Murray: Carlyle firing `surprising’

The shocking news came down last night, that the Anaheim Ducks had fired coach Randy Carlyle and replaced him with recently deposed Washington coach Bruce Boudreau. Boudreau also coached the Manchester Monarchs, the Kings’ AHL affiliate, from 2001-05, but was fired after the Monarchs lost in the first round of the playoffs each season. The Ducks have now had seven permanent coaches since they joined the NHL in 1993: Ron Wilson, Pierre Page, Craig Hartsburg, Bryan Murray, Mike Babcock, Carlyle and Boudreau. In the same time, the Kings have had five: Barry Melrose, Larry Robinson, Andy Murray, Marc Crawford and Terry Murray. Carlyle got the ax last night, less than an hour after a victory.

MURRAY: “It’s not the first time I’ve seen that one. I’ve never really studied it that closely but I have seen it before. Moves are surprising. Boudreau, he’s out of work for two days and he’s back in it, taking over a pretty good group of skill players there. So it’s a surprising move for all of us, and you hate to see it happen, but it did. We have to take care of our own business here. That’s what our focus is on.’’