The director general of the Ducks, Pat Verbeek, discussed this afternoon of the decision not to keep the head coach Greg Cronin, as well as additional subjects concerning the team entering the offseason:
First of all, I personally thank Greg Cronin for his tireless work and his dedication to our organization. Today was a very difficult day for this to happen, and I think Greg was responsible in many ways for improving this team. When we examine responsibility, you look at the relevance that it has brought back this organization to throw a solid base for all our young players and even our veterans, and it was very important. And while I went through this process, as I always do, I’m starting to look at things. When we probably got out of the photo of the playoffs, I started to really start to look more closely, and obviously there were concerns. And then I got closer to the end of the season, all the evaluations, it’s a bit when I really decided to make the change and I decided that it was the right time to take this team in a different direction and with a different voice.
On what he did not see with this team
I would say that in the end, it was really not a question of victories and losses. I think that when I talked about concerns, some of them were things that, in my opinion, could not be overcome with the other measurement stick that you wanted to apply. So, with that and my experience as a player and as a manager, I thought that it was the right time to make the change and for our team to advance.
On if there were concerns with the culture that Cronin created on the ice
No, no. I think that the culture that has been built here is responsibility. A constant work ethic was brought here, so no, there was no concern in this area.
On what the team was missing under Cronin
I wouldn’t say there are things that we can easily point. You can probably watch the power game, you can watch the penalty murder, but I didn’t look at this. There were other reasons, and fundamentally, I shared these reasons with Greg and they were private conversations, and I really want them to stay private to explain why.
On the possibility that other candidates influence its decision
No, I wouldn’t say that. No not at all. Obviously, now, we are in a different scenario where now it is a bit like the way I adopted the approach the last time, and the net will be poured wide. I will not really eliminate the options with regard to my approach to the next coach.
By discussing the decision with the players and the property
I mean you go through all these things, but I would not necessarily say that these things have influenced me. I have an open dialogue with our property all the time, so these things are discussed in certain circumstances. I speak regularly with Henry and Susan, which is talking. It’s always the usual thing at the end of the season. What was happening, and it was not different, it was not a different scenario or situation.
On his approach to the free agency this summer
I expect it to be very active and aggressive. I think I see this team at a time when my expectation of this team is to make the playoffs next season. I expect our group to take a step and I will therefore be active and aggressive to improve our team.
I will soon meet my group and we will go through all the different scenarios, and we will obviously have a lot of different strategies in this area. There will be a lot of different plans. I will be aggressive as if I was last summer, but there will be different plans set up on what is happening on the different scenarios. There will therefore be a lot of things that will be examined and there could be many different variables that arise and I hope we will have the answers to do so.
On when he made the decision
I’m still talking to players at the end. I mean there are always discussions. As I went through the evaluation, you start to look at things on a monthly basis. There are certain things that may arise two months in the season, then when you start to go through this process, you just start adding things. And when I started to add things, I decided that it was the right thing to do right now. And so when I got to this conclusion, we arrived today, and that’s about everything in a word.
On what he is looking for in a new coach and the chronology
Am I looking for a kind of specific coach? No, I think I’m going to go through the interview process and that I will probe and will pique and ask questions where certain things I think that our group needs and see how everything shakes. I am open to any type of coach at this stage and I don’t close anything. Now the calendar, we will start the search or start making a list immediately. I really don’t have a chronology on it. I will try to hire the best candidate for this team and what he needs to move forward.
I think that from my point of view, the team is underway and we improve and sometimes you have to watch scenarios where a voice is necessary to push this group to another level. And obviously, I think you look at the teams that are in the playoffs, we need 10 additional victories and that is what we must understand for next season. So I’m going to look for these answers with the new coach.
On the question of knowing if Cronin was surprised by the decision
I would say that he was completely shocked, which is probably normal from his point of view, and that is why it was very difficult and probably did not make much sense for him. Maybe at one point, I will be able to dive with him more deeply than what I have done in some of the conversations that we have had today.
On its objectives for the team
Last year, when we talked at this particular moment, perhaps a little earlier, it was our goal or my goal for this team to be in the mixture for the playoffs, playing significant matches in March, and we actually went beyond. So, from this aspect, I think we have reached what we had sought to achieve.
By obtaining Mason MCTAVISH and LUKAS DOTAL Signed
These are very important players for our organization, and the most difficult thing will be to understand what contracts look like. We will therefore go through our reasonable diligence. Obviously, we have a lot of time to work on this subject and the off -season is just beginning, and I had conversations with the two agents before the end of the season, so we will just take the place where we had stopped before. I also talked to two young players and they are excited. They are delighted to start and I hope we can work quickly.
To find out if he would hire another recruit head coach
Yeah, I really don’t eliminate any options. You can look at the recruit coaches who enter and do a work suddenly, so I do not eliminate any options on the table. It will therefore be important for some of the questions I will ask to see what their thoughts are, what their methods, their strategies will be, all this kind of thing that the interview process of a coach
On the status of the rest of the coach staff
Well, there are a lot of different scenarios that could occur, but right now, they are there for today until we can really understand where this research takes place and the types of things that shake a new coach.
On what should be added to the list
Well, I think that when you look at the list as a whole, we must score more goals. In the end, we did not score enough goals and this has certainly become a contributing factor. Like what was interesting, when we scored three or more goals, we have practically won all the matches. We were almost undefeated with scoring three or more goals. So it will be a goal that we are looking to achieve by being more offensive.
Admittedly, we have a diversified list in the sense that we have good older players and we have very good younger players. Molting them into them being at different stages of their career is obviously difficult in the sense that older players need less, younger players need more. Can they find the guy who can merge this development and this diversified list in a coherent unit where young children have an impact and even veterans have an impact? It is therefore in a way in a sense that what I am trying to do.
