’s become part of the culture that if you show up, you show up to play hard. (I’m) not going to say we have it every night. We try to play a smart heavy game most nights.”

NHL veteran Jarome Iginla noticed that in his first half-season with the Bruins.

“If we run into a bit of a lull as a team the first thing Z (captain Zdeno Chara) and the guys will do is focus on getting back to competing, getting to the physical side. It’s definitely part of the identity.”

Coach Claude Julien says having the leaders bring the compete level to the team — in both words and action — makes things easy on him.

‘We’ve got the right people in place” said Julien. “The big thing is the leadership group who believe in it. It certainly helps a coach to convince the new guys coming in that this is the way we play.

“Anybody who comes in has been told this is how we operate here. We don’t necessarily look at anybody on our team who has to be a top scorer. We look at individuals to come in and play a good team game.”

His example? David Krejci.

“David Krejci is such a highly skilled player who is committed to plying a two-way game,” said Julien. “There’s no doubt if he decided to play a one-way game he’d be a 90-point guy but he’d also probably be a minus-15 by the end of the year. He doesn’t want that.

“Our players take pride, they look at plus-minus. For a lot of guys (minus) bothers them.”

How did we get here?

This Maple Leafs team is more reminiscent of the one from the 2011-12 season. A quick start followed by the blahs. The goaltending that year wasn’t very good compared to this one. But the mid-season collapse looks eerily similar.

The very moment the Maple Leafs’ 18-wheeler, then driven by Ron Wilson, started heading toward a cliff two seasons ago occurred Feb. 7 2012 in a listless 2-1 loss in Winnipeg, highlighted only by Phil Kessel’s 30th goal of that season.

The Leafs began the game in sixth place in the Eastern Conference with a 28-19-6 record but embarked on a four-game losing streak that would drop them out of a playoff spot, part of a 1-9-1 collapse that cost Wilson his job on the eve of a game in Montreal.

The thinking then was that the core the Leafs at the time of the collapse would learn from their mistakes and ensure that such a collapse never happens again.

Have they?

“Those were some dark days” said defenceman Cody Franson. “We let adversity snowball on us. For us right now it’s a matter of staying positive and facing it head-on. Not letting the negatives weigh on us too much. That’s what happened the last time. We’re conscious of that. We know we’re doing some good things if we can string these efforts together we’ll find a little more success.”

Says Joffrey Lupul: “You have to learn from experiences like that and Game 7 (against Boston last May). You draw on experiences when you get in a tough time like we’re having now. You’ve got to be loose.

“You can’t come in and be afraid. If you’re thinking like that, that’s not going to help anyone. You have to have confidence in yourself, confidence in your teammates and go out and executive a game plan and win a game.

Where are they now?

So here’s a look at the roster from that night in Winnipeg on board when the 18-wheeler changed direction.

Luke Schenn. Traded for James van Riemsdyk. The Leafs defence could use the kind of player he was supposed to be.

Dion Phaneuf. Signed a seven-year $49 million contract extension.

Cody Franson. Leads Leafs defencemen in points.

Cody Armstrong. Playing in Sweden.

Tim Connolly. Out of hockey.

Matthew Lombardi. Top scorer with Geneve Servette of Swiss A-league.

Clarke MacArthur. Having a good year as an Ottawa Senator.

Mike Brown. Now a San Jose Shark.

Joffrey Lupul. A first-liner then a second-liner. Really well dressed though.

David Steckel. In the AHL.

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John-Michael Liles. Traded for Tim Gleason.

Carl Gunnarsson. Remains mainly at Phaneuf’s left side.

Nik Kulemin. Solid third liner downgraded from second line.

Tyler Bozak. Had a career year that year. Team missed him this year when injured.

Joey Crabb. In the AHL.

Jake Gardiner. Seemed more confident then than now.

Phil Kessel. Due for another 30-goal season.

Mikhail Grabovski. A polarizing figure whose departure had tongues wagging at Carlyle’s approach.

Jonas Gustavsson. Injured but a solid backup in Detroit.

What next?

So you want to fire Randy Carlyle? And replace him with who exactly?

Well the Winnipeg Jets snared ex-Leaf coach Paul Maurice off the TSN panel with TSN sure to try to work a deal with the always quotable Claude Noel, now the ex-coach of the Jets.

Why is TSN’s panel so popular? Those coaches are high profile and otherwise unemployed. The next great coach won’t be one of them; he’s more likely a bright assistant already on a staff. Those guys can be hard to hire in-season.

So if the Leafs change coaches before the season ends, look for an interim tag on Carlyle assistant Scott Gordon or maybe Marlies head coach Steve Spott.

If they are to look outside here are some candidates (keeping in mind that this is sheer speculation):

Wayne Gretzky. If anyone can deflect the pressure off his players in this frantic market it’s the Great One. The Leafs have a talented core of young forwards who might benefit from a coach who appreciates talent. His record as head coach in Phoenix is poor; the Coyotes didn’t make the playoffs at all in his four years as coach. It’s long been considered that Gretzky will find some sort of role with the Leafs eventually. Why not as coach?

Peter Laviolette. Fired earlier this year as coach of the Philadelphia Flyers, he led them to Stanley Cup final in 2010, losing to Chicago. He may be the last man standing on the TSN’s coaches panel. Also previously coached the Carolina Hurricanes, winning the Stanley Cup in 2006. His first NHL head coaching gig was with the New York Islanders and he won the Calder Cup as rookie head coach of the Providence Bruins (1998-1999). Laviolette preaches an aggressive style and a hard-work ethic. Saddled by bad goaltending in Philadelphia. Massachusetts born. May be too much like Carlyle.

