from Helene Elliott of the LA Times,

There’s a resoluteness to Ducks coach Greg Cronin that has rubbed off on his players and made them believers in him and in themselves.

It’s early in the season, as he frequently says, but his influence was evident Sunday in the Ducks’ impressive 4-2 victory over the defending Stanley Cup champion Vegas Golden Knights at Honda Center, another jewel in a shiny six-game winning streak built on gutsy comebacks against some of the NHL’s premier teams.

Maybe Cronin’s patience comes from having toiled for so long in the minor leagues, in college rinks and as an NHL assistant coach, a journey that didn’t bring him an NHL head coaching job until he was 60. Maybe his firmness comes from his instincts to be a teacher and to be fair, to not play favorites and stick to his principles when he easily could give in to superstars who have greater job security than most coaches do.

When creative young forward Trevor Zegras played shoddy defense in a game at Columbus last month, Cronin didn’t hesitate to bench him for the third period. When dynamic center Mason McTavish made a bad decision during four-on-four play Sunday that gave Vegas an outnumbered rush, Cronin made sure McTavish — a cornerstone of Ducks’ future — knew he had goofed.

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