Ducks HC Greg Cronin responds to Keith Yandle's claim of verbally berating ex-NHLer over college hockey decision

By ARJUN B

Modified Dec 17, 2024 05:05 GMT

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Former NHL defenseman Keith Yandle appeared on the Spittin Chiclets podcast last week and shared an intriguing story from his days as a college hockey recruit.

Yandle had originally committed to playing for the University of New Hampshire, but later changed his decision as he planned to attend the University of Maine instead.

According to Yandle, this decision prompted an angry tirade from Greg Cronin, who was the head coach at Northeastern University at the time.

Yandle claimed that when he called Cronin to inform him of his change of plans, Cronin verbally berated him for nearly 15 minutes.

“He's like, 'You piece of shit. You're never going to play anywhere. You're an absolute bum. I went to Maine, I know all those coaches. I'm calling them right now, you will not play one single game for that team.' He was losing his mind," Yandle recalled.

In response to Yandle's claims, Cronin denied that the incident took place or that he even knew Yandle very well.

"I don't know Keith that well. He's from the Quincy area in Boston, I think, but I've really never crossed his path," Cronin said (as per HockeyNews).

“I never recruited him. I don't remember ever recruiting him. Never recall (doing that). I would never verbally berate anybody on a phone call on a recruiting thing. Never heard of it,".

Cronin speculated that perhaps another Northeastern coach had interacted with Yandle during the recruiting process, but maintained that he would never berate a player over their college decision.

“That's his decision.” He added.

Cronin also added that he wished players well even when they chose not to attend Northeastern.

Keith Yandle not able to shake off the incident with Greg Cronin

Keith Yandle recalled that whenever he sees Greg Cronin during NHL games, he remembers the incident the phone call.

“I remember when we used to play them in the NHL—I think he was an assistant coach or an eye in the sky for someone,” Yandle said. “He used to be on the bench during warmups and I’d look at him and be like, ‘Ugh’.

Keith Yandle stood by his story, but for now it's just his word against Cronin's. The alleged phone call happened decades ago, so there doesn't appear to be any way to definitively prove or disprove Yandle's troubling claims.