It is inarguable that Adam Foote does not have the head coaching experience that most coaches do when they get their first big chance to run a National Hockey League team.
But the 53-year-old former defenceman, introduced at a press conference Thursday as the Vancouver Canucks’ 22nd head coach, has profoundly more experience now than he did 2 ½ years ago when someone gave him the wildcard chance to be an NHL assistant.
“It makes me so proud,” Rick Tocchet, who until last month was the 21st Canucks coach, said in a telephone call from Philadelphia. “He’d never had coaching experience behind the bench in the NHL, but it didn’t matter to me because I knew he was a smart guy, and I knew he was going to be head coach. Even from the first month we were together and brainstorming, I knew one day he’d be head coach. And I’m really proud of him.
“He’s a character guy, and he had a high hockey IQ and was willing to learn. And that’s what he did. There’s so many good stories where a coach just came out of the blue. I think Footy is ready for this. Those 2 ½ years being in Vancouver, he gained a lot of experience, I think. He saw a lot of different things. He saw everything there, and I think he knows how to deal with things just from living it.”
Tocchet will have his own press conference on Friday after the Philadelphia Flyers announced that they have hired the ex-Canuck and reigning NHL coach-of-the-year who orchestrated Vancouver’s 109-point season a year ago.
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Tocchet admitted to Sportsnet that he agonized over the decision to leave Vancouver as a coaching free agent — before and after his decision was made public on April 29 — but said Thursday was not the right time to further explain it.
But his happiness that Foote is succeeding him in Vancouver was obvious. Tocchet thinks Canuck players will be happy, too.
“I do,” Tocchet said. “They know Footy, they know how we were aligned. But also — and I encouraged Footy on this — he’s his own guy, you know? Sure, he’ll take some parts from me, but there’s some stuff that he’s going to do different and I think that’s going to be a good thing for the team and the players.
“Communication wise, I think he’s a really good communicator. I see how he deals with certain personalities. There are guys that are harder to coach than others, and I’ve kind of watched from afar how he handled those guys. He can coach a superstar like Quinn Hughes or a Noah Juulsen, who was a depth guy in and out of the lineup. I really respected how he dealt with all types of players.”
There is a Hughes Factor to Foote’s hiring, but not in the way most people assumed.
Both Foote and Canucks general manager Patrik Allvin said Thursday that the superstar defenceman was not contacted for input during the hiring process.
But as hockey-operations president Jim Rutherford told reporters after the season, the Canucks can not afford to lose Hughes when the franchise cornerstone’s contract expires in two years.
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After this past season of upheaval and disappointment, undermined by injuries and dressing-room dysfunction and punctuated by Tocchet’s departure, the Canucks need to do everything they can to rebound next season and show Hughes that he will have a chance to win a Stanley Cup if he stays in Vancouver.
And to do that, the organization must be willing to make bold decisions that come with risk. Like choosing Foote over others, most notably the Canucks’ impressive minor-league coach, Manny Malhotra, for the sake of continuity, player-coach relationships and Foote’s role in bringing structure and accountability to a team that had its best season in a decade in 2023-24.
There will be other bold decisions, like Rutherford’s vow to acquire a top-six centre this summer, how to handle enigmatic $92.8-million centre Elias Pettersson, whom to retain or pursue in free agency, and how to build out Foote’s coaching staff.
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Foote said he plans to add two assistants, one to focus on the defence and the other specializing in offence. The NHL experience of those assistants will also be scrutinized.
“I would like experience, but I want the best,” the new head coach said. “If the guy that we want is the best and the best for our situation and works with me well, that’s who I want to go with. And whether he’s got five years, three years or 15, in a perfect world, yeah, we want an experienced coach with us, and. . . that would be the ideal thing. But I’m confident of who we choose. . . it’ll be a great fit.”
Taking over a team that was 23rd in scoring this season, Foote understands that his reputation, based on his work as an assistant coach and Stanley Cup-winning shutdown defenceman, is all about defending.
“You study the game, you use the people around you to help you and understand what offence is coming at you,” he explained. “I knew what I was uncomfortable defending against. And I did that for a living for 20 years. And I think that’s a big part of it for me.
“You can paint me with whatever brush you like; I’m a big guy. But I’m going to surround myself with the right people, too. We’ve got some great people here with the Sedins (Canuck development coaches Henrik and Daniel) and we’re going to continue to keep getting better. But I would say I’m very fortunate that I had to play against those top players and shut them down. And so we’ve got lots of ideas how to make that offence better.”
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Foote’s only previous head coaching experience was a 20-month stint in charge of the Western Hockey League’s Kelowna Rockets, from 2018 to 2020, when his son, Nolan, was on the team. Foote and the team’s legendary owner-manager Bruce Hamilton, two big personalities, reportedly clashed.
Foote’s older son, Cal, is among five NHL players on trial in London, Ont., for sexual assault, stemming from a 2018 incident.
Asked about this on Thursday, GM Allvin said bluntly: “Adam is not on trial.”
Foote said: “I respect your question. I understand it’s your job to do that, first off. Secondly, you know I can’t comment on the trial, and I won’t. You know, I’m there for my family, as we all would be. And we’ll get through this. And as far as the headspace, that’s not how I walk, I guess. Is this going to happen in a week or two weeks or a month or a month ago? That’s life and you keep walking, you keep moving. It had nothing to do with my decision to take this on. I love coaching, and I love the opportunity.”
Foote expressed gratitude to Tocchet for “taking a flyer” on him by bringing Foote back to the NHL when Tocchet replaced Bruce Boudreau as the Canucks’ coach in January of 2023.
“I wasn’t sure if I wanted to be a head coach when I took that job,” Foote said. “Patrik asked me probably a year ago, year and a half ago. And Rick said to me, ‘If you really want to be a head coach, I’ll help you.’ He really wanted it for me. He is so happy for me. And I’m so happy and lucky that I was under him. He taught me so much, and I owe him.”
Foote said he wouldn’t be there Thursday, the Canucks’ new head coach, were it not for his friend. And there was Tocchet, across the continent, about to take on a new challenge with the Flyers.
“In this business, things change, month by month, year by year,” Tocchet said. “And you’ve got to be ready for it.”
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