[Report] Canucks fire Bruce Boudreau, Trent Cull; name Rick Tocchet as head coach, Adam Foote as assistant coach, Sergei Gonchar as defensive development coach

[BtueyCanuckFan]

I have been Lurker here under various names since the late 90's and I know I don't post much or often. However, I do feel that I need to put my two cents into this conversation. First of all, I am not a Rutherford supporter. He was not who I wanted at the helm of this organisation and was worried how things would go under his tenure. That said, I was willing to give him the benefit of the doubt as he was ownership's choice. Second, I am a big Boudreau fan and was excited to have him here especially given his track record across the league. I am saddened by his departure and how it was ultimately handled. Rutherford's public "apology", while a nice sentiment, ultimately did not go any where NEAR far enough in my opinion. I am still waiting for these oft mentioned changes that are, apparently, coming and will continue to wait as I have done for decades in the hopes of seeing something truly great in this organisation once more.

 

As for Tocchet and his staff, I am willing to keep an open mind till probably this time next year. I am really excited to have Foote and Gonchar as part of his group and hope they establish the stability and strength which this club has desperately needed from coaches and management for some time. I wish them every success with our team and I truly hope we do well. That said, hearing Tocchet mention his long-time respect/support for Yeo and King, is potentially worrisome. His "criminal" past, for me, is not relevant to who he is now. He took responsibility for his actions and accepted the punishment appointed to him by courts. To me, that episode is dealt with and should be left firmly in the past. What matters to me, is who he is now and how he plans to steer this club in the right direction. He said a lot of good things, but they are just words until they are proven on and off the ice.

 

As a fan, I have lived through the drafting of Linden and Bure, the implosion of the late 90's where Colorado always seemed to have our number, and every iteration of the Canucks since. I will continue to support this team as I bleed Black, red and orange. I have always lived the flying skate and bringing back that jersey was one of the best decisions Rutherford and his group have made since he joined the Canucks. So for now, I will sit back and reserve judgement on the new coaching staff until they have had a good chance to adjust and set the time for the team going forward.

 

Go Canucks Go!

[jyu]

The thing I liked most about Tocchet was when he addressed JT's emotion. You can be emotional but that doesn't mean you can stop back checking.

 

I'm glad he knows the problem with JT. It will either be fixed or JT will be outta here shortly.

[aznmonk]

8 hours ago, HorvatToBaertschi said:

I say every time we lose, we start a Bruce there it is chant. Let management know how we feel until they can't ignore it like they've done all season. 

Let's just show how we love Bruce and keep his chant on for like forever.....during home games give him love! That will show how much support he has here!

[KirkSave]

Biggest takeaway from the presser today was when RT used the word smorgasbord.

 

No idea what it is or how it relates to hockey but me likey!

[aznmonk]

8 hours ago, Fanuck said:

For the record,  before people get too excited:

 

Foote has zero professional coaching experience and only ever coached 1 'meh' season in the WHL when his son was on the team.

 

Gonchar only has coaching experience with one other NHL team, of which he was a former player.

 

Tocchet has a career losing record as an NHL coach.

Here comes the tank! Tank Nation on full throttle

[Baratheon]

4 minutes ago, KirkSave said:

Biggest takeaway from the presser today was when RT used the word smorgasbord.

 

No idea what it is or how it relates to hockey but me likey!

That's definitely the word he was attempting to say.  I hope Halford and Brough clipped it lol

 

Edit: I wonder if they serve elephant at the smorjeeborjee

Edited January 23, 2023 by Baratheon

[tas]

3 minutes ago, KirkSave said:

Biggest takeaway from the presser today was when RT used the word smorgasbord.

 

No idea what it is or how it relates to hockey but me likey!

almost -- he tried to, and failed miserably. as he did with roughly 40% of the rest of his words, too. 

[MaxVerstappen33]

39 minutes ago, The Lock said:

I realise this team is a mess right now but this doesn't really answer the question of a coaching change. Sure, many coaches get fired due to having bad records, but we have to ask the question: what is the intention after they get fired? Is it to get a better record? Is it to save grace for management? What's the actual intention behind it? Not only that, but not all coaches get fired for having bad records. Look at how long Blashill lasted in Detroit. Look at how long Green was here for having a bad record, or even WD. This was abnormally quick for firing a coach at a time of the season where we are NOT making the playoffs anyway. It makes no sense to me.

 

So I'm going to disagree that this is totally normal. Normally, we wouldn't know about the change publically from the GM himself before the coach gets fired. That's not normal. To me, normal would have been to wait out the season and THEN change the coach. That to me is logical. What's happening now, isn't logical.

 

And that's fine if you want to reserve judgement, but that does not change my position nor does it really address my concerns on what's happening. This is probably the least amount of faith I've had in a management group after 1 year... ever...

 

I agree with this. It wasn't normal. Nor does it make sense.

 

But Rutherford is a win-now guy and that's the only reason he was hired. There was a Aquilini quote from a couple weeks ago. When asked about the failing team , he said "fix it". In other words, the accumulating losses was unacceptable to Aquilini. And JR was feeling the pressure to "fix it" now. 

 

JR isn't like the Mike Gillis or Benning hire. He didn't get a 5 year deal right out of the gate (thank God) JR's time is now 

Edited January 23, 2023 by MaxVerstappen33

[BarnBurner]

2 minutes ago, Muttley said:

The saga just continues along. 

 

This picture tells a thousands stories. 

 

Just look how Gillis is looking at Tortorella, while FA is standing in the BG looking on like some demonic tyrant,

while Johnny Boy is smiling, knowingly, that it's Mike's last days. 

 

FA is an absolute control freak. 

