Vancouver Canucks’ Rick Tocchet wins Jack Adams Trophy

Vancouver Canucks’ head coach Rick Tocchet has won the Jack Adams Award as head coach of the year in 2023-24. He coached the Canucks to a 50-23-9 record in the regular season and a playoff series victory over the Nashville Predators. They ended up being defeated in the second round by the Edmonton Oilers in seven games.

“Honestly, it’s an organizational award for me,” Tocchet said after he was nominated May 3. “I mean it’s the GM, the ownership, the assistant coaches, the players, like you’re a piece of the puzzle. I think it’s an organizational type of trophy. I’ve got a huge support group that helps me. That’s the way I look at it.”

Tocchet was hired by the Canucks midway through the 2022-23 season after the team had been all but eliminated from the playoffs. He took over during an emotional period following the Bruce Boudreau firing. The team immediately turned it around on the ice with Tocchet, going 20-12-4 over the final 36 games. Over an 82-game season that would have given them around 100 points in the standings, well within a playoff spot.

Tocchet turned out not to be a flash in the pan as he coached them to an even better record in his first full season as head coach. They finished with 109 points in the standings.

The 60-year-old had a long and accomplished NHL career which included playing for the Philadelphia Flyers, Pittsburgh Penguins, Los Angeles Kings, Boston Bruins, Washington Capitals, and Phoenix Coyotes. He played 1,144 games in the NHL, scoring 440 goals and 952 points, along with 2,972 penalty minutes. He was known as a hard-nosed player who also had the rare quality of having a lethal shot and a strong offensive IQ.

Tocchet has been coaching off and on in the NHL since his playing career ended over 20 years ago. He’s been the head coach of the Tampa Bay Lightning and Arizona Coyotes previously but only made the playoffs once in the six years he coached either of those teams. This recent success with the Canucks has solidifed Tocchet’s reputation as one of the best coaches in the NHL.

This past season has been a thrill-ride for the Canucks and they hope to continue that going into next season, with Tocchet behind the bench.