VANCOUVER — The Vancouver Canuck's most valuable asset last season was arguably their coach, so Adam Foote is trying to replace not only his friend and mentor, but also the team's most valuable player.
Not a bad outcome if Foote turns out to be Rick Tochet 2.0.
He wasn't even planning on coaching the Canucks – “I thought I'd be with Rick” – until general manager Patrick Allwyn and Canucks president Jim Rutherford approached him in May, asked Foote for an interview, and then hired him.
But what became clear when Vancouver Canucks Get ready to open the season rescue Thursday (7 p.m. PT/10 p.m. ET on Sportsnet and Sportsnet+) against the Calgary Flames is that Foote, hired in part for organizational continuity, has his own strong ideas and is his own coach.
He's not trying to be Current 2.0, although like the coach who brought Foote back to the NHL as an assistant less than three years ago, the new head coach is still the most important figure on the Canucks.
“You know, even when they worked together, they had different views on things,” Rutherford told Sportsnet. “I mean, not always, but they definitely (sometimes) looked at things differently. So, yeah, Adam is very much his own man. He's a real thinker – he thinks things through and thinks ahead.
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“We don't have to rehash everything that happened here last year, but, you know, we all understand that things went wrong. And Adam knew about most of the shortcomings or problems that had to be dealt with, so he was willing to address them. He understands the importance of communication, and the fact that he knew what happened here last year was a big advantage for him getting this job.”
Immediately after being hired, Foote began rebuilding the Canucks' leadership by reaching out to key players over the summer and imploring them to take responsibility and support each other. Quinn HughesThatcher Demko, Brock Boeser and Filip Hronek, among others, have led by example since training camp opened, and the team appears to have been transformed by this new dynamic.
Foote has also made it his mission to contact enigmatic center Elias Pettersson, who looked like a hologram last season but now looks inspired and confident. And the head coach and his staff instilled fresh ideas in the players about attacking and playing with speed and aggression. The speed and intensity of training in Vancouver, even in pre-season, seems to be faster than last season.
“We're in a different place than we were last year, perhaps more relaxed,” Hughes said this week.
Winger Kiefer Sherwood said: “I think we all feel a lot more comfortable and on the same page. There's a different energy around the team this year, a different buzz. Footy is really good at communicating and letting the guys, you know, be themselves. But he's also very clear about what he expects. And obviously he's been a leader too, hasn't he? Like, he knows. Any time you're a captain in the NHL, without saying already about winning a couple of Cups, with his pedigree, you know what it takes. I think he did a great job of getting everyone pulling the rope in the same direction.”
After an 18-year playing career that saw the ferocious defenseman from Whitby, Ont., win a pair of Stanley Cups with the Colorado Avalanche and Olympic and World Championship gold medals with Canada, Foote became a rookie NHL head coach at age 54.
“I mean, at my age, this doesn’t happen every day,” he said, smiling. “I would have missed (the opportunity). I was always into hockey, but I wanted to be around my family. But Rick took a chance on me and taught me a lot. And now Jim and Patrick took a chance on me.
“Until a year and a half ago, I didn't even know that, OK, I could do this (as a head coach). Or I would want to do this and put the time into it. It's fun, it's good. It's the closest thing to a game. It's just fun to be around the guys.”
As for the critical importance Foote places on the Canucks' leadership as a catalyst for team building, he said he would do the same if he were hired to coach an experienced Stanley Cup-winning team like the Tampa Bay Lightning.
“It’s like raising children: if they understand the contract, they’re part of it,” he explained. “They buy into it, and then there's more responsibility. And the thing is, they take ownership. I just look at it like that's what we have to do. Because when the puck drops, we get into a battle, and if you're not on the same page, people have problems.”
“My confidence in footy is obviously very high,” senior guard Tyler Myers said. “To me, it's just the way he manages people. I think he understands the room as well as I've seen in any coach. He really knows what the room needs at different times throughout the year, and I expect him to take that on as a head coach.”
“Honestly, it seems natural to him. I can tell he's kept it since he's been playing. It just seems like it's part of him, part of his personality. It doesn't seem like he has to force anything.”
Foote said his transition has been helped greatly by a revamped coaching staff that includes respected assistants Kevin Dean and Brett MacLean, as well as Foote's old friend and teammate Scott Young, who played a major role in hockey operations as the Canucks' director of player personnel.
The head coach said the only time he was nervous was the first day of training camp in Penticton, British Columbia, and during his first address to the players and team staff.
“You don't know if they'll get your jokes, but you want to send the right message,” Foote explained. “But I think the preparation we did with the leadership group over the summer, they understood my message. We don't talk about it every day, but we practice it.
“I believe in the process. As a player, coach or assistant coach, it's a process. We put in the work, create good habits and believe in it. I know it sounds boring, but it gives me more confidence. Confidence is what can help you rest at night, give your brain a little more rest.”
The Canucks were able to sleep well during the preseason because they were able to play faster and more aggressively without sacrificing the defensive ideals that Tocchet brought – details that, as much as anything else, played a major role in the team finishing with 90 points despite the drama, chaos and injuries of last season.
A surprisingly large youth movement, led by 18-year-old center Braden Coots, further fueled the internal enthusiasm. The Canucks were 4-2 in the preseason, had gotten noticeably stronger and gained momentum as they went along, and had none of the injuries to the top players who helped the Torpedoes last season.
The players looked just as united and united on the ice as they did in the locker room.
But now they have to show it in important games.
“We don't talk about last year a lot,” defenseman Marcus Pettersson said. “We've put that behind us. This year has arrived. We're talking about the here and now, how we can get better today, and how we can get closer together as a group today.
“There's no one recipe for winning. Every group is different, every player, every personality is different. You just have to find what you like and deal with it somehow. Find your identity. I think that's one thing I learned: years when things weren't going well, maybe you're struggling, you talk about your team's identity and how you want to play. Teams that win, they know theirs. identity. Florida is a great example of this. I think identity is a reality. thing.”
Captain Hughes said: “The structure is really good. Footy has a brilliant hockey mind, so that also makes it easier for everyone. It's fun to be on the rink at the moment. I think we have a great group of guys. I don't know how the year is going to go, but I think we played good hockey in the pre-season and usually… that (leads to) a good start. Our attention to detail is good. Everything is good.” form. The camp was laid out intelligently. We're ready to go.”
