I refuse to believe Samuelies would be ok with a piss poor team for so long. Something has to give.
First and foremost, I'll always be grateful to have the Samueli's as our owners. They bought the Ducks to keep them in Anaheim than to relocate them like the Arizona NHL franchise moved to Utah. Also, they literally dragged the AHL out west. On top of that, they began restoring ice rinks, helping to create high school ice hockey programs, and constructed Great Park ice/Five Point arena skating rinks/Ducks practice facility. To cement the Ducks will always stay in Anaheim, the Ducks are the centerpiece to the OCvibe entertainment district construction.
The Samueli's leave hockey ops to hockey people. Verbeek was the GM chosen by committee. When Verbeek went Verbeekening, he had to inform the Samueli's that he reset the rebuild and rebuilds take at least five years. Their fates are intertwined for the proposed five years. We are staring year 3 of the Verbeek reset rebuild. To me, it's another developmental season. The only way up is through our youths. Gonna need a longer burn on Cronin for this season as we added another two more rookies on a full-time basis with LW Cutter and RD Luneau. If Cronin does get canned during this season or after this season by Verbeek, then it's a terrible look to be on your third head coach in three or four years as GM.
Tack on that the San Diego Gulls have been abysmal for the past few years and have started out middling too is also not a great reflection upon Verbeek.
Cronin and San Diego are symptoms of the underlying problem... GM Verbeek. Will the Samueli's wait out the proposed 5-year rebuild timeline with Verbeek? No idea. If "the committee" chirps to the Samueli's, then it could be possible that the Samueli's are looking for a new GM sooner. Would Teemu, Nieds, or Kariya have the gravitas to do so?
