Canucks News N Notes 24-25

[Hockey Widow]

The Assistant coaches are tied to his contract so we may very well lose them. The one I want to keep is Foote

[Lancer]

Fucking hell...

Tocchet was the first coach since Vigneault that gave me the confidence that he could take this team far.

Should have known this was going to happen after we went into the weekend with no answer from Tocchet, but a complaint about no practice facility.

I would like to think that management will try for someone like Sullivan or Q, but this latest turn makes me wonder if either of those coaches will pick up the phone after seeing Tocchet leave. Some teams have reputations, and I wouldn't be surprised if Vancouver has a shit reputation lately - especially after how they treated Boudreau.

If management cheaps out and goes the route of Malhotra (good guy who could become a good coach in time, but he's not ready), some schlep like Lalonde, or some "new, young, forward-thinking hockey mind" from the AHL or CHL, they may as well trade Quinn to NJ for whatever they can get. Pretty sure Quinn is already discussing with his brothers what number he wants to wear in Jersey now that his favourite coach decided it wasn't worth it to stick around.

Then there's the Petey factor. Wonder what he thinks about all this? Maybe, now that the big bad bald coach is gone, he figures he can enjoy his summer and still get 1C playing time next year without anyone hurting his feelings. I hope whoever management brings in beats the pussy out of Petey. I don't care if I never see Petey smile again until he raises the Cup. Maybe Sullivan can be that guy, and he can point to Crosby for legitimacy. Management first has to convince him that it's worth his while to coach this team.

...or management can torch it all down and bring in Malhotra.

[Hockey Widow]

Pettersson had better have a great offseason and a return to a 100 point season or he will be run out of this town.

One thing about Tocchet is he didn't have strong O systems and could stifle the creativity up front. He has admitted as much. Often said he had to work on loosening the reigns a bit. The next coach needs to have a balance between Bruce and Tocchet. We dont want to go back to shit poor defence but we need to find a way to let our creative players create.

Tocchet said in his end of season presser he wanted to discuss the direction of the team especially in regards to player personal. He said that would help him check off the boxes in his mind. I am going assume he didn't like the answers he received.

[Megaterio Llamas]

[Carl Yagro]

This is something that fans need to consider...

This franchise NEEDS their choice to return to form to at least a level and production of a top line player. Whichever way management will decide or have already decided, that return to expected performance is necessary to move forward as a team or to entice another organization to take on that contract.

There are no excuses now. No more alien smirks. To be treated like the man, you have to impact the game like one. Drive play, now that there aren't two other centers to take the brunt of the shutdown, match-up and even the primary scoring responsibilities.

100pts isn't the priority, it should be that the league can see that he is actually in that echelon of game-changers. The team has to win... NOW. It has to come out of the gate, on a pace like two seasons ago.

Can his slim shoulders the load? Who knows? But I don't see this group having much time now to figure things out. You either think he is the man and can handle the responsibilities and can win with him in charge or you cut bait and hope to get back as much in returns as possible. Every day that you delay in that decision, is another day lost to convince your most important player to stay, that this situation is the best chance for him to win.

It is so far from that environment right now. Wonder if that is the real reason Toch walked?

Megs, load up on Ovaltine before Jim empties the shelves.

[Meds]

Pettersson had better have a great offseason and a return to a 100 point season or he will be run out of this town.

He strikes me as the kind of guy who doesn't give a shit what the fans or media think. He will collect the rest of his $92.8M over the next 7 seasons and just put in whatever level of effort he feels like on any given day. His NMC means that neither the fans, the media, nor the organization, can run him out of town if he doesn't want to go.

At the end of this contract he will be 33 years old and will have collected around $120M in salary. I'll bet he bounces back to Sweden and works on "his brand" or returns to play with Vaxjo or some other team in the SweHL.

[Meds]

This is something that fans need to consider...

Can his slim shoulders the load? Who knows? But I don't see this group having much time now to figure things out. You either think he is the man and can handle the responsibilities and can win with him in charge or you cut bait and hope to get back as much in returns as possible. Every day that you delay in that decision, is another day lost to convince your most important player to stay, that this situation is the best chance for him to win.

I'd say that they have made that decision and that is why Tocchet left.

[JelloPuddingPop]

Pettersson had better have a great offseason and a return to a 100 point season or he will be run out of this town.

