To mark the first quarter of the 2023-24 regular season, NHL.com is running its first 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.
What the Vancouver Canucks have accomplished since Rick Tocchet was named coach Jan. 22:
• Were 20-12-4 in 36 games to finish last season. The Canucks fired Bruce Boudreau following a 2-10-0 stretch that had them 10-25-3 and sixth in the Pacific Division.
• Named Quinn Hughes the 15th captain in team history Sept. 11.
• Defeated the Edmonton Oilers by a combined 12-4 the first two games this season and started 10-2-1, outscoring opponents 59-26.
• Entered U.S. Thanksgiving 13-6-1 and second in the Pacific, three points behind the Vegas Golden Knights, leading the NHL with 4.00 goals per game and a plus-29 goal differential.
No wonder why a panel of 16 NHL.com writers named Tocchet the favorite to win the Jack Adams Award at the first quarter of this season. Tocchet received 70 voting points, including 11 votes for first place. Boston Bruins coach Jim Montgomery got 51 points and five votes for first place. Peter Laviolette of the New York Rangers was third (30).
It's not just the video-game numbers the Canucks (14-7-1) have put together. They've made the Stanley Cup Playoffs twice since 2014-15 and employed three coaches (Willie Desjardins, Travis Green, Boudreau) before hiring Tocchet, who was a studio analyst for TNT after he wasn’t retained as coach by the Arizona Coyotes at the end of the 2020-21 season. He's since created an identity of work ethic without a sense of entitlement.
Players have responded. Dakota Joshua was scratched from a 10-1 win at the San Jose Sharks on Nov. 2 and his 40 hits since are second behind Tampa Bay Lightning forward Tanner Jeannot (41) for first in the NHL. J.T. Miller (33 points; 13 goals, 20 assists) was benched at the end of the second period and scored in the third of a 5-2 win against the Nashville Predators on Oct. 31. Andrei Kuzmenko (14 points; three goals, 11 assists), a 39-goal scorer last season and signed to a two-year, $11 million contract Jan. 26, has been a healthy scratch the past two games.
"If I'm preaching being even keel, I think I have to make sure I present that to the team," Tocchet said Nov. 15 in Vancouver. "You lose 10-0 or win 10-0, you've got to be the same the next day. I was always a believer, even as a player, I loved the coach that was consistent. If you're a coach that doesn't talk to a guy in the morning, then don't talk to me only after wins.
"I like consistency. I think the players today want consistency and I've felt this team is consistent. Even their personalities, it's pretty well the same after a win or a loss, which is a good thing I think in the long run."
Tocchet remains committed no matter the ebbs, flows or challenges presented by a schedule that included 10 games and five cities in 17 nights. His leadership group is clicking with Hughes settled as captain and becoming the first skater this season to reach 30 points with a goal and assist in a 3-1 win against the Sharks on Nov. 20. His eighth goal in his 19th game tied his NHL career high set in 2021-22 -- in 76 games. He also scored eight goals in 68 games of the COVID-19 pandemic-shortened 2019-20 season.
The playoffs are a foreign concept to the Canucks since a seven-game loss to the Golden Knights in the 2020 Western Conference Second Round, which they followed up with a last-place finish in their division during the 56-game 2020-21 season. At the rate they're going right now, expect them to stay above the curve, because the early Jack Adams favorite is preparing them for the long haul.
"I always say to the coaches, if we're in a seven-game series, if we do this, is this sustainable?" Tocchet said. "That's the way you look at it and you build that in October, November, you just don't all of a sudden start in March. It has to start now."
Voting totals (points awarded on a 5-4-3-2-1- basis):
Rick Tocchet, Canucks, 70 points (11 first-place votes); Jim Montgomery, Bruins, 51 points (5); Peter Laviolette, Rangers, 30 votes; Greg Cronin, Anaheim Ducks, 24 votes; Bruce Cassidy, Vegas Golden Knights, 18 votes; Paul Maurice, Florida Panthers, 17 votes; John Tortorella, Philadelphia Flyers, seven votes; Spencer Carbery, Washington Capitals, seven votes; Todd McLellan, Los Angeles Kings, five votes; Jon Cooper, Tampa Bay Lightning, four votes; Derek Lalonde, Detroit Red Wings, three votes; Peter DeBoer, Dallas Stars; one vote; Rick Bowness, Winnipeg Jets, one vote; Andre Tourigny, Arizona Coyotes; one vote
NHL.com independent correspondent Kevin Woodley contributed to this report
