The Anaheim Ducks have fired head coach Greg Cronin, reports Daily Faceoff’s Frank Seravalli.
Cronin’s dismissal follows his second season with the Ducks in which the team finished with a 35-37-10 record and 16 points shy of the second wildcard seed in the Western Conference. In all, through two seasons in Anaheim, the first-time NHL head coach finished with a 62-87-15 showing.
“[Cronin] is responsible in many ways for the improvement we’ve seen from our young core. However, after several weeks of careful evaluation, I concluded we needed a change in direction and a new voice,” Ducks general manager Pat Verbeek later said in a statement. “This was an extremely difficult decision for me to make, but I felt it was necessary to continue our progress toward becoming a Stanley Cup contender that I know we can be.”
Prior to joining the Ducks, Cronin spent five seasons as head coach of the AHL’s Colorado Eagles, underscored by four trips to the Calder Cup Playoffs. Previously, Cronin led the minor-league Bridgeport Sound Tigers for two seasons from 2003-05, while he also has 11 years in an assistant coaching capacity with the New York Islanders and Toronto Maple Leafs. A 61-year-old native of Arlington, Mass., Cronin’s resume also counts eight years as head coach of the NCAA’s Maine Black Bears and Northeastern Huskies.
This season, the Ducks disappointed offensively with fellow forwards Troy Terry and Mason MacTavish as the only two skaters to crack the 50-point plateau. However, the club saw positives in other areas, namely 23-year-old rearguard Jackson LaCombe who in his second full season finished sixth in team scoring and first among defensemen with 43 points counting 14 goals and 29 assists coming in 79 games. Between the pipes, the Ducks also witnessed a solid showing from 24-year-old netminder Lukas Dostal who posted a 23-23-7 record coupled with a .903 save percentage, 3.10 goals-against average, and one shutout.
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