 

We need someone who actually cares about this team instead of someone being such a piece of crap, egotistical monster.

 

This guy knows shit about building a winning environment. Like I said, he was lucky from 2004 until 2011. 

 

He's dumb as shit. 

[Gnarcore]

11 minutes ago, MaxVerstappen33 said:

At least the boomers who overuse the "country club" and "accountability" takes won't be able to use that anymore. Unless you think this former fighter ,criminal and Bond villian is running a country club 

The guy was a 40 goal scorer and top line player in Philly. He wasn't some goon. 

[Nucker 67]

Listened to the press conference. They were put in a tough situation, so it wasn't a perfect presser, but I liked what they had to say for the most part. Excited to see where they go from here. There aren't going to be any passengers on this team next season. Tocchet will expect more and that'll be great to see that effort, guys playing the right way, making better decisions. (hopefully) 

[aznmonk]

8 hours ago, Warhippy said:

Gonchar and Foote good.  Tocchet bad 

 

They couldn't have just hired Gonchar and Foote for Boudreau?  Half of our entire defensive issues are due to them not retaining Shaw and Walker and replacing them with Dumb and Dumber thus ensuring our special teams and defensive game suffered.

 

The worst thing is, Tocchet is a known hard a$$ and may very well get that coaching bump that pushes us out of lottery contention.  Giving us another meh pick which we'll use to draft another small winger.

 

He'll work the players hard and demand accountability.  But this will also wear them down fast.  Most likely resulting in injuries.  Canuck Luck dictates those injuries will be to Horvat and Schenn possibly Kuzmenko who will then be ineligible for trades and will walk for nothing in the off season because we've no cap space to sign them.

 

Think this is far fetched?  It's literally happened twice already in the last 8 years.

 

The way this management group has treated future HoF coach Boudreau and us fans is honestly beyond disrespectful.  For all the grief we gave Benning, he at least treated people with respect and handled things with some level of dignity.

 

Like Foote.  Like Gonchar.  Hate this coaching change, the way it was handled and what it may result in.

Yeah bring back the bag skates!! See who faints or vomit then waive them or trade them!

[Jaimito]

Lol

 

 

[Nuckin Kingsly]

I haven’t posted on here for quite a bit, as it’s tough to see our team go through these tough times over and over. But what people really need to understand, is that the media are the ones who are tainting our team. Yes Rutherford said he had talked to coaches, that he was too blunt. Shouldn’t have said that. But this is a business, and this happens all the time. The media crying wolf and cursing the canucks all the time just rubs off on the fans. Then people start believing it and it becomes a cruel circle. 
 

I really like Bruce as a coach and a person. But Aquilini hiring Boudreau before the gm or president ? When has that ever happened. That was a tough situation from the start. Listening to the press conference today only further solidified my belief that things are not nearly as bad as people think they are. 
 

it would be nice if we could get an owner who isn’t exactly like jerry jones for all the wrong reasons, but not gunna happen. For years and years the Pattersons, Drances, batchelors threw so much shade at the organization. And all the fans listen to the media and assume they are right. They are so toxic. 
 

I don’t think Boudreau is the right coach for us, as much as I like him. I believe he is too nice of a guy. So players aren’t held accountable nearly enough. I love miller, but he’s an example of how this team needs to harden up. We needed a coach who will put people into their places.. 

 

I know really wordy.. but I’m so sick of reading the filth spewed on the canucks all the time 

[24K PureCool]

19 minutes ago, Googlie said:

Tocchet is Rutherford's love child?  Is that the rumour you want to start?

 

I think cronyism is the word you are(n't) searching for

Not according to Oxford dictionary (google)

 

 

The meaning looked to have morphed to include cronyism. 

[aznmonk]

8 hours ago, RWJC said:

I wonder if some of the posters here will redirect and be as self-loathing if proven wrong by these moves. If you’re not going to support the franchise because of this, then i politely wish you good riddance. No offense meant but very easy for people to get caught up in emotion and not think straight.

Years of ineptitude but the entire focus is on Bruce’s treatment. So easily forgotten how little heart this team has shown.
I understand it’s fresh and raw, but real fans will give this chaos a chance to sort itself out and perhaps/very hopefully  build a winner out of catastrophe or at very least some improvement. 
 

shit has gone down in a very distasteful manner but don’t lose sight that this club has gone through 53 years of mediocrity. 
we deserve better, even if it’s painful and pulls at the heartstrings to try and get there.
 

GCG
 

 

 

Mike keenen Era? Mark messier? Ring a bell???

[BarnBurner]

39 minutes ago, Ghostsof1915 said:

We have a top notch offence. But we have the 3rd worst goals for in the league. We are in the basement for PK.

And the team is 14 points back of a wild card. Even if the team turns it around. It's too little, too late.

 

The team could have fired the assistants. Started to make trades. You can't tell me that management is still trying to figure out this team?

 

Ugh.

The team could have actually retained our assistants from last year. Plus, gotten rid of King and not brought in Yeo. 

 

Just to begin with. 

[MaxVerstappen33]

Sekeres Price special coverage 

 

https://omny.fm/shows/sekeres-price/january-22-2023-s-p-presents-bruce-there-he-goes

[AlwaysACanuckFan]

15 minutes ago, Dr. Crossbar said:

Hopefully Bedard or a top 5 draft pick. 

Just to play safe, I'll wait until end of season to be excited for the draft. We have an easier schedule. Everything depends on  how the players adjust to Tocchets style 

[Googlie]

4 hours ago, Ghostsof1915 said:

Well at least PA understands what we really want is a cup.

It's how we get there right?

He actually said a banner.

 

We could always hang a 1914-15 Vancouver Millionaires banner (like Seattle and Ottawa did)