Mark Humphrey/Associated Press The Anaheim Ducks announced the firing of coach Randy Carlyle on Sunday amid the team's seven-game losing streak. General manager Bob Murray will take over the coaching position on an interim basis. "We thank Randy for everything he has done for the organization," said Murray. "Leading the team to a Stanley Cup and three conference final appearances, he has accomplished so much in Anaheim. Difficult decisions need to be made when times are tough, and our play has clearly been unacceptable. We have a tradition of success in Anaheim and we need to get back to that." Carlyle, 62, was in the third season of his second tenure with the Ducks. He initially coached them from 2005 to his firing in the 2011-12 season. The Ducks made the playoffs in five of the seven seasons of his first tenure and each of the first two of his second. However, things have fallen apart since a sweep in the 2018 playoffs. Anaheim is currently tied for last in the Western Conference with 51 points and has the worst goal differential in the sport by a whopping 22 goals. Murray, 64, has been the Ducks GM since 2008. The franchise has made the postseason in six straight seasons, a streak that will almost certainly end in 2019. Murray has no professional coaching experience at any level.<doc-sep>After dropping their seventh game in a row to Philadelphia on Saturday night, the Anaheim Ducks have relieved head coach Randy Carlyle of his duties. Executive Vice President/General Manager Bob Murray is set to take over as interim head coach for the remainder of the 2018-19 regular season. The search for a new head coach will reportedly begin in the offseason. “We thank Randy for everything he has done for the organization,” said Murray in a statement shared with NHL.com. “Leading the team to a Stanley Cup and three conference final appearances, he has accomplished so much in Anaheim. Difficult decisions need to be made when times are tough, and our play has clearly been unacceptable. We have a tradition of success in Anaheim and we need to get back to that.” Carlyle enjoyed two successful stints as the Ducks’ head coach, beginning in 2005-06 when the team was still known as the Mighty Ducks of Anaheim. He was fired during the 2011-12 season and was replaced by Bruce Boudreau, who had just been fired by the Washington Capitals three days prior. Carlyle returned to the Ducks in 2016 after nearly three seasons as head coach of the Toronto Maple Leafs. Carlyle leaves the Ducks as the winningest head coach in team history, going 384-256-96 in 736 games with the organization. He led the Ducks to a Stanley Cup championship in 2007, as well as three appearances in the Western Conference Final in 2006, 2007 and 2017. He ranks 27th in NHL history with 49 playoff wins as a head coach, earning 46 of those postseason victories with Anaheim. Murray, a three-time finalist for NHL General Manager of the Year — he won the award in 2013-14 — is the longest-serving and winningest GM in team history with a 445-279-101 record in 825 games. He signed a two-year contract extension with the club on December 8, 2018. Before the 2018-19 season went off the rails for Anaheim — the team has lost 20 of its last 26 games — Murray had led the Ducks to six consecutive playoff berths, the second-longest active streak behind the Pittsburgh Penguins, who have qualified for the postseason every year since 2006-07. The bottom-dwelling Ducks are currently six points out of a wildcard spot in the Western conference. Story continues More NHL coverage on Yahoo Sports<doc-sep>Mired in a two-month tailspin, the Anaheim Ducks fired coach Randy Carlyle. Bob Murray, the team's general manager, will serve as interim coach for the remainder of the season. Carlyle, 62, was in his second stint with the Ducks and is the winningest coach in team history. He led the team to a Stanley Cup in 2006-07, his second season with the team. He was fired after a slow start to the 2011-12 season and was hired by the Maple Leafs. Toronto let him go in 2015. "We thank Randy for everything he has done for the organization," Murray said in a statement. "Leading the team to a Stanley Cup and three conference final appearances, he has accomplished so much in Anaheim. Difficult decisions need to be made when times are tough, and our play has clearly been unacceptable. We have a tradition of success in Anaheim, and we need to get back to that." Sources say Murray was hesitant to fire Carlyle earlier because he does not believe in midseason coaching changes. Dallas Eakins, the coach of the Ducks' AHL affiliate, the San Diego Gulls, would have been in consideration for the interim job, but the Gulls are having a strong season (currently third in the AHL's Pacific Division), and Murray was wary of impeding development there. Eakins is the front-runner for the full-time job in 2019-20. Duck Down The Ducks' recent performances likely contributed to the firing of head coach Randy Carlyle on Sunday. Since Dec. 18, Anaheim has a league-worst .190 win percentage. Win pct. Record Ducks .190 2-15-4 Avalanche .300 4-12-4 Senators .325 6-13-1 Oilers .333 6-13-2 -- ESPN Stats & Information The Ducks have spiraled the past two months. By mid-December, they had 19 wins in their first 35 games, boasting the ninth-best record in the league and top record in the Pacific Division. Since then, Anaheim has gone 2-15-4, including a 12-game losing streak, which is the worst record in the league. Anaheim entered Sunday's action in last place in the Pacific Division. Before Carlyle's dismissal, the Ducks had lost seven straight games, and in them, they were outscored 37-8. "What has happened here lately and how we have played, it was time for change," Murray said