To mark the midway point of the 2023-24 regular season, NHL.com is running its second installment of the Trophy Tracker series this week. Today, we look at the race for the Jack Adams Award, given annually to the top coach in the NHL as selected in a vote by the NHL Broadcasters' Association.
Rick Tocchet's philosophy sounds simple: Stay the course. Go with the flow. Have a short memory.
Sound advice easier said than done in athletic competition and especially everyday life, yet the Vancouver Canucks are heeding it. They're legitimate contenders for the Presidents' Trophy given to the NHL team with the best regular season-record, a Stanley Cup Playoff berth for only the second time since 2014-15, and perhaps more.
At midseason, Tocchet is the favorite to win the Jack Adams Award, according to a panel of 15 NHL.com writers. He received 70 voting points, including seven for first place. Winnipeg Jets coach Rick Bowness got 45 votes, one for first. John Tortorella of the Philadelphia Flyers was third (40 votes, four for first).
The Canucks (29-11-4) rank in top five in goals for and goals-against while playing with strength, speed and precision. Tocchet is having fun with it and the team is handling success with humility.
"Yeah, you should enjoy this, but to be a really good hockey team, consistent all the time, you've got to make sure they stay even-keeled," Tocchet said after a 6-3 win at the New York Rangers on Jan. 8. "I've got to give the guys credit. They're really learning to be even-keeled. I don't think we're strutting around, but you should enjoy it and have confidence."
That 20-12-4 surge to end last season after Tocchet replaced Bruce Boudreau on Jan. 22 was neither a fluke nor mirage. J.T. Miller, Quinn Hughes and Elias Pettersson are in the top 10 of NHL scoring leaders and the third set of three different 50-point scorers through 40 games of a season (2007-08 Ottawa Senators and 1995-96 Pittsburgh Penguins). Brock Boeser is three goals from his first 30-goal season in the NHL. Vancouver is a League-best 23-5-2 when scoring first and has put teams in lockdown when leading after two periods (26-0-1).
Instead of getting complacent, Tocchet threw an idea against the wall, reuniting Miller, Boeser and Petterson for the first time since last season. "The Lotto Line" has 31 points (15 goals, 16 assists) in six games and the three made this season the second in Canucks history (1992-93) with three 20-goal scorers through the first 44 games.
"Just why not put it together every once in a while?" Tocchet said. "We'll see how long we keep it together, but sometimes it's a shot in the arm for the team. We were throwing stuff in a blender and just came up with that line."
When hired nearly one year ago, Tocchet's primary concern was the process of getting the Canucks to play like he wanted, harder, faster and more north-south. Near the first quarter of this season, he talked about setting a foundation with a style that will be durable enough for a seven-game playoff series. Preparedness has met opportunity in Vancouver, a city without a Stanley Cup championship and denied three times (1982, 1994, 2011) since the Canucks joined the NHL in 1970-71.
Day by day is working, with many thanks to an All-Star coach in the right place at the right time. One night after the Canucks defeated the Rangers, they won 5-2 at the New York Islanders for their 11th victory in 15th games (11-2-2) since Dec. 7, a stretch when they averaged 3.93 goals per game.
"We're going to totally enjoy tonight, learn what we didn't do well tomorrow morning and get right back at it," Miller told the Canucks’ website at Madison Square Garden. "We should expect ourselves to have a high standard of play and it should be just another night at the end of the day. The good teams do it over and over again."
Voting totals (points awarded on a 5-4-3-2-1- basis): Rick Tocchet, Canucks, 70 votes (seven first-place votes); Rick Bowness, Jets, 45 votes (1); John Tortorella, Flyers, 40 votes (4); Peter Laviolette, Rangers, 30 votes (1); Jim Montgomery, Boston Bruins, 20 points (2); Paul Maurice, Florida Panthers, eight votes; Kris Knoblauch, Edmonton Oilers, seven votes, Todd McLellan, Los Angeles Kings, three votes; Spencer Carbery, Washington Capitals, three votes; Andre Tourigny, Arizona Coyotes, one vote; Rod Brind'Amour, Carolina Hurricanes, one vote; Bruce Cassidy, Vegas Golden Knights, one vote; Jared Bednar, Colorado Avalanche, one vote.
