The Anaheim Ducks will conduct their “#FlyTogether Fan Camp” Saturday, giving fans the opportunity to join the team in warm-ups beginning at 8 a.m. in front of Great Park Ice & FivePoint Arena on the east grass area.
The pre-practice festivities will include live music and inflatable enforcers in addition to appearances from the Ducks Power Players promotional team and mascot Wild Wing.
Training camp is open to the public and free of charge.
The Ducks opened their first training camp under coach Greg Cronin Thursday in Irvine with 63 players divided into three groups.
“I thought today on the ice was interesting, trying to take the image I had, watching the games on TV in the regular season and then seeing things that I saw in that environment and trying to put a game plan together for the individuals that’ll, I think, have an impact on the way we play as a group,” Cronin said.
“That’s going to be a process. It’s our first introduction to it, so we’re kind of getting a sense of where we’re starting from.”
Ducks right wing Troy Terry said Cronin is “going to bring a lot of new stuff here.”
“A lot of it was working on things that were probably uncomfortable to a lot of us and haven’t worked on,” said Terry, who shared the team lead with 23 goals last season and was selected for the NHL All-Star Game for the second consecutive season.
Cronin said Terry “had some moments on the ice where I said, `You understand why you get beat there?’ And he didn’t. So then we go to the second half and we’re doing more controlled teaching, the light goes on. He said, `Now I get it.”’
Cronin’s hiring was announced June 5. He replaced Dallas Eakins, whose firing was announced April 14, less than 11 hours after the Ducks completed the season with the NHL’s worst record, 23-47-12. The Ducks had losing records in each of Eakins’ four seasons as coach, missing the Stanley Cup playoffs each season.
The 60-year-old Cronin has 36 years of coaching and player development experience, including spending the past five seasons as coach of the Colorado Eagles, guiding the Colorado Avalanche’s American Hockey League affiliate to a 164-104-30 record and four berths in the Calder Cup playoffs.
This is his first NHL head coaching job.
The team will be divided into three groups during the first four days of training camp, with practices planned from 9:20 to 11 a.m., 10:30 a.m. to 12:10 p.m. and 11:40 a.m. to 1:20 p.m. Friday and Saturday.
On Sunday, two groups will practice from 10:30 to 11:20 a.m., then conduct a scrimmage from 11:40 a.m. to 12:40 p.m. The third group will face the Los Angeles Kings in their preseason opener at Honda Center at 5 p.m.
Newcomers include center Leo Carlsson, the second overall pick in the 2023 draft after being selected Swedish Junior Hockey Player of the Year in 2022-23 season, left wing Alex Killorn, who signed with the Ducks as a free agent July 1 after playing 11 seasons with the Tampa Bay Lightning and was a member of their back-to-back Stanley Cup-winning teams in the 2020-21 and 2021-22 seasons and goaltender Alex Stalock, who has played 179 NHL games for three teams over 11 seasons.
The Ducks will open the regular season Oct. 14 with a road game against the reigning Stanley Cup champion Vegas Golden Knights, then play their home opener the following day against the Carolina Hurricanes.