2023-2024 Coaching/Management/Ownership

[Mr Rogers]

 

[ScarTroy]

There's no way Cronin is let go after one season that was already slated to be a "developmental year" when all of the young guns were constantly injured and in and out of the lineup. I think (hope) we'll see some shuffling of the assistants, and come back at things next year with a hopefully healthy roster, plus some more additions from the offseason.

They have both opened themselves to very valid criticisms but this season was never do or die for either of them.

Yeah the season was going to be rough, we all knew that, I think that’s why for now Verbeek gets a pass. I see where he’s trying to go with the rebuild. With Cronin though there’s just no semblance of any light at the end of the tunnel with him other than the hot streak to start the season. That hot streak is the only thing keeping me on board with giving him next season. Other than that though, it’s been boring hockey mixed with an inability to make adjustments that actually benefit the team.

I’ve said it before I’m not quite cold on him yet, just lukewarm. I’d like to see him make any positive adjustment though, just so we can get a little hope he won’t look like a deer in headlights all season again next year. I know it’s the kiss of death (Buffalo/EDM) for young players to go through so many coaches early in their career, so I’m hoping he comes back next year and can get more out of the team.

 

[Goose of Reason]

Because he made a bad pass when he was tired at the end of the shift and then still backchecked and recovered possession of the puck?

 

[nbducksfan19]

There's no way Cronin is let go after one season that was already slated to be a "developmental year" when all of the young guns were constantly injured and in and out of the lineup. I think (hope) we'll see some shuffling of the assistants, and come back at things next year with a hopefully healthy roster, plus some more additions from the offseason.

They have both opened themselves to very valid criticisms but this season was never do or die for either of them.

I think this is the exact reason Cronin could be gone. What positive development has occurred? Is the team or systems noticeably better- I think not.

Has any of our players developed well this year due to coaching, I would say no.

This was supposed to be a development year, and if anything our club feels like it’s regressing. In a development year you hope to be playing your best hockey in march/april, not September/october. It pains me to say it because I was all-in on the Cronin hire. I loved everything he was saying last summer.

 

[70sSanO]

Depends what our players say in our exit interviews. The last 2 seasons have been so difficult, that I would bet some of our vet players might feel that for her first time in their careers, they might have to tell some hard truths about their coaches and fellow players as well as accountability for themselves.

Not sure if Silfverberg would be one of them, but I would take whatever he says to heart if I were Verbeek.

John

 

[The Midnight Burrito]

Because he made a bad pass when he was tired at the end of the shift and then still backchecked and recovered possession of the puck?

If not completing a pass were grounds for benching on this team then only Terry and Vatrano would ever play (because they don't pass).

 

[Gliff]

Hilarious. If Getzlaf was benched for every stupid pass he made he would have never played. Creative guys make bad passes some times. It happens.

 

[Kalv]

While I'm one of the people who thinks we have improved from last season, this team and coaching staff and perhaps even mgmt are in a downward spiral. Best I can hope is that they will not start to blame (trade) players before coaching issues are adressed.

Cronins self evaluation comments looke eerily creepy now.

If the whole team is out of sync perhaps Cronin needs to bench himself instead of Zegras

 

[dracom]

this dumbass on twitter would have a point if Zegras made that bad pass then just gave up on the play and went to the bench. but no, he stuck with it, back checked and recovered the puck. if this is the sort of thing that gets a player benched then we're screwed. who even is this guy?

 

[Mr Rogers]

this dumbass on twitter would have a point if Zegras made that bad pass then just gave up on the play and went to the bench. but no, he stuck with it, back checked and recovered the puck. if this is the sort of thing that gets a player benched then we're screwed. who even is this guy?

I actually didn't really read what he actually said in detail until you mentioned that, but i guess he is being sarcastic. the only thing that stuck out to me was that really nice backcheck Zegs had at the end. I don't trust that Greg knows how to coach an effective offensive scheme and i don't think he can vibe with high-octane types. There's inherently going to be give and take with these guys and i don't think Cronin is a compromiser, Boudreau was a guy who totally got how to handle those types and that's why every single one he ever got to work with really thrived with him.

 

[MMC]

Why?

Because baring something unforeseen he’s going to be here next season and none of us can do squat about it. So it comes down to making the choice to either being miserable or not.

