Matt McIlvane instruction players of EC Red Bull Salzburg. Credit San Diego Gulls.
San Diego, California. As first reported and speculated by Elliot Friedman and then later mentioned in my most recent post regarding Sommers retirement. Anaheim Ducks General Manager Pat Verbeek has found the fifth coach in franchise history for the Gulls – going slightly left of field with the head coach of the back to back winners of the Austrian league – EC Red Bull Salzburg’s Matt McIlvane.
As I mentioned in my previous write ups on him, although he has not taken the traditional AHL coaching route of either NCAA or ECHL (although he did spend a brief amount of time behind Orlando Solar Bears bench as an Assistant) he appears to have excelled at every position he has been in while bringing in a fresh perspective that includes a culture shifting attitude toward losing.
His arrival has been touted as can’t miss given his very recent winning pedigree but fans aren’t holding their breath given Sommer’s previously touted “winning-est coach in the AHL” tag.
All signs – including a huge haul of incoming talent from the Ducks pipeline this season – point to McIlvane arriving at the just the right time to get the Gulls back to their winning ways and to build them up to being a force in the Pacific once again.
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