NHL makes a massive announcement on Canucks head coach Rick Tocchet

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Cooper Godin
May 3, 2024 (8:20)

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Rick Tocchet has been arguably the best coach in the entire National Hockey League this season for what he's done with the Vancouver Canucks and he's finally been recognized for his hard work.

In a post on social media, the National Hockey League announced that Vancouver Canucks head coach Rick Tocchet has been named as one of the three finalists for the Jack Adams Award, which is handed out annually to the best coach.

The other two nominees were Rick Bowness of the Winnipeg Jets and Andrew Brunette of the Nashville Predators, who the Canucks are facing in their first round playoff series.

"Rick Tocchet, Vancouver Canucks

Tocchet, in his first full season behind the Vancouver bench, led the club to one of its finest regular seasons, capturing the Pacific Division title and No. 3 seed in the Western Conference with their third-highest point total (50-23-9, 109 pts). The Canucks made dramatic gains over 2022-23 in several categories, climbing from 22nd to sixth in the overall NHL standings; from 26th to 4th in points earned at home (40 to 59); from 25th to 5th (tie) in average goals-against per game (3.61 to 2.70) and from 32nd to 17th in penalty-killing percentage (71.6% to 79.1%). They posted the NHL's best goal differential in the first period (+38) and excelled late as well, going 42-1-4 when leading after two periods -- the most such wins in the League and double their total from 2022-23 (21-1-4). Tocchet, a first-time Jack Adams finalist, aims to become the third winner in Canucks history, following Pat Quinn in 1991-92 and Alain Vigneault in 2006-07. He is the club's first finalist for this award since Vigneault finished second in 2010-11." The NHL said.

Tocchet, 60, joined the Vancouver Canucks as their head coach in early 2023 following the dismissal of Bruce Boudreau. The Canucks finished the 2022-23 season strong under Tocchet and the entire roster bought into his system for the current campaign and it led them to a Pacific Division title.

This season, Tocchet led the Canucks to one of their best regular season records in franchise history - 50 wins, 23 losses and nine overtime/shootout losses. Their record gave the Canucks their first-ever Pacific Division title, and landed them third in the Western Conference standings behind the Dallas Stars and Winnipeg Jets.

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