Former Ducks (2024-25 edition)

12ozPapa · 2024-09-29T16:17:38-0400

JonathnTaylorTavares said:
Costco scored last night for the Flames. Glad to see hes still playing for now. Did we ever figure out why his car accident incident sounded so weird?

Who?

Mr Rogers · 2024-09-29T21:24:52-0400

12ozPapa said:
Who?

Justin Kirkland. The account of the car accident he was in last year on the way to a game was really odd

Alessandro Seren Rosso · 2024-09-30T10:18:21-0400

A lot of Ducks talk and Mintyukov praising for former Ducks d-man Ilya Lyubushkin in this translated interview:

Have a good read!

Stars' Lyubushkin Talks New Contract, Maple Leafs, Mintyukov in Russian Interview - The Hockey Writers Dallas Stars Latest News, Analysis & More

In this interview, Stars' Ilya Lyubushkin talks about his move to his new team, playing in Toronto, Mintyukov and the Ducks, and much more.

thehockeywriters.com

FlyingV09 · 2024-09-30T10:38:48-0400

Alessandro Seren Rosso said:
A lot of Ducks talk and Mintyukov praising for former Ducks d-man Ilya Lyubushkin in this translated interview:

Have a good read!

Stars' Lyubushkin Talks New Contract, Maple Leafs, Mintyukov in Russian Interview - The Hockey Writers Dallas Stars Latest News, Analysis & More

In this interview, Stars' Ilya Lyubushkin talks about his move to his new team, playing in Toronto, Mintyukov and the Ducks, and much more.

thehockeywriters.com

Not a glowing review of Cronin…..

FiveHoleTickler · 2024-09-30T10:55:25-0400

FlyingV09 said:
Not a glowing review of Cronin…..

Even though the coach was a good guy, he always put enormous psychological pressure on the players. We had a schedule where we would come in, warm up, sit in a meeting for an hour, and only then hit the ice. I always thought, ‘Why are we warming up now? Let’s do it after the hour-long meeting.’ They said, ‘No, we can’t do it that way.’ Then, after two months, they changed it, agreeing, ‘Okay, let’s do it your way.’

I think we've all had bosses that've pulled this kind of shit. Not a good look at all.

JAHV · 2024-09-30T10:59:11-0400

FlyingV09 said:
Not a glowing review of Cronin…..

It really isn't. The part about the order of practice - that they would come in, warm up, then sit for an hour in meetings (some of which Lyubushkin said weren't even hockey-related), and then get back on the ice to practice - that makes very little sense to me.

On the one hand, I appreciate that Cronin changed his approach midseason. On the other hand, that whole thing seems really weird to me. The point of warming up is to get the blood flowing and the muscles stretched out so that they don't go from nothing to full use too quickly. Why would he have the players warm up and then sit so that muscles could re-tighten?

The "psychological pressure" comments are also very alarming. There have been bits and pieces here and there that have made me skeptical of Cronin, but still hopeful that he can turn the ship around. This interview makes me think he's probably not the guy. We'll see how the season goes (the earliest he would get fired is next offseason), but this isn't a good look.

FlyingV09 · 2024-09-30T11:04:59-0400

JAHV said:
It really isn't. The part about the order of practice - that they would come in, warm up, then sit for an hour in meetings (some of which Lyubushkin said weren't even hockey-related), and then get back on the ice to practice - that makes very little sense to me.

On the one hand, I appreciate that Cronin changed his approach midseason. On the other hand, that whole thing seems really weird to me. The point of warming up is to get the blood flowing and the muscles stretched out so that they don't go from nothing to full use too quickly. Why would he have the players warm up and then sit so that muscles could re-tighten?

The "psychological pressure" comments are also very alarming. There have been bits and pieces here and there that have made me skeptical of Cronin, but still hopeful that he can turn the ship around. This interview makes me think he's probably not the guy. We'll see how the season goes (the earliest he would get fired is next offseason), but this isn't a good look.

I’ve been defending him till now given his short tenure but if there are other players feeling this way, it is certainly concerning.

KelVarnsen · 2024-09-30T11:11:41-0400

Wow those quotes about Cronin are pretty horrible.

This one screams to me:

“It wasn’t just because we weren’t winning—there was a combination of factors. The coach, Greg Cronin, was very tough, and the psychological atmosphere within the team was very difficult. It wasn’t that I wanted to quit hockey at that moment, but I did catch myself thinking, ‘Am I really tired of hockey already?!'

But you’d come to these meetings, sit there for 40 minutes, listening to things unrelated to hockey. Then, finally, we’d start watching video. By then, you’ve already been sitting for 40 minutes, listening to random stories. It was just exhausting. He’s a good coach and a good person, but that was his approach. You’d walk into the locker room and see all the other guys with the same expressions on their faces as you… It was hard to find any motivation to go out and train. And it wasn’t just about struggling to find motivation—you just didn’t want to do it.”

