On Tuesday night, Rick Tocchet became the 79th coach in NHL history to hit the 500-game mark. Spending time with the Tampa Bay Lightning, Arizona Coyotes and now, Vancouver Canucks, he has recorded 214 wins over that time and coached many star players, including Martin St-Louis, Steven Stamkos, Phil Kessel and Taylor Hall. A coach who keeps his players accountable, he has had a pretty remarkable career that has spanned over 2,000 games as a player, assistant and now head coach. When asked about hitting the 500 games mark, Tocchet touched on some of the lessons he has learned over his career. Here is the Canucks head coach's response to the question: "Learning from different journeys, different teams, different people. I've worked under organizations, learning a lot from some of the best coaches in the league and some of the best players in the game. From our players here, we got really good hockey players; I've learned a lot from them and even the coaches from the past. There's gonna be different times of the season, you know, teams not playing well. What can you do different? A team's playing well; what can you do to keep it sustainable? Should you have a day off, those sorts of things that you've picked up over the years? From experience from talking to other people and seeing what's work and then also being out-of-the-box thinkers. I like thinking of different ways to practice. To be able to do three days in a row, no, I don't believe that. I think maybe it's okay to practice really hard, have a day off and then play again. Sometimes, maybe five years ago, I maybe thought no, you're crazy, but now I think it's a good way of the temperament of your team. Those are things you pick up from some of the experienced people want to work with." After retiring at the end of the 2001-02 season, Tocchet joined the Colorado Avalanche as an assistant coach. After a few years working as an assistant with the Avs, Phoenix Coyotes, and Tampa Bay Lightning, he got his first head coaching job in 2008 when he took over from Barry Melrose, who was fired midseason by the Lightning. He would spend 148 games behind Tampa's bench, posting a record of 53-69-26 before being let go before the 2010-11 season. Tocchet would reappear behind the bench, this time as an assistant with the Pittsburgh Penguins prior to the 2014-15 season. In three seasons with the Penguins, he managed one of the league's best power plays and helped Pittsburgh win two straight Stanley Cups. This success would lead to his second head coaching job as he returned to Arizona ahead of the 2017-18 campaign, where he not only played but was also an assistant coach over a decade prior. THN Canucks Of The Week_ Filip Hronek- 11_26-12_3 In his return to the desert, Tocchet would spend four seasons behind the bench of the Coyotes. Coaching 290 games, he would post a record of 125-131-34 and lead Arizona to an upset series win over the heavily favoured Nashville Predators during the 2020 bubble playoffs. After a tough 2020-21 season, Tocchet was relieved of his duty, jumping over to the TV side to work for TNT. After just over a year away, Tocchet once again jumped behind the bench, this time with the Canucks where he can be found today. In 62 games up until this point, he has found success in Vancouver, posting a record of 36-21-5. On pace to make the playoffs for just the second time as a head coach, it is safe to say he has brought a refreshing energy to the Canucks organization as he looks to replicate the success he had with the Penguins.
