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Confirmed with Link: Ducks fire Greg Cronin

This is now Verbeek’s team. He has put this together and has assembled maybe one of the best “overall” young group of players in the league.

He needs to bring in a top player or two to get the Ducks into the playoffs and competing for a cup.

He knows they won’t come with Cronin at the helm. He needs to hire competence and set the stage to make the Ducks a viable option.

This was a great move.

John
 
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AngelDuck said:
Wonder what this means for Zegras. I could still see him being moved this summer
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In the context that anybody can be traded I would agree.

But given that PV saw flaws in Cronin's coaching, I think he would be in less of a rush to move Z. A good coach who can turn Z back into the offensive threat he was while playing "decent" D would be like acquiring a new player.

I'd sure want to give that a try before moving him for his current value.
 
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CrazyDuck4u said:
Bring Gerrard Gallant!! Stop playing games
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Would be an awful hire. I actually watched him coach in full for two seasons. He's awful with young players and he always fizzles out after his one good first year. He gets high on his own success and stops taking his players to task. He's also awful at making adjustments in the playoffs.
 
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I dont get the hype with Carle - he's totally unproven at the NHL level, he should be doing assistant coach stuff first before HC gig.

I dont personally mind Torts but his style might be little too abrasive for the young team.

But whatever GMPV does, in the name of everything holy, dont even consider Laviolette!
 


This is one of the reasons I was so worried about Cro in the 2023 offseason, besides him constantly talking about Zegs on podcasts. The guy’s only tool is a hammer, a total one trick pony. What separates him from someone like Mike Keenan is he also has zero technical coaching skills.

I think Cronin is probably a really good salesman in interviews - we’ve seen him give really eloquent, “motivational”, and sensible interviews with Alexis - and was saying exactly what Pat wanted to hear. he and Pat probably kind of hit it off personally and Pat sort of got swept up by that and ultimately hired him. I just think if a guy has been around hockey and professional hockey as long as Cronin has, but never got a chance in his 40s or 50s to be a HC, there’s probably a reason for that.
 
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I think there are a number of things in play that bodes well for the Ducks going forward.

The Samuelis have never faced a drought like this. They bought the Ducks when they were ready to peak. Plus having an internal cap didn’t seem to pose a problem to remain competitive.

They are dumping millions into OC Vibe. You don’t want to be Buffalo West while promoting it as a destination.

I think they have confidence that Verbeek is making the right moves and not going carelessly throw away money.

John
 
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Leonardo87 said:
The Gauthier trade really scored a lot of points for me. Was watching Cutter in college , and I said this kid is going to be good. He got shit ice time from Cronin yet still had a very strong season.

It Verbeek is serious and I think he is. He will go after some pieces this summer needed to bring the team to the next level. But most importantly, need to find the right coaching staff to do it.
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Talking ice time, remember when your friend Machine head shared a lot of charts with us and pointed out how Mac produces so much in a limited time? Mac should have been given more ice time with that offense he was generating. Similarly, Colangelo was put into a grinding role on his first two call-ups despite being an AHL All-Star and Gulls leading goal scorer. But then when I did a goals per game rate and discovered that Colangelo was our best goal scorer per game, then it's scary that Colangelo was set up to fail in his first two call-ups. The kids' offenses were suppressed. Cronin thought improved points standings was what Verbeek wanted as it was the best outing under Verbeek for a full season.

On that tangent of what Verbeek wanted, I do believe Verbeek and Cronin were one of the same because in the video exit press interview, Verbeek cited the 21-point improvement and second highest in the league. So why the change? I'm thinking AGM Solomon headed the charge to move on from Cronin despite the 21-point increase. Solomon was brought in under Murray to upgrade our analytics side of the hockey operations. All the basic and advanced metrics outside of standings had pointed to a stagnation or regression. The youth group didn't improve from last year to this year save LaCombe. One out of six returning youths improved. That is not a sign of successful youth development.

It's possible that Solomon needed two years of underwhelming numbers to jar Verbeek's mind into reality that Cronin has been holding the team back as well as holding the youth group back. What transpired last year recurred again this year, but the difference were amazing goaltending and reduced penalties - both helped reduce goals against.

Without all these analytics, I think Verbeek would have kept Cronin for year 3 because of 21-point increase, culture, and accountability.
 
duckaroosky said:
Moved to a farm upstate with MooseDuck
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With snarktacular and professor frink.

This was the right move and I respect and appreciate PV for making it. It wouldn't have been an easy call for him in particular, but he made it. I can't celebrate a guy getting fired just for not working out; Cronin is clearly a passionate and hardworking guy and he failed after waiting 40 years to get his shot. That's a tough day and I feel for him. But I'm happy for us.
 
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GermanRocket7 said:
As I said a few days ago, I hoped the players take a giant shit on Cronin during the exit interviews, and judging by the speed of this decision, they really seem to have done just that. Gotta love it.
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They definitely did their lip service to the almost nonexistent media coverage we have.

‘Oh yeah Cro is a good guy, we like him’

Meanwhile they most likely TRASHED him during their exit interviews :D:clap::5:
 
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The Midnight Burrito said:
With snarktacular and professor frink.

This was the right move and I respect and appreciate PV for making it. It wouldn't have been an easy call for him in particular, but he made it. I can't celebrate a guy getting fired just for not working out; Cronin is clearly a passionate and hardworking guy and he failed after waiting 40 years to get his shot. That's a tough day and I feel for him. But I'm happy for us.
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They self-exiled from Duckland to the farm? 😯
 
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