He strikes me as the kind of guy who doesn't give a shit what the fans or media think. He will collect the rest of his $92.8M over the next 7 seasons and just put in whatever level of effort he feels like on any given day. His NMC means that neither the fans, the media, nor the organization, can run him out of town if he doesn't want to go.

At the end of this contract he will be 33 years old and will have collected around $120M in salary. I'll bet he bounces back to Sweden and works on "his brand" or returns to play with Vaxjo or some other team in the SweHL.

If they don’t flush this guy, even at a loss, then this franchise can go the way of the Grizzlies for all the fucks I’ll give.

Counting the days until his actual NMC kicks in...

[Megaterio Llamas]

[Meds]

[Megaterio Llamas]

link https://x.com/CanucksArmy/status/1917344282190700896

[Madcombinepilot]

I don't think it was the Canucks that initiated the parting of ways.

Yep - Club statement:

“After a very long and thorough process, unfortunately Rick has decided to leave the Vancouver Canucks,” said president of hockey operations Jim Rutherford. “This is very disappointing news, but we respect Rick’s decision to move to a new chapter in his hockey career. We did everything in our power to keep him, but at the end of the day Rick felt he needed a change. He is a good friend, a good coach, and we can’t thank him enough for all he did for our organization. Toc is a stand-up guy, and we wish him nothing but the best moving forward.”

So, he probably dislikes the media microscope.

[Cornuck]

So, he probably dislikes the media microscope.

Wouldn't blame him - but I'm guessing there's other (cough ep40 cough) issues that made his decision easier.

[Megaterio Llamas]

Jim Rutherford Media Availability 04.29.25


https://www.youtube.com/live/XdMXPQ3NGz ... b6FmAg2ysg


*Tocchet cited personal reasons - would like to get back to the Eastern US

*Rutherford reached out to Quinn Hughes, but hadn't heard back from him yet

*Manny is on the short list

*Coaching candidates probably want to come here because they like where we practice

*re Tom Willander -we have a structure for our draft picks - Emily continues to work on the contract - Tom and his family are going to have to make a decision -we're fine with him being at the World Championships

*Mike Sullivan wants to stay in the East

[UWSaint]

Thing is, I think the remaining group has been curated to fit into Tockey hockey's strengths -- to do the things Tochett emphasizes well, and to not add players that can't play Tockey hockey. Put differently, guys that can be set up for success in and contribute to his system.

I would love to know where Tochett thinks they should go (from a personnel perspective) and what he heard from management about it. My guess? Stuff that's contradictory to what they said when they hired him.

I think there's an assumption that Miller was Tochett's kind of player. Good JT is *any* coach's kind of player. But bad JT is high drama, lackluster (to put it charitably) backchecking, extending shifts without efforting in those extra seconds, and high risk low reward plays. Which isn't Tockey hockey.

Tochett strikes me as a low drama guy, who (admirably) has tried his best to navigate in a world that is and not what it was (or should be....). I think all of the nice things Tochett said about JT while he was doing whatever he did this season were Tochett's attempts to bring him back into the fold. He might love JT the guy, he might love him and hate how he was behaving and was hoping for a never-happened Prodigal Son return, or he might think he's a self-absorbed ass but think the way to get him to best contribute to the team was to talk the way he did about him publicly and not let the personal relationship get antagonistic. We don't know, we won't know. JT might not know.... Smart coaches do not talk about players in the same way even if their personal feelings about the players are the same. They calibrate their approach to the individual--some need fire, some need encouragement, some need to be called out, etc.

We also don't know what Tochett's view on EP40's future is. No doubt he was disappointed with his play and how he prepared himself -- because we all are, and we all believe he wasn't physically prepared for the season. I guess (but its speculation, perhaps reasoned speculation...) that he found him difficult to coach. But we also know that he got a lot out of Pettersson, and that no one else on the roster other than Hughes has point-a-game potential. So we don't know if "sticking with Pettersson" or "looking to move him" is the answer he wanted from management.

Overall, I think he did a good job. He was the best coach since at least AV. I didn't agree with the entire approach, but on balance I think he brought more good than bad to the team. While he was less versatile than AV, I think he was iteratively analyzing whether his stuff was working and was open modifying whatever he was doing if he thought doing so could get a better result. In other words, he worked on his game, and I respect that.

But what's worse news, Tochett leaving or JR getting extended????