That’s the way I like it!

What we saw last night:

A crisp, clean, quick game: The Crunch moved with an urgency we haven’t seen in the year and a half Holick has been coaching them. They were fast to the puck, quick moving with it, accurate. They didn’t dick around in their zone for an hour and a half. This was good, as the few times that was allowed to happen, Norfolk scored.
Players in the right place at the right time: You know those goals that happen just because a player crashed the net and was right where he needed to be when he needed to be there? We’ve seen that happen time and time again this year…against the Crunch. Last night, that changed, hopefully for good. Dan Sexton’s goal, his first in 26 games, was a thing of lucky timing, and if it wasn’t for Yawney’s emphasis on quick plays that crash the net, he never would have been in position to get the puck through that hole left by an out-of-position goaltender. Never.
A coaching staff that talks to their team: One of the most marked changes we saw last night was a coaching staff–all three of them, even Stone Cold Statue Holick–talking to the team. The communication was constant. The expectations were clear, both what Yawney expects from the team and what he wants from his assistant and associate coaches.
Consistent goaltending: Who knew we had a fantastic backup plan in Marco Cousineau? This man’s talents have been wasted in the ECHL. Absolutely wasted. He has won three out of the Crunch’s last four games. If I was the Ducks, I’d use JD as a trading tool to get something and leave a Tarkki/Cousineau tandem here. There is clearly no reason to leave him in Elmira, not any longer.
Big defensemen: Smaby is HUGE. Holy crap. He’s tall, and he’s good. Newport wasn’t kidding when he Tweeted to me a few days ago that Smaby is our best d-man. He was fabulous last night. He and Fraser are exactly the size and experience our blue line has been missing.
A team that stuck up for each other: When the not-used-to-losing Norfolk started to goon it up with the Crunch up 4-0, 5-0, and 6-0, the team went into protection mode. Fraser and Kennedy dished out hits that needed to happen. Kennedy got penalized for it a bit more than I’d like to see, but although there were no all-out fights, the players did what they needed to do to send messages.
A game that was just fun to watch.

17 Responses to “That’s the way I like it!”

So the end of the world didn’t come a few weeks ago when both JD, Tarkki, Palms, and whoever else was called up?

Marc K (@GoonSmack) - January 21, 2012 at 12:42 pm
- A lot has changed since then and I don’t think responding to what appeared to be an awful situation in a negative way was completely out of line. When an NHL team loses a player on any line, a 1st liner from the A usually gets job. Which means the loss of a 4th line player on your team, a loss that might not really even register on radar or effect the way your team plays, equals a loss of a superstar down here. Yeah, it’s our job. But yeah, it still sucks, and as human beings we’re allowed to complain. At the time, to lose so many great players at one time with no real end in sight was jarring. I’m certainly not going to take back how I reacted.
  
  allokago - January 21, 2012 at 3:53 pm
  - I wasn’t talking about the your post here, I was referring to the comments made on twitter. It was basically Ducks bashing. The Crunch didn’t even have a game until 5 games after those comments were made. I used to think of you as a level headed Crunch fan, and enjoyed following your tweets and info on the Ducks prospects playing in Syracuse. But those comments were to much like the people who comment on the Post Standard site. I understand and appreciate being a passionate fan, but taking cheap shots at the parent club, because BOTH other goalies were hurt at the time, was a over the top.
    
    Marc K (@GoonSmack) - January 23, 2012 at 12:05 pm
    - Twitter is more as-it-happens, so comments are going to be more reactionary than anything posted here. It’s my personal feed, though I also use it to post site news because doing two feeds was just too difficult. I don’t remember much of what I said because, honestly, Twitter isn’t anything I dwell on. It’s so reactionary that dwelling on comments made just seems like a waste of time.
      
      I’m not going to apologize if your views of me were changed by a stretch of tension-filled time. I do seem to remember issuing a warning that the fans of the two clubs were going to differ on the situation. What I said was from pure Crunch fan watching the team being torn apart with no idea of how long it was going to last and nothing we could do about it, as we can’t do anything on our own. In those situations, objectivity can be a difficult thing to keep. I am human.
      
