Rick Tocchet felt Coyotes job right one to take

Rick Tocchet could have waited. Had he not taken the Arizona Coyotes coaching job Tuesday, he could have stayed with the Pittsburgh Penguins as an assistant. He could have kept working with stars like Sidney Crosby, Evgeni Malkin and Phil Kessel, and tried to win the Stanley Cup for the third year in a row. Another opportunity probably would have come.
Maybe a better one. Dave Tippett, one of the most respected coaches in the NHL, just left Arizona after eight seasons saying it was time for a change. The Coyotes missed the Stanley Cup Playoffs for the fifth straight season and averaged 13,094 fans, ahead of only the Carolina Hurricanes. The long-term arena situation is still uncertain.

"He's taking a chance on us," Coyotes general manager John Chayka said of Tocchet, "and I respect that."
But this is a chance worth taking, for both sides. Tocchet landed one of the 31 jobs in the NHL, received the four-year contract he wanted and inherited a team stocked with young talent. The Coyotes got a coach who knows the market and its potential, and has potential of his own.
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Tocchet played for the Coyotes from 1997-2000, when they were known as the Phoenix Coyotes and played downtown. They made the playoffs each season. His first season, they ranked 18th in average attendance at 15,404, ahead of teams like the Penguins, Washington Capitals, Boston Bruins, Tampa Bay Lightning and Los Angeles Kings.
He was an assistant with the Coyotes in 2005-06, after they had moved to suburban Glendale. They missed the playoffs and ranked 22nd in average attendance at 15,582, ahead of teams like the Capitals, Anaheim Ducks, Nashville Predators, St. Louis Blues and Chicago Blackhawks.
"It's like anywhere," Tocchet said. "If you win, they're going to come. If you play an exciting brand of hockey, they'll come. You have to make your fans believe in something, that you're going in the right direction, that things are progressing where you have a chance every night to win. I think that's what the Coyote fan is craving."
Why should fans believe in the Coyotes? They have a progressive GM in Chayka, 28. They have up-and-coming players like forwards Max Domi, 22; Anthony Duclair, Brendan Perlini and Christian Dvorak, each 21; forwards Dylan Strome and Christian Fischer, each 20; defenseman Jakob Chychrun, 19; and forward Clayton Keller, 18. They have added veterans Derek Stepan at No. 1 center, Niklas Hjalmarsson on the top defense pair and Antti Raanta in net.

Why should fans believe in Tocchet? Especially after he went 53-69-26 and missed the playoffs twice as coach of the Lightning from 2008-10? Especially after the Buffalo Sabres -- whose new GM is Jason Botterill, who worked with Tocchet in Pittsburgh and put an emphasis on development -- hired Phil Housley instead of him? Tocchet should be a better coach now than he was in Tampa Bay. He was on the Sabres' short list even though Housley got the job. Most important, he believes this can work.
Tocchet, who scored 440 goals, took 2,972 penalty minutes and played from the first to the fourth line as an NHL player, can command a room and relate to all kinds of players individually. He learned a lot from coach Mike Sullivan and fellow assistant Jacques Martin in Pittsburgh, coming a long way in terms of strategy, organization and communication.
"There's going to be some unpopular decisions you've got to make," Tocchet said. "Make sure you gather your information. A little bit I think early in my career in Tampa, I got swayed a little bit on decisions when I went the other way. I think I'll be a little bit more decisive. I know I will."
Tocchet worked with the forwards in Pittsburgh, doing skill drills with Crosby, managing Kessel on and off the ice, pushing young players after practice, going over video with everyone. He will need a strong defensive assistant but grasps the entire game. When he interviewed with the Coyotes, he didn't simply say he wanted to possess the puck and play fast. He gave a video presentation. A lot was on structure and defense leading to offense.
"I think he had a real plan on how to do it," Chayka said. "He had concrete examples of what that means based off their time in Pittsburgh and some more ideas of what he's maybe looking to do moving forward. So I think it's going to be an exciting style of play that will really lend itself to the skill and talent of our players, and that's the key."
To the team. To everything.
"All I know is, this is a hockey market," Tocchet said when asked about the arena uncertainty. "If they get in the right situation, people will come. That's the exciting part for me as a coach, as the head coach, is knowing that there is definitely an exciting hockey market out there that's ready to burst out, and when it happens it's going to be a lot of fun to be around. And I think if that happens, my job is going to be a premier job here."