5 NHL Teams That Have Quit on Their Coaches

During the offseason in any sport, each team believes that the upcoming season will be a year of great success.

Whether it's rebounding after an unimpressive previous season or continuing a run of impressive play, no team wants to fall short of achieving their goals.

However, there will always be those teams that struggle during the season and when they do, the blame almost always falls on the shoulders of their coach.

And if the team cannot turn their misfortunes around, it could cost him his job.

Heading into this week, three NHL coaches had already received their walking papers, Anaheim's Randy Carlyle, Carolina's Paul Maurice and Washington's Bruce Boudreau.

Out of the three, Boudreau was the only lucky one, as he quickly was hired by the Ducks after they fired Carlyle.

The other two now wait by their phones for another shot because of their team's struggles, and if these five teams cannot turn things around, they may face a similar fate.

Montreal Canadiens

The Montreal Canadiens stumbled out of the gate this season with a dreadful record of 1-5-2, which brought about rumors that the team was looking to can head coach Jacques Martin.

However, Martin remains with the team, but the Canadiens have continued to struggle this season with consistency, as their record shows. At 12-11-7, they sit outside of the top-eight in the Eastern Conference.

After the firings of both Bruce Boudreau and Randy Carlyle, the talks of firing Martin increased, as both former coaches had better winning percentages during their tenures with their respective teams than Martin did.

Instead of firing Martin, the Canadiens decided instead to fire the team's assistant coach Perry Pearn, which could be seen as a warning to Martin to turn the team around or else he would suffer a similar fate.

The blame for Montreal's struggles cannot all be placed on Martin's shoulders, as he has not had much help this season on the ice. Injuries to Andrei Markov and Jaroslav Spacek, a suspension for Max Pacioretty and rumors of both Mike Cammalleri and Brian Gionta playing hurt have hindered the Canadiens' momentum during the season.

To try and create a spark for the team, general manager Pierre Gauthier decided to trade Spacek to the Carolina Hurricanes for struggling defenseman Tomas Kaberle.

The move made several people wonder what exactly Gauthier was thinking, as not only has Kaberle not played up to expectations since leaving the Toronto Maple Leafs, but he also brings a hefty $12-million price tag.

If the deal does not work out, as many believe it won't, then Martin could receive the blame as well as his walking papers.

Colorado Avalanche

In the offseason, the Colorado Avalanche made one of the biggest moves when they solidified their goaltending position by trading for Washington Capital Semyon Varlamov, as well as signing free agent goaltender Jean-Sebastien Giguere.

The Avs showed what they could do with a top netminding duo as they got off to one of the hottest starts in the NHL, going 6-2-0 in their first eight games.

However, after that Colorado went into a free fall in the standings, only winning three times in the month of November.

Because of their struggles, there was a question of whether or not it was time to fire head coach Joe Sacco.

Sacco has not had the best of tenures as head coach, as the Avalanche have only managed back-to-back regulation wins once in 74 games.

Some believe that Sacco has lost control over his team and that many players have "tuned out,"

"What do you do as a GM when your coach is benching your star players because they won’t play for him, and the rest of the team has tuned out despite your being able to say the f-word an astounding amount of times in less than one minute? For the Washington Capitals (who have a winning record, mind you) and George McPhee, the answer was simple. You fire your head coach."

Sacco has made some questionable calls this season, including the constant shuffling of star Matt Duchene from line-to-line that has kept him from forming chemistry or how he has limited the role of winger T.J. Galiardi.

Regardless, if Sacco cannot regain control of his team and turn things around, the Avalanche could have an open coaching position available before the trade deadline.

Tampa Bay Lightning

After missing the playoffs the previous three seasons, the Tampa Bay Lightning last year—under new head coach Guy Boucher—set a franchise record in wins and won seven straight playoff games to advance to the conference finals.

Although they lost to the Bruins in seven games, the team's aggressive shoot-first attitude helped put the Lightning back on the hockey map.

During the offseason, they made the biggest move possible when they re-signed youngster Steven Stamkos to a five-year $37.5 million contract.

It was predicted that the Lightning would once again be one of the top teams in the Eastern Conference and give the Washington Capitals a run for their money for the top spot in the Southeast Conference.

However, Tampa Bay got off to a rocky start this season and have struggled as of late, only winning four of their last 14 games.

After being tied for seventh in the league last season in average shots (31.8), the Lightning have fallen to 21st this season with only an average of 28.5 shots per game.

The team has become extremely hesitant on the power-play, only averaging 1.3 shots per man advantage as the Lightning are currently on a 2-for-23 skid,

"First of all, we're not shooting," Boucher said. "We're looking for a play here, we're looking for a play there. If we don't shoot, we can't score, plain and simple."

Boucher's job is safe as of now and there has been no talk of firing him, but if he can't get things going soon, things could quickly go from bad to worse for Tampa Bay.

Columbus Blue Jackets

Last season, the Columbus Blue Jackets and first-time NHL head coach Scott Arniel had a horrid finish to the season.

After competing for a playoff spot in February, the Blue Jackets slipped in March and finished towards the bottom of the Western Conference.

The Jackets decided to stick with Arniel and had their most aggressive offseason to date, trading for All-Star center Jeff Carter and signing power-play quarterback James Wisniewski.

Finally, the Jackets had a top-line center to play alongside Rick Nash and would finally contend for a playoff spot every year.

However, with Wisniewski starting the season serving an eight-game suspension, Carter suffering a fracture in his foot and the continuing struggles of goaltender Steve Mason, Columbus had their worst start to a season in franchise history.

Many had called for Arniel's head, as well as general manager Scott Howson's, but because of the fact that the team Howson had put together in the offseason had yet to play together on the ice, both remained employed.

Now that Wisniewski and Carter are back and the team is back to full strength, the Jackets have improved some, but still remain at the bottom of the NHL standings.

Arniel has brought some negative press to the Jackets after making youngster Derick Brassard a healthy scratch in eight of the team's last 14 games. Brassard's agent believed that Arniel was making Brassard a "scapegoat" for his own struggles.

With some questionable calls on his part and no sign of improvement from the Jackets, one wonders how long it will be before Arniel is handed his walking papers.

Los Angeles Kings

The Los Angeles Kings have fallen on hard times and head coach Terry Murray has officially taken the fall for it.

After a strong start to the season, the Kings have slipped in the conference standings and currently sit 12th in the Western Conference.

The team was aggressive in the offseason when they traded Wayne Simmonds, Brayden Schenn, as well as a second round pick in next year's draft for former Philadelphia Flyers captain Mike Richards.

Los Angeles hoped that the move for Richards was the missing piece the Kings needed to finally contend for a Stanley Cup.

However, even with the strong play of goaltender Jonathan Quick, the team has still struggled and has shown little emotion.

After losing four of their first five games in the month of December, a move to shake up the team is imminent and Yahoo Sports confirmed that it was coming this week.

General manager Dean Lombardi traveled to Boston—where the Kings are set to begin a four-game road trip—and informed Murray that he was fired.

Murray is known for his defensive game-plan, which could have hindered the team's offensive creativity, as the Kings are currently 30th in goals per game.

Murray is the fourth NHL coach to be fired this season and he most likely won't be the last.