      I’ve pretty much said all I can here, and all I care to on this particular subject. The beautiful thing about the Internet is if you don’t like it, you can just walk away, as I have done from several sites. Or, you can take a few days off and go back when things improve. You always have a choice.
      
      allokago - January 23, 2012 at 1:57 pm
Anaheim fans and and management sure are an arrogant bunch for a team that is habitually a joke their entire existence, barring a 2007 fluke. That being said, they have done more this year to help out than Columbus ever did in 10 years.

A-Double - January 22, 2012 at 1:25 pm
- I absolutely agree with the second half of your statement. I won’t comment on the management, but I will say I have become acquainted with a really nice group of ANA fans throughout this affiliation. Just as all Crunch fans can’t be grouped together, neither can all ANA fans.
  
  allokago - January 22, 2012 at 6:34 pm
- And, I’ll also say that the Crunch has habitually been the butt of several good jokes, especially ones involving porno monkeys.
  
  allokago - January 22, 2012 at 10:49 pm
- How are we arrogant? Please explain. Have you ever been to Honda Center and talked with Duck fans? If so I doubt you would label them as arrogant. Unless you are wearing Wings, Kings, or Sharks colors, you will be welcomed by some of the nicest fans in the NHL. I’m proud of my fellow Duck fans. I’ve met some great people at Honda Center and not one of them would I ever think of as arrogant.
  
  Also that fluke of 2007? They owned everyone in those playoffs going 16-5. Sure sounds like a fluke right. Lets not forget that they also went to the finals in 03 and since the lockout have only missed the playoffs twice. Yeah what a shitty team right? Maybe because you guys on the east coast are 3 hours ahead you dont watch our games (cant blame you that is a pretty late starting time), but maybe you should watch more than a handfull of games before making those statements. The Ducks are a hated team in the west but it’s not because they suck. They are tough to play against when they are on top of their game.
  
  This relationship has been rocky from the start and yes the Ducks have made mistakes. Mirasty was a PR fuck up. However if you look at each mistake, the Ducks brass have tried to make the fixes needed to get back on track. Mirasty/ Fluffy , Goaltending/ Tarkki, Coaching/Yawney Some have worked out some haven’t but they have always made the effort.
  
  newportrebel - January 23, 2012 at 4:59 am
Actually I have been to Honda Center, and to be honest, all those maroon colored seats were very friendly And yes 07 was a fluke. TBY and Carolina have won cups, that being said, their franchises are still a joke. You got lucky with Scotty and Prongs and a hot Giguere. My team won a Stanley Cup in 1999 and was back in 2000. That was a long time ago, but a new owner (not a tool like Pegula) will actually right the ship. Come on out the the AAC sometime. I’ll show you all the banners on the roof.

A-Double - January 23, 2012 at 6:10 pm
- A hot Jiggy huh? The guy was a Conn Smythe winner on a losing team in 03. How often does that happen? He must have been lucky that year as well. Jiggy was solid while he was a Duck. He wasn’t hot that year he was just being Jiggy. 35 will never be worn again and that is due to his outstanding work between the pipes.
  
  AAC so I take it you are a Stars fan. You have one SC banner. Same as the Ducks so dont think the Stars are all that much better. If you want to talk ownership, well at least the Ducks dont have anywhere near the problems that Dallas does. The Ducks break about even (they were in the hole but last year evened it out), but the Stars have lost $92 M over the last three years. At least the Ducks havent had the NHL step in to right the money problems.
  
  newportrebel - January 23, 2012 at 8:11 pm
  - Also I should add that Henry and Susan have done a ton to grow the game here. The Rinks Program is the first major step in turning what has always been a baseball market into a hockey market as well. For the first time High School hockey has a home and it is funded by the Ducks. Former players take their time to be coaches for the kids. Henry and Susan have made a big push for Ducks Alumni to be those coaches and for the youth of So Cal to learn from former NHL players. The game is growing here thanks to them. Disney never did anything like that.
    
