A New Sheriff Named Dallas
There’s been a lot of talk about Dallas Eakins being the new coach for the Anaheim Ducks. Though he had a disastrous start to his coaching career, he has resurrected it by bringing the Gulls to the Western Conference Finals in the AHL, and more importantly, coaching most of the younger players that might be brought up to the big show. With his new style of coaching, Dallas must figure out a way to bring the veterans and the youth together if they want to spread their wings and fly.
One of the complaints from most fans is that Randy Carlyle couldn’t go along with the times, only going with the old school way of playing, which was always “dump and chase”, and playing with physicality. With Dallas as the new coach, the hope amongst all Ducks fans is that they’ll finally be able to match up with the other contenders in the hotly contested Western Conference.
I personally hope that Dallas follows in the footsteps of Mike Babcock in the ’03 season. He took the bull by the horns and was able to mesh the veterans and the youngsters and push them to within one game of the title. Though their styles are different, Dallas is young enough where he’ll have to show that he can learn from his past mistakes and lead a team hungry for another banner year.