Ducks fire Randy Carlyle, hire Bruce Boudreau

The Anaheim Ducks fired coach Randy Carlyle after Wednesday night's 4-1 victory against Montreal and replaced him with Bruce Boudreau, who was fired Monday as coach of the Washington Capitals.

The Ducks also relieved assistant coaches Dave Farrish and Mike Foligno, and video coordinator Joe Trotta of their duties. Brad Lauer was added as an assistant coach. One additional assistant will be named later.

"This was an extremely difficult decision," Executive Vice President and General Manager Bob Murray said in a statement. "Randy is a terrific head coach and did a tremendous job for us for six-plus seasons. We thank him greatly for his hard work and dedication to our franchise, not the least of which was a Stanley Cup championship. At this time, we simply felt a new voice was needed. Bruce is a proven winner with a great track record, and we are optimistic we can turn this season around under his leadership."

Even after beating the Canadiens, Anaheim takes a 7-13-4 record into Friday's game against Philadelphia. The Ducks are 14th in the Western Conference and 29th in the overall standings.

The Caps started the season by winning their first seven games, but went 5-9-1 after their fast start and Boudreau was replaced by Dale Hunter on Monday.

Boudreau, 56, was hired as coach of the Capitals on Nov. 22, 2007, and compiled a regular-season record of 201-88-40 -- making him the fastest coach in modern-day NHL history to reach 200 victories. Boudreau won the 2007-08 Jack Adams award as the NHL Coach of the Year and led his club to the 2009-10 Presidents' Trophy as the NHL's regular-season champions. The Caps won the Southeast Division four times under Boudreau. In 2008-09, Boudreau led the Capitals to their first playoff series win since 1998. In addition to the Presidents' Trophy, the 2009-10 club set team records for wins (54), points (121), and goals (313).

Before joining the Capitals, Boudreau spent nine seasons as an AHL bench boss, leading the Hershey Bears, Washington's top farm team, to the Calder Cup in 2006.

Boudreau played parts of eight NHL seasons with the Toronto Maple Leafs and Chicago Blackhawks from 1976-86, scoring 28 goals and 70 points in 141 career games. The Toronto native ranks 11th all-time in scoring in AHL history with 316 goals and 799 points. No AHL player in the 1980s notched more points than Boudreau. He won the 1987-88 John B. Sollenberger Trophy for leading the league in scoring, and was also a member of the 1992 Calder Cup champion Adirondack Red Wings.

Lauer, 45, was named assistant coach of the Syracuse Crunch, Anaheim's primary development affiliate in the AHL, on July 12, 2011. Lauer most recently served as an NHL assistant coach with the Ottawa Senators from 2009-11. He played 323 NHL games with the Islanders, Chicago, Ottawa and Pittsburgh, scoring 44 goals and 111 points.

Carlyle, 55, was named the seventh coach in Ducks history on Aug. 1, 2005, and led the Ducks to their first Stanley Cup championship (2007), as well as five playoff appearances in six seasons (2005-09, 2011). He compiled a record of 273-182-61 record in 516 career games with Anaheim, recording the most wins and highest win percentage in club history.  

In the most memorable season in team history, Carlyle guided the Ducks to their first-ever Stanley Cup championship in 2007, beating Ottawa in a five-game Final. Helping Anaheim become the first California team to win hockey's ultimate prize, Carlyle also led Anaheim to its first Pacific Division championship in 2006-07, compiling a regular-season record of 48-20-14 for 110 points.