Toronto GM John Ferguson Jr. fired head coach Pat Quinn and his assistant Rick Ley this morning, and at his 1:00pm press conference, that was about the only thing JFJ seemed sure of. Reporters were ripping into him left, right and center, demanding an explanation of his plan for the future, and reminding him of the many acquisitions he made last summer that didn't pan out. Ferguson often looked quite taken aback by the barrage, and stammered his way to many vague answers; perhaps he wouldn't have seemed quite so unsure of himself if he wasn't aware that his performance is under careful review as well. He might not survive at the post until next season begins.

Notice that I said nothing along the lines of, "Wow! I saw this one coming! I totally called this weeks ago!" I've read posts like that so many times today that I want to scream, and even the talking heads on TSN and Sportsnet felt it necessary to tell us that they'd seen this coming, having the inside connections that they do. Well, I've got news for you, kids: everyone saw this one coming. Toronto wasn't going to miss their first playoffs in 8 years without at least one head rolling, and coaches are hired to be fired. Ferguson's hiring of Paul Maurice as the coach of the AHL's Toronto Marlies was an obvious precursor to bringing him up with the big club; seeing the positive impact Maurice has had on the kids down in the 'A', that just might translate into a big season for the Maple Leafs next year. Notice, however, that JFJ didn't announce Maurice as the new head coach today; that may seem strange, but they shouldn't rule out other candidates, and Maurice still has to coach the Marlies through their own playoff run.

So please, people, no more pointing out that you predicted the obvious. If you'd predicted the Joe Thornton trade last fall, I would have been impressed...but keep this up, and I'm going to start relentlessly predicting that here in southern Ontario, the sun will rise between midnight and 11:59am, and set between noon and 11:59pm. Year 'round, too! You could set your watch to it.