Confirmed with Link: Ducks fire Greg Cronin

[AngelDuck]

I think Zegras is a good guy/hard worker and has done everything asked of him. And has received terrible coaching his whole pro career

My concern is can he get by at this level as a guy who isn’t strong and isn’t a very good skater?

Watching these playoffs I’m becoming more and more doubtful he can do it effectively consistently but I’d love to be wrong

 

[Dr Johnny Fever]

A good coach doesn’t try and pound a square peg into a round hole. Hopefully Pat learned that with Cro and will do a better job this time around.

The hardest thing to do in the league is score. You don’t waste guys who have that talent. You work with them better than we have so far because if you don’t somebody will and you will look like a fool when they show you how it’s done.

 

[FiveTacos]

I think Zegras is a good guy/hard worker and has done everything asked of him. And has received terrible coaching his whole pro career

My concern is can he get by at this level as a guy who isn’t strong and isn’t a very good skater?

I suspect he'll always be very system/linemate dependent. Which is fine. There's a reason he went 9oa and not top 5 despite having high end skill/vision.

We're in a fortunate position of not having to rely on him as a future franchise core player, but rather ask ourselves how good of a supplemental top 6 piece he can be, and weigh that against the cap cost.

 

[zegrassyknoll]

Very interesting to me that he was so surprised to be let go. Not sure whom to pin that on but it speaks very poorly of somebody.

I've seen this take a couple of times and not sure I totally agree with it.

It would be one thing if Cronin came out and said something like "The front office told me everything was going great and then I got fired."

I imagine being an NHL coach requires a certain level of confidence in yourself and maybe that confidence leads to blind spots. It also wouldn't surprise me if Pat isn't a great communicator. Neither of those things speaks very poorly of either of them, IMO. Maybe just not a good fit for each other.

 

[FiveHoleTickler]

I've seen this take a couple of times and not sure I totally agree with it.

It would be one thing if Cronin came out and said something like "The front office told me everything was going great and then I got fired."

I imagine being an NHL coach requires a certain level of confidence in yourself and maybe that confidence leads to blind spots. It also wouldn't surprise me if Pat isn't a great communicator. Neither of those things speaks very poorly of either of them, IMO. Maybe just not a good fit for each other.

Isn't that the point of having such a rigorous interview process?

Making that determination after 2 years on the job wouldn't reflect very positively on Verbeek. I don't think it was as simple as that.

 

[Hockey Duckie]

I would be very happy if the version of events Cronin presented were accurate, but eye test and team metrics proved otherwise.

Good luck in future endeavours Cronin.

Sidenote, Pierre is delusional.

What Cronin presented was all accurate, but he left out a lot of parts. Cronin was unable to sustain good play after his WPG run of 25 games (up to the 4 Nations break). The next eight games were brutal for Cronin despite the team's best scoring rate of 3.50 GF/game, as it would go 3-4-1 (43.8%). Looking at the Goal Differential (GD) of that 8-game set (4 Nations to TDL), it was the only time the Ducks were a +GD and it was also our worst Pts % game set. When we look at the GD for the season in splits, it is obvious our offense wasn't winning games and our defense was still porous. That leads to only one conclusion, the Ducks had amazing goaltending.

 

[Lord Flashheart]

What Cronin presented was all accurate, but he left out a lot of parts. Cronin was unable to sustain good play after his WPG run of 25 games (up to the 4 Nations break). The next eight games were brutal for Cronin despite the team's best scoring rate of 3.50 GF/game, as it would go 3-4-1 (43.8%). Looking at the Goal Differential (GD) of that 8-game set (4 Nations to TDL), it was the only time the Ducks were a +GD and it was also our worst Pts % game set. When we look at the GD for the season in splits, it is obvious our offense wasn't winning games and our defense was still porous. That leads to only one conclusion, the Ducks had amazing goaltending.

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That's the thing, he cherry picked certain things to create a certain narrative, thus creating version of Ducks that doesn't correlate with reality (when all factors are taken into account).

I did not question his cherry picked stats.

 

[Hockey Duckie]

That's the thing, he cherry picked certain things to create a certain narrative, thus creating version of Ducks that doesn't correlate with reality (when all factors are taken into account).

I did not question his cherry picked stats.

I think we're all glad that someone got to Verbeek to look at the bigger picture b/c Verbeek was all about Cronin, the culture change, and got to meaningful games this season. Extremely happy someone told Verbeek to look at the "how they got there" instead of just the "result".

 

[ohcomeonref]

I think we're all glad that someone got to Verbeek to look at the bigger picture b/c Verbeek was all about Cronin, the culture change, and got to meaningful games this season. Extremely happy someone told Verbeek to look at the "how they got there" instead of just the "result".

Sometimes the journey is more important than the destination.

 

[Sendhelp2Anaheim]

Big season coming up for Zegras next year. I want him to be part of this franchise moving forward and he really needs to play his ass off, on both ends of the ice.