 

[MMC]

Pretty hilarious going back and remembering that we’re only a few months removed from everyone singing Cronin’s praises and talking about how happy they were with him as coach and expressing confidence that he was the solution. Now apparently he’s some clueless hack who has no business being the coach.

Honestly Verbeek should’ve just extended Eakins for 3 years or so. Would fit if he sees the timeline for the playoffs as 2 seasons from now, as he could then fire Eakins mid season if they weren’t competing and then install the guy he wanted. I mean one would think that after seeing this roster seriously struggle under 2 head coaches that people would realize this team has much bigger issues but since that evidently isn’t that case he may as well have just let Eakins be the number one enemy for a few more years

 

[TopShelfWaterBottle]

What sucks is Cronin was seen as a filler coach while mcilvine or however you spell it down in SD got used to North American ice. Problem is I see no reason to promote him with the gulls play and record even if they are built horribly

 

[anezthes]

The forecheck is non-existent. There's zero pressure in any zone, and they can't break out because there's no support. Instead, they reverse the puck and lose possession. Offensively, they cycle the puck out high and lose possession at the blue line. There's no attacking the net or screening the opposing goaltender. Defensively, they're completely lost; there's no urgency or understanding of how to break up the cycle.

Either Greg "I don't know why they're not shooting the puck" Cronin isn't a very good NHL head coach or this team has 3 capable NHL players.

 

[KaseMeOutside]

If he benched him for something as stupid as this he should be fired because then it's becoming an ego trip

The forecheck is non-existent. There's zero pressure in any zone, and they can't break out because there's no support. Instead, they reverse the puck and lose possession. Offensively, they cycle the puck out high and lose possession at the blue line. There's no attacking the net or screening the opposing goaltender. Defensively, they're completely lost; there's no urgency or understanding of how to break up the cycle.

Either Greg "I don't know why they're not shooting the puck" Cronin isn't a very good NHL head coach or this team has 3 capable NHL players.

It's both. I don't think an ownership which has never wanted to do a full scale rebuild is happy with what they're seeing.

 

[eaterfan]

This roster, even with injuries, is much more talented than Chicago. They have Bedard, and he was hurt, too. They are playing hard and winning games. They are improving. The Ducks aren't.

I don't want to be that guy, but Cronin has to go.

 

[HanSolo]

I think this is the exact reason Cronin could be gone. What positive development has occurred? Is the team or systems noticeably better- I think not.

Has any of our players developed well this year due to coaching, I would say no.

This was supposed to be a development year, and if anything our club feels like it’s regressing. In a development year you hope to be playing your best hockey in march/april, not September/october. It pains me to say it because I was all-in on the Cronin hire. I loved everything he was saying last summer.

This is my issue. Other than compelling Zegras to play more responsible defense, I don't really see a game to game difference on the young guys working on the things (including just basic fundamentals) that ought to make them better hockey players. I don't see the powerplay taking baby steps to play better systems, I see the same broken dogshit.

Does some of that fall on the players to take accountability for themselves? Of course. But at the end of the day, a guy hired to be HC for a team in a season specifically designated as a 'development season', that's Cronin's main directive, to coach in development of positive play, habits, strategies, systems, and physical preparedness. I just don't see that that has been happening. It seemed to be happening in the first quarter of the year but has just been declining since then.

I don't believe that this Ducks roster is a group of uncoachable men. I just think Cronin and his staff don't have a clue on how to develop them. And some of the decisions he makes on a game to game basis are baffling to the development season goal, like having the vet powerplay unit eat up most of the team's powerplay time. Like is the idea that they're supposed to be learning good habits from a powerplay unit that is objectively awful outside of Vatrano?

People talk about giving Cronin another chance because he got the unfortunate adversity of many key injuries, but on one hand I think his job (as a player development coach) remains the same even with core guys out and I didn't see the development work translating on the ice with or without injuries. On the other hand, this is a league where, on average, player's primes hit really early and if there's a chance to hire someone more suitable for the job of preparing these kids to be effective NHL performers, the sooner it happens the better. And for me, personally, I don't see that Cronin is the right man for the job.

 

[tomd]

The most significant issue facing the organization is that the young players have arguably gotten worse as the season has progressed. Injuries have played a part but only a part. Losing is one thing but get worse while you're losing is really discouraging.

 

[Ducks DVM]

The most significant issue facing the organization is that the young players have arguably gotten worse as the season has progressed. Injuries have played a part but only a part. Losing is one thing but get worse while you're losing is really discouraging.