A Dude who has played hockey his entire life was questioning whether he wanted to actually play a game he supposedly loved? Cronin's approach combined with losing so much must have made the atmosphere terrible.

Mr Rogers · 2024-09-30T11:28:20-0400

Definitely concerning although none of it surprising.

ScarTroy · 2024-09-30T11:32:26-0400

Kinda funny Verbeek interviewed so many guys for the job he damn near made it to interviewing peewee coaches, and still chose Cronin. I don’t think last season was all on him, but if that’s truly the morale of the locker room under him, that’s a huge red flag.

anezthes · 2024-09-30T12:11:48-0400

"Am I really tired of hockey already?!"

Can't blame him. I thought the same thing. :laugh:

"Even though the coach was a good guy, he always put enormous psychological pressure on the players."

Oh, boy. Wait until our beat writers hear about this! The org will have to answer some really tough questions.

McDonald19 · 2024-09-30T12:16:00-0400

The only good thing I can say about Cronin’s coaching is he has managed to get the team to body check more. Even Leason finally started throwing his 6’5 220 frame around last season.

Bender66 · 2024-09-30T12:25:48-0400

That is some alarming mike babcock esque mind games bullshit.

Hockey Duckie · 2024-09-30T12:55:59-0400

KelVarnsen said:
“It wasn’t just because we weren’t winning—there was a combination of factors. The coach, Greg Cronin, was very tough, and the psychological atmosphere within the team was very difficult. It wasn’t that I wanted to quit hockey at that moment, but I did catch myself thinking, ‘Am I really tired of hockey already?!'

But you’d come to these meetings, sit there for 40 minutes, listening to things unrelated to hockey. Then, finally, we’d start watching video. By then, you’ve already been sitting for 40 minutes, listening to random stories. It was just exhausting. He’s a good coach and a good person, but that was his approach. You’d walk into the locker room and see all the other guys with the same expressions on their faces as you… It was hard to find any motivation to go out and train. And it wasn’t just about struggling to find motivation—you just didn’t want to do it.”

A Dude who has played hockey his entire life was questioning whether he wanted to actually play a game he supposedly loved? Cronin's approach combined with losing so much must have made the atmosphere terrible.

I wonder if the 40 minutes was more for the youths on the team with the culture Verbeek and Cronin wanted to develop. That's probably how the kids all had to suck it up and play through injuries last year. We heard from Verbeek that he is happy with the team as they have improved in team culture, despite our abysmal season. That's a totally different perspective to what happened the previous end of the season report with Eakins even though the records were eerily similar.

From NHL.com: Verbeek, Cronin Recap Ducks Season.

On Greg Cronin

I've got a super long time for Greg Cronin. Got a lot of respect for him. Very competitive, very passionate guy. Love his approach to life and his approach to our hockey team. I'm very happy with the job that he did this year. There were a lot of things that were positive. Guys had career years and we certainly improved our competitiveness, our work ethic and the overall culture has taken big strides. Do we still have work to do? Yes, we do, but overall I'm very happy from that aspect.

If you read further down that NHL.com article, you'll see Cronin's recap and he's huge on "messaging". That kinda supports Lyubushkin's recounting.

HanSolo · 2024-09-30T13:10:16-0400

Saw this article somewhere else. I'm just so uncomfortable with this guy continuing to have the future of this team directly in his hands.

dracom · 2024-09-30T13:13:36-0400

We’re so close to becoming another Buffalo. A team that kills players interest in hockey.

Smirnov2Chistov · 2024-09-30T14:23:02-0400

KelVarnsen said:
Wow those quotes about Cronin are pretty horrible.

This one screams to me:

“It wasn’t just because we weren’t winning—there was a combination of factors. The coach, Greg Cronin, was very tough, and the psychological atmosphere within the team was very difficult. It wasn’t that I wanted to quit hockey at that moment, but I did catch myself thinking, ‘Am I really tired of hockey already?!'

But you’d come to these meetings, sit there for 40 minutes, listening to things unrelated to hockey. Then, finally, we’d start watching video. By then, you’ve already been sitting for 40 minutes, listening to random stories. It was just exhausting. He’s a good coach and a good person, but that was his approach. You’d walk into the locker room and see all the other guys with the same expressions on their faces as you… It was hard to find any motivation to go out and train. And it wasn’t just about struggling to find motivation—you just didn’t want to do it.”

A Dude who has played hockey his entire life was questioning whether he wanted to actually play a game he supposedly loved? Cronin's approach combined with losing so much must have made the atmosphere terrible.

It will be a celebratory day when Cronin is let go..

Lord Flashheart · 2024-09-30T14:26:38-0400

I'm getting Carlyle vibes reading that.

Terry Yake · 2024-09-30T14:28:06-0400

cronin better be gone after this season if there's no notable improvement from the last couple seasons. haven't heard anything good about him since he took over

Hamilton Bulldogs · 2024-09-30T14:32:09-0400

Yikes.

Very concerning words from a vet but glad to get some insight on what’s going on with the team.

Former Ducks (2024-25 edition)

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