With the right coach/system... i imagine hell pop off

 

[FiveTacos]

Sometimes the journey is more important than the destination.

Just make sure you don't stop believin'.

 

[ohcomeonref]

With the right coach/system... i imagine hell pop off

Zegras still has PPG upside in his bones absolutely.

 

[JAHV]

Just make sure you don't stop believin'.

You've got to faithfully root for the Ducks. Especially now that the Ducks and Cronin have gone their separate ways. They're worlds apart at this point.

 

[The Midnight Burrito]

You've got to faithfully root for the Ducks. Especially now that the Ducks and Cronin have gone their separate ways. They're worlds apart at this point.

Guess we're all just feelin that way.

 

[duckpuck]

Cro is pretty bummed, feels like, and understandably so. Kind of listing some accomplishments - point increase, 20 goal scorers, -6 even strength. Says PP/PK just really dragged them down. Mentioned how they only added Dumo and Fabbri last year

I like him, but some odd arguments from Cronin.

We improved by 21 pionts = last year we really underachieved and this year I benefitted from really good goalie play.

PP/PK really hurt the team = this was a two year problem where the coaches couldn't solve it despite having very talented players.

We didn't add any players = I guess no one wanted to play for Cronin. He can dispute that, but there are lots of on the record reports of veterans not liking him.

Bottom line for me, the team underachieved in several key areas that fall on the coaches, including player development. Despite being a good guy, he was over his head and there was very little chance he was going to fix the defense, PP, or PK issues going forward.

 

[Mr Rogers]

I like him, but some odd arguments from Cronin.

We improved by 21 pionts = last year we really underachieved and this year I benefitted from really good goalie play.

PP/PK really hurt the team = this was a two year problem where the coaches couldn't solve it despite having very talented players.

We didn't add any players = I guess no one wanted to play for Cronin. He can dispute that, but there are lots of on the record reports of veterans not liking him.

Bottom line for me, the team underachieved in several key areas that fall on the coaches, including player development. Despite being a good guy, he was over his head and there was very little chance he was going to fix the defense, PP, or PK issues going forward.

Yeah i thought a lot of what he was referencing was raw/counting stats and he obviously was presenting things in a way that was as favourable as possible for him. but for some people (maybe even future employers) those items might be convincing along with the belief that he was screwed, which he mightve been depending on how you look at it.

 

[tomd]

I think Zegras is a good guy/hard worker and has done everything asked of him. And has received terrible coaching his whole pro career

My concern is can he get by at this level as a guy who isn’t strong and isn’t a very good skater?

Watching these playoffs I’m becoming more and more doubtful he can do it effectively consistently but I’d love to be wrong

IMO, Zegras is a man w/o a position in Anaheim. He isn't going to supplant Carlsson/McTavish at 1C/2C. I don't think he is an ideal 3C. The experiment at LW has had mixed results. I do think he can be a good 2C in this league and it probably makes sense to move him to a team that needs a 2C. There are several teams in need. Obviously the return has to be palatable but I'm not expecting anything outstanding.

 

[Hockey Duckie]

Cro is pretty bummed, feels like, and understandably so. Kind of listing some accomplishments - point increase, 20 goal scorers, -6 even strength. Says PP/PK just really dragged them down. Mentioned how they only added Dumo and Fabbri last year

Cro forgot we added Cutter and Trouba. And then we had surprising depth with Helleson and Colangelo. Also, he forgot to give credit to goalie coach Budaj and goalie overseer Sudsie for the dramatic goalie turnaround.

Cutter: 82 games, 20g +24a, +8 rating
Trouba: 53 games, 1g + 7a, -5 rating, 140 blocks 125 hits
Helleson: 56 games, 4g + 9a, +6 rating, 73 blocks, 125 hits
Colangelo: 32 games, 10g +2a, -4 rating

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Goalies

GSAx difference between the two seasons are 44.5 goals saved above expected! The difference in raw Goals Allowed differential between the two seasons have reduced 32 goals allowed. We rank at the bottom of GF, PP, and PK. Then who should you attribute the 21-point increase? Cronin can't say the goalies b/c it would blow his whole schtick apart.

2023-24: Goalie coach = David Rook

2024-25: Goalie coach = Budaj and Goalie overseer = Sudsie

 

[ADHB]

I like him, but some odd arguments from Cronin.

We improved by 21 pionts = last year we really underachieved and this year I benefitted from really good goalie play.

PP/PK really hurt the team = this was a two year problem where the coaches couldn't solve it despite having very talented players.

We didn't add any players = I guess no one wanted to play for Cronin. He can dispute that, but there are lots of on the record reports of veterans not liking him.

Bottom line for me, the team underachieved in several key areas that fall on the coaches, including player development. Despite being a good guy, he was over his head and there was very little chance he was going to fix the defense, PP, or PK issues going forward.

The big one for me was the fact that he almost discounted the PP/PK issues as if it was something out of his control. He’s the head coach. The special teams being as bad as they were falls on him even if people want to place all the blame solely on the assistants.