The Crunch took part in their second practice with Trent Yawney in charge on Wednesday morning, just a day after the Anaheim Ducks shook up Syracuse's coaching staff by naming both Yawney and Mark Holick Associate Head Coaches. While Holick had been the head coach of the team, the organization has made clear that Yawney, along with his 23 years of professional experience, will get the final say on the bench.
"I've been told at practice that he's clearly running practice," says Crunch owner Howard Dolgon, "and for us anytime you can get a coach with his vast background, both as a player in the NHL and a very successful coach at the American League level, that's a huge gain for us."
Dolgon says he's pleased Anaheim made the move, and that he and the Ducks organization have similar opinions on how good the 15-15-3-1 Crunch could potentially be.
"I'm been a firm believer for a while now that this is a very talented team," says Dolgon, "a team that has not achieved what it's capable of doing, and I applaud the folks in Anaheim for making this move to light a spark."
While the Crunch are among top in the AHL in goals per game, they are close to the bottom of the list when it comes to giving up goals. Yawney says it's time to work on changing that, and to put what's happened so far this season behind them.
"The situation wasn't created in a couple of days so we're not going to rectify it in a couple days, explains Yawney, "we're gonna have a stronger work ethic and we're gonna be a lot more responsible without the puck."
"He's intense but he's gonna be fair," explains defensemen Nate Guenin, "he's gonna ask a lot out of you, but all he asked is that you work hard, and if you work hard good things will happen."
The Crunch travel to Binghamton to take on the Senators next this Friday Night.
