The Vancouver Canucks drastically improved in every possible way under head coach Rick Tocchet this season.
Friday night’s Game 6 between the Nashville Predators and Vancouver Canucks will feature two finalists for the Jack Adams Award as coach of the year: Predators head coach Andrew Brunette and Canucks coach Rick Tocchet.
Paul Maurice is the active leader in wins by an NHL coach and just coached the Florida Panthers to 110 points and the top of the Atlantic Division; he’s never won the Jack Adams. Peter Laviolette coached the New York Rangers to the Presidents’ Trophy; he’s never won the Jack Adams. Jon Cooper has a .640 points percentage and won two Stanley Cups with the Tampa Bay Lightning; no Jack Adams for him.
The Jets were projected to finish with 96.0 points and cruised to 110 points to finish second in the Central — 14.0 points better than projected. The endless odd-man rushes that the Canucks gave up in previous seasons disappeared, as Tocchet emphasized the importance of keeping a forward high in the zone. The cross-seam passes that frequently forced five-alarm saves from the team’s goaltenders were erased, as Tocchet drilled the team in protecting “the guts” of the ice. The penalty kill, where coaching can make a massive difference, went from dead last at 71.6% last season to a respectable 17th at 79.1%.
The drastic reduction in scoring chances against, which doesn’t even take into account how much the Canucks limited puck movement prior to shots, is one of the biggest changes Tocchet brought to the table and a big reason why they won the Pacific Division. Sometimes, a hot goaltender can win a coach a Jack Adams Award by making a team look more defensively sound than they really are but Tocchet legitimately made life easier for his goaltenders this season.
It’s when they were up by one that they started to struggle defensively — up by two it was worse. That’s when they depended on Hellebuyck to hold onto leads.With the score tied, The Predators were outstanding both ways but, when the score shifted, they got into some trouble.
Philippines Latest News, Philippines Headlines
Similar News:You can also read news stories similar to this one that we have collected from other news sources.
Canucks coach Rick Tocchet among three finalists for NHL’s award for coach of the yearTocchet named a finalist for the Jack Adams Trophy on Friday, awarded annually to the NHL’s top head coach
Read more »
Canucks’ Rick Tocchet among new coaches making an impact in leading teams to NHL playoffsHead coach Rick Tocchet has Vancouver Canucks positioned to make long playoff run
Read more »
Canucks star goalie Thatcher Demko unavailable for Game 2: CoachRick Tocchet says Demko is ‘day-to-day’ and will be evaluated later Tuesday
Read more »
Bowness, Brunette, Tocchet unveiled as 2023-24 Jack Adams Award finalistsBowness and Tocchet are finalists for the first time in their careers.
Read more »
Tocchet, Bowness, Brunette named finalists for Jack Adams AwardVancouver Canucks’ Rick Tocchet, Nashville Predators' Andrew Brunette, and Winnipeg Jets’ Rick Bowness were named the finalists for the Jack Adams Award on Friday, given annually to the ‘NHL coach adjudged to have contributed the most to his team's success.
Read more »
Bowness, Tocchet, Brunette named finalists for NHL's coach of the year awardRick Bowness of the Winnipeg Jets, Rick Tocchet of the Vancouver Canucks and Andrew Brunette of the Nashville Predators are the finalists for this season's Jack Adams Award.
Read more »