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Confirmed with Link: Canucks announce HC Rick Tocchet will Not Return

It looked like JR was sipping water out of a 2 Tim Hortons cups slipped together. We used to have Canucks label water bottles. How far have we fallen..
 
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I've often wondered if a lot of NHL coaches are just simply overrated. Let's face it, they're only as good as the personnel they have to work with.

Travis Green wore out his welcome in Vancouver, spent some time behind the bench in Long Island, and then surfaces this year in Ottawa......where he promptly leads the Sens to their first playoff spot in seven years.

And here in Vancouver, Tocchet is the Jack Adams winner a season ago, when everything that could go right, did for the Canucks. This season, almost the exact opposite, and the Canucks plunged out of the top-8 in the West.

Wins and losses are about the players--all the motivation and systems play in the world isn't going to help a team much, if it doesn't have the horses.

The path of least resistance now, would be just to promote Manny Malhotra. Look at what Spencer Carbery accomplished in Washington this season. Before this breakthrough year by the Caps, who'd ever heard of him?
 
Spectrefire said:
JR is so f***ing shitty it almost makes me miss Benning.

Benning was just purely incompetent, but Allvin and Rutherford have both been incompetent and absolutely malicious towards our own players.
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I was chief of the anti-Benning brigade, so it's hard for me to say, but it was understandable why Benning was so bad. He was just dumb.

JR thinks he's a genius who in reality is a senile man who's arrogance blinds him to any criticism.
 
pitseleh said:
Agreed. I’m not sure it’s necessarily a bad thing, but your second paragraph is why I think they’ll be hesitant to go down that path.
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Before you hire him, have to be honest with yourself on what the expectations for 25/26 are. Is it to win at all costs to ensure Hughes extends in 2026? Or does he have the time to coach how he sees fit and if he needs to develop a couple of kids, he can do that?
 
thecupismine said:
Agreed on all fronts, but I will add I don't think Manny is a bad hire either. The logic of hiring him because of who are idiot owner will be dumb, but the candidate himself is respectable.

He's been an NHL assistant for 7 years with two franchises and developed very well over the course of the year in a head coaching role in the AHL. Familiar with the area and likely wont' have the same (supposed) issues Tocchet had with being on the West Coast.
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Yeah, I don't think Manny is a bad choice, he conceivably has some advantages like familiarity with the club and bringing up young players who by most accounts have developed well under his tutelage.

But the only reason he's actually in contention is because he'll have the cheapest price tag.
 
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VanJack said:
I've often wondered if a lot of NHL coaches are just simply overrated. Let's face it, they're only as good as the personnel they have to work with.

Travis Green wore out his welcome in Vancouver, spent some time behind the bench in Long Island, and then surfaces this year in Ottawa......where he promptly leads the Sens to their first playoff spot in seven years.

And here in Vancouver, Tocchet is the Jack Adams winner a season ago, when everything that could go right, did for the Canucks. This season, almost the exact opposite, and the Canucks plunged out of the top-8 in the West.

Wins and losses are about the players--all the motivation and systems play in the world isn't going to help a team much, if it doesn't have the horses.

The path of least resistance now, would be just to promote Manny Malhotra. Look at what Spencer Carbery accomplished in Washington this season. Before this breakthrough year by the Caps, who'd ever heard of him?
Click to expand...
20 HC changes in 2 seasons in the NHL. 20 changes from game 1 of 23/24 season to now. Most HC don't cost enough to make clubs think about making a move. Most come in under $2 mill per.
 
Don't assume that Malhotra will stay with our organization.

If he does well in the AHL playoffs, he may have other options, especially after the 1st round of NHL playoffs are done. Some team is looking for the next Spencer Carbery.
 
iceburg said:
JR sounded a little blindsided by Tocchet's decision.
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From what he was saying, Tocchet was discussing his summer plans for the team, talking about flying to Sweden to visit Petey, and asking JR about bringing another coach onto the staff, so it’s a little weird he’d be so invested in the summer planning and then decide he doesn’t want to be here.
 
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wonton15 said:
I respect the candor but respectfully Rutherford should just shut up most of the time lol

Edit: he just took another shot at Aqua/joke about the practice facility so I retract my statement
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It seems to me like JR is done with this shit. He wants to get fired, take the severance package and retire.
 
ephmrl said:
From what he was saying, Tocchet was discussing his summer plans for the team, talking about flying to Sweden to visit Petey, and asking JR about bringing another coach onto the staff, so it’s a little weird he’d be so invested in the summer planning and then decide he doesn’t want to be here.
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Agreed. Sounds like he (RT) reassessed things over the last couple of weeks and changed course, or at least confirmed his decision. My sense is that this was always an option, if not the preferred option, for RT. He played along like he was planning to stay until the point where he made his final decision.
 
