"Good on Brian Burke for jumping to the aid of Ron Wilson so quickly.

Of course, he didn't have much choice.

Had Burke not used his twitter account as a forum to publicly state that he has Wilson's back, the Randy Carlyle-to-Toronto speculation would have exploded into a full-blown controversy.

As it was, Burke's blackberry probably was buzzing like a hive of bees before he'd even gulped down his first cup o' java on Thursday morning, inquiring minds all wanting to know if Carlyle's firing by the Anaheim Ducks would impact Wilson's job status down the road.

"Sad to hear about Randy Carlyle," Burke tweeted. "But our coach isn't going anywhere!"

It's easy to see why there was such an eagerness to connect the dots between Burke and Carlyle. The two men, after all, combined to help the Ducks win the 2007 Stanley Cup, a special moment for all involved.

It was also premature, given the job Wilson has done behind the Maple Leafs bench of late.

It says here that Wilson, barring a collapse of catastrophic proportions by his Leafs in the next month or so, deserves to finish out his term behind the bench, playoffs or no playoffs.

Wilson has become a polarizing figure in Toronto, both among fans and media members. He can be enlightening, funny, riveting, sarcastic, abrasive, patronizing and condescending, sometimes all in the same press conference.

Those that don't like his personality would be waiting to pick up Carlyle at the airport if it meant Wilson was hitting the road. But changing coaches right now would not make sense. Certainly not in light of the way his young team seems to be playing for him.

Wilson's impact on this young squad can be seen by the way these Leafs have overcome a rash of injuries, including one that sidelined No. 1 goalie James Reimer, The Leafs arguably are off to their best start since the lockout, an obvious indication of how kids like Jake Gardiner and Tyler Bozak are buying what the coach is selling, whether they started the season with the Leafs or the Marlies."