Published: March 12, 2012 8:25 am ET
Last Comment: March 12, 2012 11:45 am ET | 2 Comment(s) | Jump to Comments
While Randy Carlyle's Toronto Maple Leafs lacked some scoring power this weekend, one thing many feel the new coach will bring to the table is work ethic. Work ethic that came from a large family and, what some might not know, a background in harness racing.
Before making the NHL and winning trophies both on and off the ice, one of Randy Carlyle's jobs was as groom and stable hand as well as the paddock judge at Sudbury Downs racetrack. According to trainer Mike Noble, the NHLer loved horses and life at the track, going on to own standardbreds.
“He cleaned stalls, cleaned harness, brushed harness, jogged horses,” Noble told The Toronto Star. "He was a groom, he groomed horses.”
Noble employed Carlyle for two years, part-time, at $80 a week. They remain good friends.
“Anything Randy ever got, he worked for. What shaped his life is that he came up tough. He worked for everything he had. He didn’t have a lot of money. He always told me, his dad bought him the best skates, the best (hockey) stuff, but he worked for everything else. When he went to school, he had jobs after school, on Saturday and Sunday.”
(Photo courtesy Toronto Star/Mike Noble)