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TORONTO - Inconsistency ended Randy Carlyles tenure as coach of the Toronto Maple Leafs, according to general manager Dave Nonis. Carlyle was fired Tuesday after the Maple Leafs lost five of seven games on their last road trip. The Leafs have a 21-16-3 record this season and currently hold one of the two wild-card spots in the Eastern Conference. I think wed all agree weve had some good periods, good stretches, but I dont think I can stand here in front of you and say that weve been consistent, Nonis said at a news conference. We just felt at this point this was the right time to make the change and move ahead and try to get this team back playing like we have played for periods this season. Assistants Peter Horachek and Steve Spott will handle coaching duties for Wednesday nights home game against the Washington Capitals. Horachek ran the first practice of the post-Carlyle era. Nonis did not indicate if or when the Leafs might hire a full-time head coach. According to TSN Hockey Insider Darren Dreger, a replacement process and candidates review will begin immediately, however, no timeline has been established for a new hire. Dreger adds that all Leaf players are now potential trade targets as the team moves forward. Its possible Horachek and/or Spott could handle the job for the rest of the season, though there are several external candidates available. They include Pete DeBoer, who was recently fired as coach of the New Jersey Devils. TSN Hockey Insider Bob McKenzie reports that the most likely scenario is Horachek becoming the interim head coach, as there will likely be many big name coaching candidates available this summer. Carlyle, who was informed of managements decision Monday night, longed for answers back to last season, when the Leafs lost eight straight in regulation and 12 of their final 14 games to fall out of playoff contention. When Brendan Shanahan took over as president, he and Nonis reviewed aspects of the organization and opted to fire Carlyles assistants, Dave Farrish, Scott Gordon and Greg Cronin, and give him a two-year contract extension. Even with hindsight, Nonis said that was the right decision. Randy deserved to come back, Nonis said. I think hes an excellent coach. You dont coach over 700 games without being good at it. Good coaches get let go and unfortunately today we had to do that and it has nothing to do with the summer or whether or not he was the right guy. He was the right guy to bring back and unfortunately today this was the right decision for our team. The Leafs were blown out by the Buffalo Sabres and Nashville Predators in consecutive losses in November, bringing up concerns that Carlyles job may be in danger. When asked if players were trying to get their coach fired, defenceman Cody Franson answered no and added an expletive. Following those losses and in the aftermath of a controversy about not saluting fans at Air Canada Centre following a win, the Leafs went 9-1-1 to rocket into a playoff spot. Recently, some old problems began to creep up, especially on this 2-5 road trip. Its been too much of a roller-coaster, Nonis said. Its not that (players are) not capable because they are, its not that they havent done it because they have. Thats probably the biggest reason, or one of the biggest reasons, for the change today. Carlyle went 91-78-19 in 188 games as Leafs coach over parts of four seasons. The native of Sudbury, Ont., replaced Ron Wilson with 18 games left in the 2011-12 season. Wilson was fired following the infamous 18-wheeler going right off a cliff losing streak named for then-GM Brian Burkes quote. Carlyle and the Leafs made the playoffs in the lockout-shortened 2013 season before falling behind three games to one in the first round against Boston. They came back to force a Game 7 and led 4-1 with 11 minutes left before losing in overtime. In 2013-14, the Leafs were easily in a playoff spot when goaltender Jonathan Bernier suffered an injury. They lost eight in a row in regulation and dropped 12 of their final 14 games. Carlyles job appeared in jeopardy then, but Shanahan decided he wanted some time to evaluate the team. The final decision came with his firing, the fourth NHL coach this season to get the axe. Paul MacLean of the Ottawa Senators was first, then Dallas Eakins of the Edmonton Oilers, followed by DeBoer. Carlyle won the Stanley Cup as coach of the Anaheim Ducks in 2007. Hes a good man, a good coach and hell be back in this game quickly, Nonis said. Зарегистрируйтесь, чтобы увидеть ссылку! . MacLean clocked 8:24.91 seconds, eclipsing the previous mark of 8:27.59 set by Brittany Reimer of Victoria at the 2005 FINA World Championships in Montreal. MacLean and Tabitha Baumann of Ottawa -- second in 8:32.37 -- both went under the qualifying standard to be nominated to the Commonwealth Games and Pan Pacific teams. Зарегистрируйтесь, чтобы увидеть ссылку! . According to a release sent by the league, the Saskatchewan Roughriders were the only team to exceed the cap. Their total salary expenditure of $4,417,975 was $17,975 over the salary cap of $4. Зарегистрируйтесь, чтобы увидеть ссылку!. Sterling was banned for life and fined US$2.5 million by the NBA on Tuesday for racist comments the league says he made in a recorded conversation. Nash, who plays for the rival L.A. Lakers, spoke as a representative of current NBA players at a press conference assembled by Sacramento mayor and National Basketball Players Association adviser Kevin Johnson. Зарегистрируйтесь, чтобы увидеть ссылку! . -- Martin Kaymer never lost sight of opportunity even amid so much evidence of trouble in the closing stretch Sunday at The Players Championship. Зарегистрируйтесь, чтобы увидеть ссылку! . The two-time former Formula One champion downplayed his third-place finish three weeks ago in China and said progress is going slow for Ferrari as it tries to make up ground on Mercedes.German favourite Eric Frenzel won the Nordic combined normal hill event on Wednesday, landing the longest jump of the day and then mastering a slushy cross-country course to beat Japans Akito Watabe. The two men started about 30 seconds ahead of the pack on the cross-country leg and never looked to be in trouble. They exchanged places several times before Frenzel broke away about 300 metres from the finish to win by 4.2 seconds. The 26-year-old world number one, who is a member of Germanys armed forces, raised his arms in triumph as he slid across the line in 23 minutes 50.2 seconds. It was the first Olympic gold for Frenzel, who is the world champion on the large hill. He won a bronze in the team event at the 2010 Games. Magnus Krog of Norway, who sstarted the cross-country section more than a minute behind Frenzel, skied magnificently in increasingly difficult conditions to win the bronze.dddddddddddd He ended 8.1 seconds behind the German. Frenzel landed the longest jump of the day, soaring 103 metres. Watabe came second with a leap of 100.5 metres to start just six seconds behind the German. Organizers, acting on complaints that the warm weather was making the course slushy, added plenty of salt to harden it up. Even so, parts of the track was clearly cutting up badly in the latter stages of the race. Defending Olympic champion Jason Lamy Chappuis of France, who was eighth in the jump and started 31 seconds behind Frenzel, ended in 35th place after tiring badly on the course. ' ' '