After a summer of change behind the bench, the Islanders opted for some familiarity on Wednesday.
Greg Cronin, the veteran assistant coach that served under both Jack Capuano and Doug Weight last season, has been brought back and promoted to associate coach.
“Greg’s hockey knowledge and experiences of over 30 years in the coaching profession are an asset to our coaching staff,” Weight said in a release. “He’s run our penalty-kill the past several seasons and each year, it’s been one of the best in the league.
“He has a tireless work ethic on the bench during games, at practice and in meetings. His desire to get the best out of every player, to help achieve our goal of winning is impressive and I’m thrilled to continue to work with him.”
Cronin, 54, is in his second tour of duty with New York, having previously served as an assistant from 1999-2003. During that spell, he worked under former bench bosses Butch Goring, Lorne Henning (interim) and Peter Laviolette. Following the ’02-03 campaign, Cronin took the head coaching gig for the Isles’ AHL affiliate in Bridgeport.
As mentioned above, there have been numerous changes to Weight’s staff this offseason. Kelly Buchberger, Luke Richardson and Scott Gomez were all hired as assistants, while the club parted ways with Bob Corkum.