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Randy Carlyle: Don’t Forget – Before Coaching He Was A Star Defenseman

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randy carlyle 1978-79 o-pee-chee rookie hockey cardLong before Randy Carlyle was a chubby, aging balding guy behind the bench, he was actually a very good defenseman. Cursed with playing for mediocre at best hockey teams throughout his 1,055 game NHL playing career, he had to wait until 2006-07 to get his name on the Stanley Cup.

Randy Carlyle – The Player

Carlyle played his junior hockey with his hometown Sudbury Wolves of the Ontario Hockey Association (now Ontario Hockey League). Randy played three years with the Wolves from 1973-74 to 1975-76. That Sudbury team in his final year was arguably the best team the city has seen, reaching the Robertson Cup finals before falling to the Hamilton Fincups.


In 1976, Randy was drafted to two league. The Toronto Maple Leafs chose him in the second round of the 1976 NHL Amateur Draft, 30th overall. He was also taken seventh overall in the WHA Amateur Draft by the Cincinnati Stingers. Other future NHLers taken in the first round of that WHA draft include Bernie Federko, Thomas Gradin, Rick Green, Kent Nilsson and Don Murdoch.

Carlyle played 1,055 regular season NHL games between 1976-77 and 1992-93 with the Maple Leafs, Pittsburgh Penguins and Winnipeg Jets. He also appeared in 69 playoff games, scoring nine and assisting on 24 for 33 points.

After just his second year in the NHL, as part of the Harold Ballard implosion in Toronto, Carlyle was traded, along with George Ferguson, to the Penguins for Dave Burrows. Burrows played just three more years in the NHL and was traded back to Pittsburgh shortly into his final season. Within the same three year period, Carlyle was selected the winner of the Norris Trophy as the NHL’s top defenseman. Pretty obvious who won that deal.

Randy won the Norris with 16 goals and 67 assists for 83 points over 76 games in 1980-81 with the Pens. The club honoured him by making Carlyle team captain for the next three years, until he was traded to the Jets during the 1983-84 season. In Winnipeg, he wore the ‘C’ for the 1989-90 and 1990-91 seasons.

Carlyle competed for Canada on the international stage just once. He played at the 1989 IIHF World Hockey Championships, held in Stockholm, Sweden. Canada won silver with the Soviet Union taking gold and Czechoslovakia awarded bronze. Randy was under suspicion for taking performance enhancing drugs but his tests did not match and he was cleared of any wrong doing.

Randy Carlyle – The Coach

After years coaching in the minors, Carlyle became a National Hockey League head coach in 2005-06 with the Anaheim Mighty Ducks. The following year, he led the Ducks to a Stanley Cup championship with a 4-1 victory over the Ottawa Senators in the final series. He was fired by the Ducks in 2011-12 and took over his current position as head coach of the Maple Leafs that same year.

Back in 1998-99, Randy was named the General Manager of the Year in the IHL. His Manitoba Moose finished fourth overall during the regular season with 108 points. The Moose lost in the second round to the Chicago Wolves.

Randy Carlyle – Hockey Cards

The Randy Carlyle rookie card appears as number 312 in the 1978-79 O-Pee-Chee set. The card is valued at about 20 times more than a common card. Randy is shown in a Toronto Maple Leafs jersey but as a member of the Penguins. Carlyle’s first Topps card came the following year. The Randy Carlyle 1979-80 Topps number 124 card is valued as a common.

 

Season Team Lge GP G A Pts PIM
1973-74 Sudbury Wolves OHA 12 0 8 8 21
1974-75 Sudbury Wolves OHA 67 17 47 64 118
1975-76 Sudbury Wolves OHA 60 15 64 79 126
1976-77 Dallas Black Hawks CHL 26 2 7 9 63
1976-77 Toronto Maple Leafs NHL 45 0 5 5 51
1977-78 Dallas Black Hawks CHL 21 3 14 17 31
1977-78 Toronto Maple Leafs NHL 49 2 11 13 31
1978-79 Pittsburgh Penguins NHL 70 13 34 47 78
1979-80 Pittsburgh Penguins NHL 67 8 28 36 45
1980-81 Pittsburgh Penguins NHL 76 16 67 83 136
1981-82 Pittsburgh Penguins NHL 73 11 64 75 131
1982-83 Pittsburgh Penguins NHL 61 15 41 56 110
1983-84 Pittsburgh Penguins NHL 50 3 23 26 82
1983-84 Winnipeg Jets NHL 5 0 3 3 2
1984-85 Winnipeg Jets NHL 71 13 38 51 98
1985-86 Winnipeg Jets NHL 68 16 33 49 93
1986-87 Winnipeg Jets NHL 71 16 26 42 93
1987-88 Winnipeg Jets NHL 78 15 44 59 210
1988-89 Winnipeg Jets NHL 78 6 38 44 78
1989-90 Winnipeg Jets NHL 53 3 15 18 50
1990-91 Winnipeg Jets NHL 52 9 19 28 44
1991-92 Winnipeg Jets NHL 66 1 9 10 54
1992-93 Winnipeg Jets NHL 22 1 1 2 14
NHL Totals 1055 148 499 647 1400

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