    newportrebel - January 23, 2012 at 8:22 pm
Not that anyone’s asked but my two cents…….The Ducks have done consistently more for the Crunch than any other parent club we’ve had , especially C-bus. They have tried to right the ship on several occassions , most recently by bringing in Yawney and hearing our legitimate gripes about Holick. That being said they haven’t been perfect. They have made mistakes , some of them we could see coming a mile away and shouldn’t have been made…..The whole Mirasty saga, The lack of veterans last year , lack of any legit goaltending last year and my personal nonforgivable act of loaning out a player they acquired via trade to Manitoba when he came back from injury (maybe it was two). Ducks fans I think would admit these were not good moves to make w/ a “partner” organization. Not that they don’t have the authority to do them….they of course do but there is a loss of goodwill in each of these. This year I really think the Ducks have done what they can for us. Even though Deslaurier has significantly underachieved here they gave us some goaltending to start the year , we’ve had a larger veteran presence all season….players (Palms , Cumiskey, Maroon etc etc have been here playing when in years past they would have been in the press box in the NHL. I think they realized that they had the horses here and were not seeing the results they should have and gracefully admitted it by sending Yawney. Whenever the results on the ice aren’t what the fans expected or wanted , there is a little mudslinging but as w/ most things more could be accomplished by supporting each other rather than ripping into each other.

minorleaguer - January 23, 2012 at 7:39 pm
- We’re an open book here, our readers are more than welcome to put their two cents in (within reason, which yours certainly was).
  
  allokago - January 23, 2012 at 7:43 pm
- I dont fault the Ducks for getting rid of Mirasty, I just dont like the way it was done. Heavyweights are a dying breed in the NHL. No longer can you have a goon out there that is only good for fighting and not playing hockey. I will admit I never watched Jon play that much hockey. He can drop the gloves with the best of them but from what I read, he wasnt a strong hockey player.Fluffy was a great fix for that problem and it is a shame that NSH claimed him. I am sure that the Ducks also saw the problems coming down as well. Sometimes though the quick fix isnt the best long term fix and that is what the Ducks are always thinking.
  
  newportrebel - January 23, 2012 at 8:17 pm
Bad example, I’d rather have the new owner the Stars or the NHL run the team then have than a felon like Anaheim. Oh wait, his college buddy judge fixed that. Never mind. The Stars franchise is never looked upon and laughed at by the rest of the league. The Ducks have been since day 1 when they were named after a friggin’ Disney movie. Anaheim in ’03 benefited from Mike Babcock and his system that even makes a schmuck like Osgood look like Roy in his prime. Jiggy had 2 good years in Anaheim and has done nothing since. Burkie built a tremendous team that played a physical style unseen around the rest of the league, and again, Prongs and Scotty didn’t hurt. The Dallas Stars have been a model franchise since moving to Dallas. Playoffs every year but last year, always a lot of good players and much more knowledgeable fan base. The Stars will be fine from here out and withing a few years when all those maroon seats keep showing up the Kings and Sharks will be all alone in California. On the upside, you do have my favorite ball-club across the street. Congrats on getting Soscia out of the GM office and getting some real players for us this year Angels!!

A_Double - January 24, 2012 at 2:18 pm
- You call our owner a felon but a court of law cleared him. So now you are baiscally calling our judical system shit? OK. Also you make fun out our low attendence numbers. Yeah unfortuately we ranked 27th in the league last year. Good news though is at least we weren’t 28th in the league. Who was you ask? The Stars, imagine that. So before casting stones, make sure you aren’t in a glass house yourself. I could go on about this thread but at the end of the day, I am not changing my opinion about the Ducks, neither are you. We will just have to agree to disagree. As for the Halos. It wasn’t MS that was the problem. It was having Tony in the GM chair.
  
  newportrebel - January 24, 2012 at 4:13 pm
  - On and that model franchise thing? Dude you have lost nearly 100 million in the last 3 years. I fucking hope that the NHL doesn’t follow Dallas’ lead or the NHL will be dead within the next CBA.
    
    newportrebel - January 24, 2012 at 9:29 pm