Scott Arniel. His resume has a black mark on it, with some very bad teams in Columbus, his only NHL head coaching gig. Currently an associate coach with the New York Rangers. A good hockey mind with considerable coaching experience, mostly in the AHL with the Manitoba Moose. Hired by Leafs GM Dave Nonis for the Manitoba gig. Former AHL coach of the year. Lost Calder Cup finals in 2009.

Kevin Dineen. Born in Quebec but raised in Toronto. Fired earlier this season as head coach of the Florida Panthers and now coaching the Canadian national women’s team heading into the Olympics. Spent six years as a head coach in the AHL with the Portland Pirates, an affiliate of the Ducks. His first year in Florida, 2011-12, saw the Panthers in the playoffs for the first time in a decade. Dineen’s success in working with young players at the minor pro level was one of the main factors in the Panthers giving him his first NHL head coaching job.

Guy Boucher. His star rose and fell in three years with Tampa Bay. He was deemed an innovator, a coach who could get the most out of a lineup getting the Lightning to the Eastern Conference Finals in 2010-11, his first year. He’d lost the room by 2013. A highly sought coach when with the AHL Hamilton Bulldogs he turned down the Columbus job to take the Tampa job. Coach of the year in the AHL in 2009.

John Stevens: Best known as head coach of the Flyers for four-plus years, Stevens is now an assistant with the Los Angeles Kings. In Philly he was dogged by bad goaltending. Helped develop the likes of Mike Richards and Jeff Carter. In L.A. he coached mostly the defence and is said to have helped the development of Slava Voynov and Jake Muzzin. His Flyers teams were generally very good at special teams but only so-so five-on-five.

Joe Sacco. A former Maple Leaf. Coached the Colorado Avalanche during some dreary times. Now an assistant in Buffalo, hired by the now-fired Ron Rolston. Under new coach Ted Nolan and new GM Tim Murray the situation may be in flux. Sacco was credited with developing the likes of Chris Stewart and Matt Duchene.

Mike Foligno. A middling record as head coach at AHL Hershey for five years and seven with OHL Sudbury. Every team he coached made it to the playoffs. No titles, although his 2006-07 Wolves made it to the OHL final. The hard-nosed ex-Leaf is an assistant on the Devils staff and was an assistant under Carlyle in Anaheim.

Glen Gulutzan. Lasted a couple of years as head coach in Dallas, his first NHL head coaching experience. Considered one of the brightest young minds in hockey at the time Dallas hired him. He worked his way up the ranks starting with the ECHL. Former winner of the John Brophy Trophy as ECHL coach of the year (2005-06) with the Las Vegas Wranglers. Currently an assistant in Vancouver.

Olympic stuff

Carl Gunnarsson was not included in the Team Sweden selections for the upcoming Sochi Games.

The Leafs defenceman says he did not feel snubbed and wasn’t even holding out high hopes he’d turn the eye of Sweden’s coach Peter Mars.

In other NHL corners snubs were being discussed — some rather hotly — when most of the participating countries announced their teams.

There was the celebrated Bobby Ryan case with Team USA, which became heated when former Leaf GM Brian Burke’s comments underling Ryan’s deficiencies were made public.

In Canada, where discussing Hockey Canada’s roster decisions and motives is something of a national pastime, there was plenty of debate when players like Joe Thornton, Claude Giroux, Logan Couture, James Neal and Taylor Hall weren’t called.

Arguably the biggest “snub” went to Martin St. Louis, who is the leader and driving force behind Team Canada GM Steve Yzerman’s NHL team in Tampa. St. Louis, in fact, is THE leading scorer in the NHL over the last four seasons combined (276 points to Steve Stamkos’s 268 and Henrik Sedin’s 260). Yet Yzerman passed him over in Vancouver and now Sochi.

Gunnarsson has quietly risen to the top of the Leafs stats pack in blocked shots; he also leads the Leafs (and either at or near the top of the NHL) with Dion Phaneuf in ice time by defencemen on the penalty kill and ice time against top rated opposition.

Gunnarsson wasn’t phased or disappointed when Sweden announced its Olympians. He even joked about his chances laughing off an erroneous injury report (that said he had a broken wrist) in his homeland four days before the announcement.

Gunnarsson is well liked and respected by players and the coaching staff; there’s even a notion that nice guys finish last but that’s not the case with Gunnarsson; he simply fell short on a Swedish blue line that many experts believe is the most talented in the Olympic Games.

Unfortunately for Gunnarsson, these Olympics mark arguably his last chance at a Games competition; he is 27 now and is up against incredibly gifted defencemen like Erik Karlsson and Oliver Ekman Larsson. Gunnarsson has never been to an Olympics.

In fact, after all the snub stories appeared it was a sure bet follow to put together an “all snub team” for the Sochi Olympics. Here’s a look at ours:

Goalies: Corey Crawford (Canada); Ben Bishop and Cory Schneider (USA)

Defence: Carl Gunnarsson, Victor Hedman and Jonas Brodin (Sweden); Dan Boyle, Brent Seabrook, Mark Giordano (Canada); Jack Johnson and Keith Yandle (USA); Sergei Gonchar (Russia).

Forwards: Joe Thornton, Martin St. Louis, Logan Couture, Taylor Hall, Claude Giroux, James Neal and Eric Staal (Canada); Bobby Ryan and Kyle Okposo (USA); Alex Semin (Russia); Sean Bergenheim (Finland); and Jiri Hudler (Czech Republic).

Around the NHL: Karri Ramo picked up a shutout vs. the Carolina Hurricanes on Monday, the first shutout registered by a Flames goalie not named Miikka Kiprusoff since Roman Turek on March 24, 2004. ... Lightning star Steven Stamkos feels discomfort when he tries crossover skating or accelerating from a stop. ... Watch for the league to announce the Florida Panthers will host the 2015 draft. (The 2014 draft is in Philadelphia June 27-28).

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