The Canucks and their management staff took a lot of heat when they fired Bruce Boudreau and hired Rick Tocchet.
At that point, there weren’t that many people that believed that Rick Tocchet was the man to wake the Canucks up. A year and half later, the coaching change has been identified as the turning point in the organization’s cultural belief and Tocchet has shown that he belongs to the NHL’s top tier has he’s earned himself a Jack Adams trophy during his first year with the Canucks.
Former NHLer Landon Ferraro points out what makes Rick Tocchet successful
The former NHLer, now turned analyst, Landon Ferraro was on Sportsnet650 earlier and adressed the Canucks coaching change and pointed out what makes Tocchet so successful in Vancouver.
With a roster filled with no talent that seemed to be going nowhere, Tocchet turned the boat around. According to Ferraro, what makes the Canucks’ pilot so successful is the fact that he’s fully invested. There’s no in between with Tocchet, he’s in it too win it, just as much as the players and perhaps even more:
The Canucks went from a playoffs hopeful to a cup contender the moment Rick Tocchet got involved with the team; from there, it’ll be interesting to see if that energy and strong will is sustainable. Tocchet has yet to ice his A team, and from what’ve seen through the Canucks’ first few pre-season games, there’s still a lot to work on.
J.T. Miller and the team’s top units will be appearing for the first time, altogether, on Friday as they meet with the Oilers for their last game of the pre-season.
