VANCOUVER — Over 19 ferocious years in the National Hockey League, Rick Tocchet accumulated 2,972 penalty minutes. In his best season, he found time to score 48 goals and 109 points for the 1992-92 Pittsburgh Penguins despite spending 252 minutes in the box.
So, Tocchet knows what it’s like to be booed. Just not as a coach.
After a meteoric, two-and-a-half year burn as the Vancouver Canucks’ head coach ended last April with Tocchet’s decision to leave the National Hockey League team — with the second-highest win rate in franchise history — the 61-year-old returns to Rogers Arena Tuesday night with the Philadelphia Flyers.
Tocchet loved getting booed as a player.
“I'll be honest with you. . . I played better on the road,” he said. “How do I coach better if I get booed? I don't really think of that, but it's kind of funny because, honestly. . . when you go into another team's building when you get booed or something, actually a lot of guys love it.”
Will it hurt if it happens tonight after Tocchet went 108-65-27 in Vancouver and took the Canucks to their best season in more than a decade?
“I think most people understand I tried,” he explained Tuesday morning. “You know, I tried my hardest when I was here. I tried to turn things around, and then you just make life decisions. I'm sure the person that's booing, probably in their life, had to make a decision, too, right? But I understand it.”
A coaching free agent last spring, Tocchet chose to leave the Canucks for several reasons, including a private one related to family. But one of the obvious hockey factors was uncertainty about the Canuck lineup after an exhausting season of upheaval that saw centre J.T. Miller traded 11 months ago.
Eighteen days ago, Quinn Hughes, another core player who was one of the reasons Tocchet agreed to join the Canucks in January 2022, was traded to the Minnesota Wild.
Tocchet, at least, knew what he was getting with the Flyers.
“I mean, it's part of it, you know,” Tocchet said of the uncertainty. “I still talk to J.T. today. We communicate. I love J.T., and you know my relationship with Hughes. But I've been in the NHL. . . a lot of years, and things happen for whatever reason, and you’ve just got to pivot from it.
“Losing in Game 7 (against the Edmonton Oilers two seasons ago), I remember being in my office. You know, you had Miller, and then Hughes, and then everybody's gone. You know, it's like, wow, what happened, right? But there's things that happen that you have to kind of pivot through and change directions.”
He said it was difficult seeing the Canucks regress so quickly after what seemed like a breakthrough 109-point season in 2023-24.
“Well, it's tough, you know, being here and being a part of the community and the team and trying to build it,” Tocchet admitted. “But saying that, I think sometimes you’ve got to make a right turn and I think they they're doing the right thing. I thought the (Hughes) trade was great for both teams. I think the team's playing better. They’ve got some young players, an enthusiastic group. You know, sometimes you can turn something not well into something that in the long run could work out.”
So far, things are working out well for Tocchet and the Flyers.
32 Thoughts: The Podcast
Hockey fans already know the name, but this is not the blog. From Sportsnet, 32 Thoughts: The Podcast with NHL Insider Elliotte Friedman and Kyle Bukauskas is a weekly deep dive into the biggest news and interviews from the hockey world.
Latest episode
Coming off a 76-point season that saw them miss the Stanley Cup tournament for a fifth straight year — and without the established young, foundational players Tocchet inherited in Vancouver — the Flyers were not expected to factor in the playoff race this season.
But they arrived in Vancouver third in the Metropolitan Division at 19-11-7, and tied for seventh in the NHL with a .608 points percentage that is identical to what Tocchet achieved with the Canucks. With Dan Vladar as their starting goalie, the Flyers are ninth in goals-against (2.78 per game) and fifth in shots surrendered (25.5).
They look like a Rick Tocchet team: organized and disciplined, difficult to play against and break down, better than the sum of its parts.
“Obviously, knowing the city and being part of it, playing there a lot of years, it's been a great transition,” Tocchet said of moving back to Philadelphia to work for Flyers president Keith Jones and general manager Danny Briere. “A young team — we're going to have our moments — but it’s been a really great buy-in. It’s really fun to coach these guys.
“I don't know if it's a surprise (about their record). I just think that the players have really bought in and are excited. What I like about them is — and I had it in Vancouver — the guys, when you present or you talk to them, like, they really want to know. They're sponges. I really like that stuff. It's not like, you know, you're in there and half the guys aren’t listening. The last two teams I’ve had, it's been really a pleasure to coach.”
Tocchet cautions, however, that it’s a long year. Not long like the drama-filled season in Vancouver last year, but long with the condensed schedule and Olympic break, which Tocchet will spend with Team Canada’s coaching staff in Italy.
“I’ve just got positive (memories),” he said of his roller-coaster ride with the Canucks. “Yeah, sure, last year some things happened or whatever. But overall, the positives over two-and-a-half years definitely helped me become a better coach for how to deal with stuff.”
ICE CHIPS – After winning 3-2 in a shootout Monday night in Seattle, the Canucks did not hold a morning skate. But based on extra and injured players who skated ahead of the Flyers’ ice time, it appears centre Aatu Raty and winger Nils Hoglander could be coming back out of the lineup for Jake DeBrusk and David Kampf, while defenceman Elias Pettersson may make way for Pierre-Olivier Joseph to get his first game since Dec. 2. Long-injured players Teddy Blueger and Filip Chytil skated in non-contact jerseys.
