Congratulations on your appointment. Was this a surprise for you?
By the time the opportunity was given to me, it had been mentioned so many times that the surprise had gone out of it. There was really no indication of anything prior to Pat Quinn’s dismissal. After Pat had been removed, then we had discussions.

It's an exciting opportunity, but one that must come with trepidation. You’re taking over for a coach who had become an institution in this city.
It’s exciting. If this was my first coaching job, there would be more of the unknown, but having been able to sit and watch it from the periphery has helped.

At age 28, you were the youngest head coach in the NHL. Does the pressure of being the coach of the Leafs compare to the pressure you must have felt to prove yourself as a 28-year-old coach?
Not even close, thank God. Unfortunately, at that point I was aware I was in over my head. It’s painful to know that you’re not ready for the job. It made for some long years. But I had the support of the management and you find a way to get through it. Now, looking back at all of the things we dealt with, it was the best thing that could have happened to me leading into this job. We moved a team [the Hartford Whalers, which became the Carolina Hurricanes] and went through the nastiness with local media and fans who were very upset. We lost a player tragically. There were a lot of things that you hope you never have to deal with, but at the same time, I think they helped me prepare for the unknown that is this market.

What is your main focus for this season?
Pace. Number one. The pace of the game has changed in the NHL, and I think that’s our biggest challenge. It will be a considerable adjustment for some players, but others will flourish, maybe even those you don’t expect to. And then there will be some that it’ll be more difficult for. But that’s true of any change, with any team.

As the coach of the Carolina Hurricanes, you took the Leafs out of the playoffs a few years back. What was your impression of the team then?
They were beat up at that point. By the time we got to them, some key guys had injuries. Still, we had a hard time killing them. In the game in which we eliminated them, I think they scored with something like seven seconds left to force it into overtime. I think that was the third overtime game of that series.

You’re from Sault Ste. Marie, a place full of Leafs fans. Did you catch some flak from old friends and family for beating the Leafs that year?
My brother Michael and his wife live in Kitchener. She was cheering for the Leafs, even while my team was playing against them. Which is just wrong on every possible count, right? Now that I’m here, I understand that devotion.

What did you miss about Canada when you were coaching the Carolina Hurricanes?
Family. And how easy it is to watch hockey 24 hours a day, to see every goal without having to watch basketball highlights in-between. In the States, hockey gets a bad rap.

Do you get back to the Soo often?
My parents and my younger brother still live there and we go there every summer to visit. Last year we were in the midst of the move so we didn’t make it, but my family came to Toronto to see us.

Did you go to Leafs games as a kid?
I went to one game. I was eight. It was at the Gardens, against Buffalo. I remember the overwhelming mass of humanity. It was like a quarter of my hometown was in one building.

You suffered an injury in 1984 that left you partially blind in one eye. Should visors be mandatory in the NHL?
I think they eventually will be. I’ll say this: I never liked wearing the visor. I never thought of not wearing it after my injury, but I never liked it. And there have also been a number of serious eye injuries with visors on.

That injury seriously hampered your hockey career. Did you think about pursuing something else?
When I was 18, my dad asked me if I ever thought about being a coach and I was so upset. When you’re a player, you think you’ll play forever. Even as a player, though, I would often lead drills, so it came naturally to me. If I had to choose another career, it would likely be teaching.

You have three young children. What do they think of your new job?
They’re just at the ages where they’re starting to think it’s pretty cool. We are trying to prepare our kids for the fact that at some point every coach gets the high hard one, and, if you spend a few months around that, you’re not going to want anybody to know your dad is coaching the Leafs.

Particularly as the coach of the Leafs, you’re analyzed, criticized, blogged, all that stuff. How do you deal with that kind of scrutiny?
I think it’s hardest on my family, because when you’re working in it you don’t have time to sit and watch TV or listen to the radio, and you learn not to. My daughter already had a classmate tell her that I suck. She laughed. When I worked in the media I understood the need to analyze every aspect of a game. The pressure here is no different than anywhere else in terms of winning and losing. You want to win. But the pressure to be good is different. You can get away with missing a line change here and there in other cities, but you’re not getting away with anything here.