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Tocchet
  • Received the news that Tocchet will not return this morning
  • Was surprised; had a lot of general talks, over the last 4-6 weeks, that were about how Tocchet will communicate with players in the summer and training camp; talks were all about the future and appeared that he would return
  • Over the last 4-5 days said that a decision about Tocchet’s future had to be made
  • Talked to his agent first and talked to Tocchet afterwards
  • Tocchet expressed that he needed a change and, for personal reasons, wanted to move back to the Eastern USA to be closer to his family
  • Canucks are obviously disappointed
Finding the Next Coach
  • Apologizes for Allvin not being present because he’s on a flight to Dallas to see the U18s; returns on Sunday
  • Will start making a short-list; expects to hear from a lot of people interested in the job; will narrow it down quick then start the process
  • Up until now, have not talked about finding another coach
Why Tocchet is Leaving
  • Is surprised because all of their talks were about the future
  • Mentions that Tocchet said he was going to go to Sweden to check on Pettersson
  • About a week ago, Rutherford started thinking that they haven’t got a commitment from Tocchet so he must not be quite sure
  • Tocchet said that, for personal reasons, he would have a tough time doing the job that he would need to do
Team Construction With a New Coach
  • Were going to have to make changes anyways; mentions their forwards
  • Ideally, have a coach’s input on player acquisition
  • Don’t want to rush the process but the sooner they get it done the better it will be for the offseason
Four Coaches in Four Years
  • Has been difficult for the guys who’ve been here
  • Points out that he’s only hired one of these coaches (it will be two since one of the four is the new coach)
  • Not easy for the fans or players
  • Apart from Pat Quin and Alan Vigneault, Canucks’ coaches are only in Vancouver for 2,3, or 4 years
Hughes
  • Called him within a half an hour after talking to Toccet but didn’t pick up the phone and hasn’t called back yet
  • Suspects that Hughes feels like Rutherford does
  • Knows the maturity of Hughes and he will make the necessary adjustments
  • Had a very strong relationship with Tocchet
Manny Malhotra
  • Hasn’t mentioned it to him but will be on the short list and considered for the head coaching position
Assistant Coaches
  • Were waiting to see what Tocchet was going to do
  • Tocchet had talked about another assistant coach and it was already approved
  • Canucks respect the assistant coaches and want to keep them but when you bring in a new coach, they want to bring in their own assistant coaches
Experienced Coach
  • Haven’t thought far ahead but there are coaches, presently in the league that were not former NHL head coaches, that are doing a good job with teams
  • Not necessarily looking for NHL experience but someone with experience would help the leadership
  • Will have to put more thought into this
  • How a coach was when they were a player factors in; were they leaders and/or captains
Rutherford’s Future
  • Doesn’t think about his future a lot so he’s not thinking about “leaving town”
  • Does not feel comfortable with the job he’s done
  • Were on the right track a year ago and got off that track; takes responsibility for that because he runs the hockey department
  • Have a lot of work to do
Mike Sullivan
  • When you’re familiar with someone, you know how they work
  • Knows Mike Sullivan does not want to leave the East
Peter Laviolette
  • Had some success together; likes him as a person and a coach
  • Rutherford is not the guy that deals with the coach on a day-to-day basis; that’s Allvin and he did not work with Laviolette
  • Will not take him off the list at this point; has had a lot of success and is a “good name”
Vancouver’s Attractiveness as a Market
  • Some people just want to get an NHL coaching job and don’t analyze as deeply
  • Probably like the Canucks’ practice facility (deadpans this joke perfectly)
  • Canucks’ defence and goaltending is a selling point
  • Need to make their forwards better; need more balance
  • Around the league, people feel there’s a good working relationship in the hockey group
Practice Facilities
  • Don’t use a practice rink as much as other teams; used UBC 8 or 10 times after November
  • Working towards getting the facility done but will take time
Coaching Search
  • Will get lots of calls and lots of names; will need to interview these people
  • Have star players and the coach needs to adjust to how you deal with them
  • Have to understand the travel in Vancouver can be tough; managing the schedule and when they can and can’t practice
  • Have to have some experience and leadership qualities
  • Need a good structure and system that the players can lean to when they struggle
This Past Season and Moving On
  • The coach is the guy that leads the team everyday
  • Finding a new coach is the biggest decision
  • The major issue they had to deal with in the first half wore on everybody; players, coaches, and managers
  • Can’t keep talking about what happened; it’s behind them; need to move on from that
  • Now it’s about getting the top players to perform they way they have to; not Hughes, they don’t worry about him
Willander
  • Won’t get into too much detail
  • Have a contract structure for their draft picks
  • Willander will have a decision to make about coming to camp and turning pro, makes a few million dollars, and burns a couple of years towards becoming UFA or goes back to college and has to wait two years
  • Castonguay is still working on the contract and hope to have it done sooner or later
  • Are fine with him playing in the World Championships; is getting his development time
  • At some point, Willander and his family will have to make a decision
Getting Outside Perspectives
  • Get a different perspective when you talk to people from the outside; about your club but also around the league
  • Will get information from these interviews and maybe can take the information and do something to make their team better in the offseason
Having a Coach in Place to Attract UFAs
  • Most head coaches have a handful of guys that love playing for them over their career; sometimes that player follows the coach
  • When they promoted Mike Sullivan, he brought 3-4 players from the AHL with him and the team took after inserting them
 
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