Anaheim Ducks Set To Make A Serious Comeback Under Dallas Eakins

Now that Bob Murray has hung up his coaching sweater vest for the last time, Dallas Eakins is ready to take last year’s final successful streak and extend it into the Anaheim Ducks upcoming season.

Last year, in the midst of a horrific season for the Anaheim Ducks, Randy Carlyle was forced to hit the bricks, and Bob Murray pulled an incredibly risky move by allowing himself to take over as interim coach to get a grasp of what was ailing the team in the locker room. Now that we know about San Diego Gulls head coach Dallas Eakins taking the spot of head coach, Ducks fans can rest knowing there is the possibility of a huge comeback season with Eakins behind the bench.

Eakins Has A Good Background

Looking at the history of Dallas Eakins, he’s been a staple for two AHL teams, as well as the head coach of an NHL team already in his career. Eakins lead the Toronto Marlies to a Calder Cup appearance. He also made the Calder Cup Playoffs for two of his four years as head coach there, making the most of the talent he had available to put out on the ice. His tenure in Toronto was wildly successful in teaching him how to work well behind the bench, and Paul Maurice took Eakins under his wing in the beginning to enhance that coaching lesson.

Then, after a rough season and a half in Edmonton, he came to San Diego, where he would lead the Gulls to the playoffs for three of their four years of existence in this AHL incarnation. During this time, he’d come to meet plenty of Ducks staples, such as John Gibson and Ondrej Kase, among others.

Dallas Knows the System

Eakins has long been around this system of talented prospects that the Anaheim Ducks own. Considering that Bob Murray is planning on making the Ducks a younger and faster team, Eakins will be coaching many of the same staples that he developed in San Diego.

Another fact to note that was initially stated in an article by Pucks of a Feather’s very own Ciara Durant, is that Eakins already has good relationships and chemistry with the prospects that have already seen time, or will soon see time, in Anaheim. He developed these young prospects and has the distinct advantage of knowing what is going to help them mesh together with the veterans well enough to keep the team on a roll.

Eakins Already Has Some NHL Experience

For any Anaheim Ducks fans worried about Eakins due to his poor performance in Edmonton, fear not. The roster for that team, albeit having some incredible young prospects, was one that was looked upon as inexperienced, toxic, and lazy.

Eakins was thrust into a bad situation that made itself worse, and although he was eventually released, it was all in the hands of then Oilers GM, Craig MacTavish, for not preparing Eakins for the situation he was putting him into.

There is a case to be seen that the horrible, losing atmosphere that Eakins got put into partially helped his career. For any coach, losing a certain amount of games is a diminishing experience, one that breaks the spirit, as well as the will to improve. Nevertheless, Eakins wasn’t that kind of coach.

He took it on the chin, and got back out there every night, trying to turn the season around by rallying the troops. Due to his tough attitude, he was a much-desired coach for the San Diego Gulls, which gave him the opportunity to develop young players as he did so skillfully in Toronto. This would later lead to him becoming the head coach of this young Ducks team.

Providing A Fresh And Healthy Experience

What Anaheim Ducks fans are left with is that there will no longer be a coach that employs a toxic, losing attitude for his players, but rather a well-traveled developer behind the bench, mending the young minds of his players into successful hockey brains. With the knowledge he has of his players, and the skill of his veterans to boot, Dallas Eakins has turned the Ducks back into a very hungry team that will go out on the ice for a chance to contend every single night.

It’s looking like Bob Murray’s plan to make the team younger has paid off, with Eakins being ready to take the helm and change things up. With this new team, Eakins’ first season in Anaheim will likely be a comeback season for the ages.

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