What I see is that this team has not improved over the year. Not in wins, but in the basic fundamentals of the game. We get caught in our zone chasing the puck, we can't clear, we can't complete passes, we have little center ice presence but the opposing teams just stroll down the lane.
We take more penalties than we should, most of them are penalties. The frustrating part is other teams do the same, but there is no call. We are so undisciplined we are almost begging the refs to make a call. I've always thought the refs really despised the Ducks, but some of that might just be reacting to such a stupid team and coach. How can anyone think we will get any respect?
All of that is on the coach. No one on the team seems to know where they are supposed to be. That is really the frustrating part. I believe that Cronin, and Eakins, play man defense. I say I believe that is the system because they lose their man so much it is hard to say what the team is playing.
I was happy to see Cronin come in as a new coach as I thought even despite the lack of experience, it would be new blood and a new culture. Unfortunately it appears, at least to me, to be a very similar minor league hockey mindset of preparing players for the next level. Even benching Zegras seemed to be a move right out of a minor league coach's playbook.
The sad part is that Cronin may be right, he is preparing them for the next step. Unfortunately for Ducks fans, that next step might be the next team.
John