Ron Wilson was announced as the new head coach of the Toronto Maple Leafs on Tuesday. Wilson signed a four-year contract to become the 36th head coach in Maple Leafs history. Wilson was fired by the San Jose Sharks last month.

"I'm the happiest person in the National Hockey League today," Wilson said. "I'm fulfilling a dream."

It was reported last week that Wilson had verbally agreed to a contract with the Maple Leafs, but an announcement was delayed as Wilson took some time to try and take the emotion out of his decision, and interim general manager Cliff Fletcher was in Arizona.

"I needed a little bit of time to wrap my head around this and make sure I was ready to handle this kind of responsibility," Wilson said on Monday. "It's been pretty unanimous from all of my colleagues, that they think I can handle this responsibility. I just needed a little bit of time to let the whole decision-making process percolate and I feel very comfortable right now."

Wilson joins a team that hasn’t made the playoffs in three years and went through a re-building faze starting in January. John Ferguson, Jr. was fired as general manager in January, and head coach Paul Maurice was fired last month. Both Ferguson and Maurice proclaimed the Leafs a championship contender before the season began, but after a 12th place finish in the Eastern Conference, Leafs nation had seen enough.

Wilson is familiar with one player currently on the Leafs. Goaltender Vesa Toskala played for Wilson in San Jose, and he knows what type of player Toskala is and liked what he saw in San Jose. Wilson’s first change will be putting a different defensive structure in front of Toskala.

"This team needs a little more structure defensively," Wilson said. "It needs to do a better job killing penalties. I think I can help make a difference here."

Before being fired by San Jose, Wilson had coach the Sharks for the past five seasons and enjoyed some success. The Sharks won two division titles and advanced to the conference finals, but were never able to get over the hump and make an appearance in the Stanley Cup finals. His Sharks set a franchise recorded for points in 2007-08 with 108. Wilson also coached the Anaheim Ducks (1993-1997) and Washington Capitals (1997-2002); appearing in the Stanley Cup finals with Washington in 1998.