That’s expected though. That’s why you rarely start them at a full NHL season. When you then break and/or trade the veterans and give them more minutes, they get worse.

 

[tomd]

That’s expected though. That’s why you rarely start them at a full NHL season. When you then break and/or trade the veterans and give them more minutes, they get worse.

I don't disagree but their performance had been trending down long before the TDL. Carlsson and McTavish have both had a horrible 2nd half of the season. LaCombe fell off a cliff and even Mintyukov has tailed off. Even most of the Gulls players have had poor 2nd halves with one or two exceptions. Ideally, you would expect players to improve over the course of a season. I understand hitting the wall and maybe that makes sense for some of them but this seems like something worse.

 

[Ducks DVM]

There isn’t the PP minute disparity people think there is. I think Cronin starts the vets so that the kids get the second or third PK units, but the top 12 guys are all clustered within 30 seconds of one another.

And it’s not like the vets aren’t performing compared to the kids.

 

[Ducks DVM]

I don't disagree but their performance had been trending down long before the TDL. Carlsson and McTavish have both had a horrible 2nd half of the season. LaCombe fell off a cliff and even Mintyukov has tailed off. Even most of the Gulls players have had poor 2nd halves with one or two exceptions. Ideally, you would expect players to improve over the course of a season. I understand hitting the wall and maybe that makes sense for some of them but this seems like something worse.

To me, that’s the rookie wall. That’s when it’s supposed to happen, and that’s when it occurred. It’s worse because instead of then sending them to the AHL, we upped their responsibilities, and instead of 1-2 rookies, we have 4-5. Nowhere to hide, not enough sitting in the press box.

Not what I thought was meant when Verbeek said he “overcooks” rookies.

 

[Static]

 

[The Midnight Burrito]

This is my issue. Other than compelling Zegras to play more responsible defense, I don't really see a game to game difference on the young guys working on the things (including just basic fundamentals) that ought to make them better hockey players. I don't see the powerplay taking baby steps to play better systems, I see the same broken dogshit.

Does some of that fall on the players to take accountability for themselves? Of course. But at the end of the day, a guy hired to be HC for a team in a season specifically designated as a 'development season', that's Cronin's main directive, to coach in development of positive play, habits, strategies, systems, and physical preparedness. I just don't see that that has been happening. It seemed to be happening in the first quarter of the year but has just been declining since then.

I don't believe that this Ducks roster is a group of uncoachable men. I just think Cronin and his staff don't have a clue on how to develop them. And some of the decisions he makes on a game to game basis are baffling to the development season goal, like having the vet powerplay unit eat up most of the team's powerplay time. Like is the idea that they're supposed to be learning good habits from a powerplay unit that is objectively awful outside of Vatrano?

People talk about giving Cronin another chance because he got the unfortunate adversity of many key injuries, but on one hand I think his job (as a player development coach) remains the same even with core guys out and I didn't see the development work translating on the ice with or without injuries. On the other hand, this is a league where, on average, player's primes hit really early and if there's a chance to hire someone more suitable for the job of preparing these kids to be effective NHL performers, the sooner it happens the better. And for me, personally, I don't see that Cronin is the right man for the job.

It's impossible IMO to disentangle injuries from development (or backwards-development) and he's also hamstrung by a roster that's pretty threadbare of veteran leadership, and for the third deadline in a row was stripped of its character and thereby handed every reason to be despondent, and to play accordingly. PV can say "play for contracts" or whatever but that's not a magic wand in an environment like that. And maybe he doesn't care, he didn't draft most of these guys so f*** em. The load management thing was also an embarrassing failure.

Anyway. Lots of red flags on Cronin but this mess isn't obviously solely his fault, or even mostly his fault. Plus, he's PV's brand new hire based evidently on a 2 day hotel lobby bromance that may not have been an ideal recruitment process. That's not his fault either, it's PV's. So he's not going anywhere unless there is heat on PV that PV needs to deflect. Right now PV's content to basically blame the team for not stepping up after he wiped his ass with the roster, AGAIN, but that won't suffice forever.

 

[robbieboy3686]

Not sure if Silfverberg would be one of them, but I would take whatever he says to heart if I were Verbeek.

John

Me too! A long time duck who loves his team, and is on his way out. Great example of a player who I believe will 100% tell it how it is. And our gm will listen.