Northeastern's Greg Cronin To Join Maple Leafs' Coaching Staff
by Ryan Durling on Jun 20, 2011 8:48 PM EDT
in Hockey East
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PrintAfter reports surfaced earlier in the spring that Northeastern head coach Greg Cronin was leaving the school for an AHL position were shot down, today the news broke - courtesy of the Boston Herald - that Cronin is actually leaving, this time to join Ron Wilson's coaching staff in Toronto.
Cronin compiled a record of 84-104-29 in six seasons at Northeastern, but failed to ever win an Hockey East or Beanpot title and led the Huskies to just one NCAA tournament appearance, in 2009 when Brad Thiessen was manning the pipes for the Huskies.
Cronin becomes the third coach in the conference to depart his team this spring, following Blaise MacDonald at Lowell and Tim Army at Providence.
The news is devastating for Northeastern, which had received good news in the form of Vinny Saponari, John Gaudreau and a promise from star blueliner and proposed top-ten draft pick Jamie Oleksiak that he'd be returning for next season, all after prized goaltender Chris Rawlings didn't leave the school as many had anticipated he would.
Cronin's recruiting was starting to make a dent in the classes of city rivals Boston University and Boston College, and his ability to bring talent in will be missed dearly by the team.
Former Assistant Coach Sebastien Laplante will assume interim head coaching duties, and is presumably the lead candidate for the permanent role, when it's filled. Laplante coached the Huskies for six games last season after Cronin was suspended by Northeastern for compliance reasons. In those games, the Huskies went 2-2-2, including an upset of then-number one Boston College and a big win over arch-rival BU at Agganis Arena.
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Northeastern nearly took the Beanpot and Hockey East Tourney with Leplante at the helm. Cronin will be missed, but I think Leplante will do alright. Came within two OT goals of beating BC 3 times in a month.
I can't seriously be asked to summarize my sports fandom in a short blurb for all to see, can I?
by Johnny Appleseed on Jun 20, 2011 8:57 PM EDT reply actions
They won’t miss Cronin much on the ice, but they’ll miss him when it comes to his recruiting. Leplante will have to find somebody else to focus on managing the defense, which will be easier said than done.
They can do what it looks like they did at the start of the year, which is lean heavily on Rawlings to make 23894 ridiculous saves per game. Some of those PKs should have just been goal forfeits.
I can't seriously be asked to summarize my sports fandom in a short blurb for all to see, can I?
by Johnny Appleseed on Jun 20, 2011 9:17 PM EDT up reply actions
They have a much harder slate this year, too: Notre Dame twice, Michigan all away. No softies like last year. And their first six weeks are going to be hellish, especially for a team looking for their identity.
Seems like the mantra the last couple of years is start off slow, finish strong, fall just short against better competition.
I can't seriously be asked to summarize my sports fandom in a short blurb for all to see, can I?
by Johnny Appleseed on Jun 20, 2011 9:46 PM EDT up reply actions
In other coaching moves, Craig Ramsay gets the shaft: http://www.cbc.ca/sports/hockey/story/2011/06/20/sp-nhl-thrashers-ramsey.html
For Horton!
Lame.
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Hockey Blog Adventure: New Post: 2011 Stanley Cup Champion Boston Bruins: YES!!! (I'm also on Twitter.) GO BRUINS! (and Wild!)
by Cornelius Hardenbergh on Jun 21, 2011 9:46 AM EDT up reply actions
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