during a conference call. "Some people thought I waited far too long, but this team has a history of coming on and charging late. I realized it wasn't going to happen a few days ago." Rickard Rakell, Cam Fowler, Ryan Miller and Patrick Eaves have all missed time to injury this season. Forward Ondrej Kase is out for the remainder of the season after undergoing surgery for a torn labrum. Corey Perry underwent surgery in training camp for an MCL injury and made his season debut on Feb. 3. Anaheim faces difficult personnel decisions as it gears up for a retool. The "big three" of Perry, Ryan Getzlaf and Ryan Kesler are all over the age of 33 and have each battled significant injuries the past two seasons. Perry and Getzlaf have cap hits above $8 million and are under contract through 2020-21. Kesler, with a $6.875 million cap hit, is under contract through 2021-22. All three players have no-movement clauses. Murray has begun trying to reshape the roster, with eight trades since Dec. 3. "It's a combination of everything, but what bothered me the most was the lack of emotion," Murray said. "We've always pushed back. We never accept, and they were accepting, and that is unacceptable. We have to change that." The Ducks qualified for the playoffs each of the past six seasons. Only the Pittsburgh Penguins have a longer streak. On Dec. 8, Murray signed a two-year contract extension to take him through the 2021-22 season. "Bob's obviously going to need to implement his vision of what he envisions our team doing,'' Getzlaf said following Sunday's practice. "We had a good practice, lots of talking and lots of trying to understand exactly what's going on and what he wants to see out of us." Fowler said he hopes the change can shake the Ducks into making a late run. "Sometimes all you need is a fresh start to get some good mojo,'' he said. "We felt like we were just kind of stuck in neutral, and as hard as we were trying to work to get things going better, we just couldn't find a way to do it.'' Murray, 64, played in 1,008 NHL games in 15 seasons (1975-1990) for the Chicago Blackhawks. After retiring, he began working in the Blackhawks' front office and later became the team's GM from 1997 to '99. He has never coached in the NHL. The Associated Press contributed to this report.<doc-sep>Randy Carlyle is out as Anaheim Ducks coach, and that should come as no big surprise. The Ducks announced that Carlyle was relieved of his duties on Sunday, one day after the team suffered its seventh straight loss. Anaheim is in the midst of an absolutely miserable stretch, losing 19 of their past 21. Taking over for Carlyle will be Ducks' general manager Bob Murray, who will assume the role in an interim basis for the remainder of the season. "We thank Randy for everything he has done for the organization," said Murray in a press release. "Leading the team to a Stanley Cup and three conference final appearances, he has accomplished so much in Anaheim. Difficult decisions need to be made when times are tough, and our play has clearly been unacceptable. We have a tradition of success in Anaheim and we need to get back to that." This brings to an end Carlyle's second stint as Ducks head coach. After coaching Anaheim from 2005–2011 and leading the team to their first Stanley Cup win in 2007, Carlyle returned to the Ducks' bench in 2016 after a stint with the Maple Leafs. He departs with a career record of 384-256-96 in 736 games with the Ducks. Anaheim has been hit pretty hard by injuries and has endured down years from key members of their aging core, but this latest stretch has been tough to watch. They've got the league's worst offense in terms of goals per game and have scored just eight goals over the course of their current seven-game losing streak. And yet, despite their massive struggles of late, Anaheim is still in the playoff hunt. As of Sunday, the Ducks are just six points back of a Wild Card spot in the Western Conference.<doc-sep>
The Anaheim Ducks announced this morning that head coach Randy Carlyle has been relieved of his duties and that Bob Murray will be taking over behind the bench on an interim basis. BREAKING: Executive Vice President/General Manager Bob Murray will take over as interim head coach for the remainder of the regular season. Randy Carlyle has been relieved of his duties.https://t.co/HnXu4WpJZv — Anaheim Ducks (@AnaheimDucks) February 10, 2019 “We thank Randy for everything he has done for the organization,” said Murray. “Leading the team to a Stanley Cup and three conference final appearances, he has accomplished so much in Anaheim. Difficult decisions need to be made when times are tough, and our play has clearly been unacceptable. We have a tradition of success in Anaheim and we need to get back to that.” The club announced that they will search for a permanent head coach during the offseason. The firing comes on the heels of one of Anaheim’s worst seasons in franchise history with a 2-14-4 run over their last 20 games, including a record 12-game losing streak in that period. Carlyle led the Ducks to a Stanley Cup championship in 2007 and three Western Conference Finals during his tenure. He was fired in November of 2011, before being re-hired ahead of the 2016-2017 season. Carlyle finishes his Ducks coaching tenure as the winningest coach in Ducks history with a 384-256-96 record in 736 games to go along with a 46-37 postseason record. Bob Murray, General Manager of the Ducks since 2009 and a three-time Executive of the Year finalist with one win, has never held a head coaching position in professional hockey before. He has presided over the most successful sustained period in the history of the Ducks franchise, with a 445-279-101 record in 825 games at the helm.