Mixed
reviews on Carlyle firing
Few approve of Horachek or think Leafs have better chance now
TORONTO, January
25th, 2015 - In
a random sampling of public opinion taken by The Forum Poll™ among 843
Torontonians 18 years of age and older, exactly equal proportions of those who
said they were NHL fans approved or disapproved (39% each) of Maple Leafs coach
Randy Carlyle being fired, while just fewer than one quarter had no opinion
(22%). Support for firing Carlyle is common to the youngest (52%), the least
wealthy (51% - a proxy for youth) and residents of East York and the downtown
(47%).
Few approve of hiring Horachek, most don’t have an opinion
Just
one fifth of Toronto NHL fans approve of hiring Peter Horachek as head coach
(20%), while the largest group, almost half, understandably, don’t have an
opinion (43%). Just more than a third actively disapprove of this hire (37%).
Majority think Leafs’ chances no better now
Just
one tenth of Toronto hockey fans think the Leafs have a better chance at the
playoffs with Horachek behind the bench (12%), while the majority believe they
have no better chance now than before (54%). One third don’t share an opinion
on this (34%).
Just less than half of Toronto adults are NHL fans
Just
less than half of our sample of Toronto voters claim to be NHL fans (46%), and
this is especially the case among those 35 to 44 (53%), Boomers (55 to 64 - 51%)
and the least wealthy (55%).
"It appears that Coach Carlyle
had more supporters previous to his defenestration than Coach Horachek has now,
and, although fans haven’t had a chance to get to know the new coach yet, they
may yet regret losing the old one," said Forum Research President, Dr. Lorne
Bozinoff.
Lorne Bozinoff, Ph.D. is the president and founder of Forum
Research. He can be reached at lbozinoff@forumresearch.com or at (416)
960-9603.
