There have always been quite a few coaches moving into broadcasting and then back to coaching, or broadcasters moving into coaching or executive roles, but there have been lots of particularly high-profile moves on those fronts in the past few years. One came midway through the last NHL season last January. That saw NHL on TNT Face Off panelist Rick Tocchet leave that role to return to coaching, taking over as the head coach of the Vancouver Canucks.
Last year, that saw the panel not only send Tocchet off in musical style, but quickly adapt to his absence with additions like Henrik Lundqvist and Keith Yandle. But while Tocchet was no longer on their panel, he was still an important subject for them; while the Canucks finished the 2022-23 campaign with a 38-37-7 mark and missed the playoffs, they were 20-12-4 under Tocchet. And they really improved this year, going 50-23-9 and winning the Pacific Division (with 109 points, third-best in the conference).
The Canucks are now up 3-1 in the first round on the Nashville Predators. That’s thanks to a remarkable road comeback Sunday night. There, they became just the eighth team in NHL history to overcome a two-goal deficit in the final three minutes (thanks to a pair of goals from Brock Boeser with their goalie pulled, completing his hat trick on the night) and win in overtime thanks to Elias Lindholm.
Oh, and Vancouver did that while using their third goalie of the series, Arturs Silovs. That was thanks to injuries to starter Thatcher Demko and backup Casey DeSmith. (Amazingly, the Canucks were also the only previous team to win their first three games of a series with three different goalies, doing that with Dan Cloutier, Johan Hedberg, and Alex Auld in 2004.)
So there’s been a significant amount of discussion around this team, and the TNT panel has been part of that, and will be part of that again around Tuesday’s Game 5 (9 p.m. ET, TBS). On a media call ahead of the playoffs, though, panelist Anson Carter said covering Tocchet’s run in Vancouver hasn’t been difficult, though, as Tocchet’s own media experience means he understands there’s going to be both praise and criticism when warranted.
“The fact that Toc worked in the business too, he also understands that if things go sideways and we’ve got to be negative, we’ve got to be negative. I think he completely understands that.
“I still talk to him. There were a couple times this year where things went sideways during a certain stretch, and you’ve got to say negative stuff about how they’re playing, that’s just the business. It’s not personal.”
Carter said that’s refreshing compared to the reactions he sometimes gets elsewhere.
“You can’t say that about a lot of people in the business, because I get a lot of texts and phone calls from angry people from stuff that we say on air. But that’s what it is; it’s our opinion, and it’s never personal. It’s just like when you trade a player; it’s not because you hate the guy, you just hate the player, maybe he’s not a right fit for your organization.”
And he credits Tocchet’s media experience for that.
“It’s been great to work with someone like Toc, or even [Philadelphia Flyers president of hockey operations Keith] Jones, another person that’s now working in a NHL front office. You’re just going to call it like it is. And I think it definitely helps that they were in our position before and understand what pressures we face. We have to be totally fair about it, or else fans aren’t going to really take what we’re saying seriously. Because that happens too.”
Fellow panelist Paul Bissonnette said covering Tocchet’s run with the Canucks hasn’t been too hard considering how well the team’s done.
“It’s been easy, because all we’ve been doing is pumping his tires. It’s been great.”
Bissonnette gives Tocchet much of the credit for Vancouver’s success, citing how he’s adapted to relating to a young team in particular.
“I think probably the biggest takeaway from his situation is how he had to go in there last year and maybe understand the dynamic of the locker room. He’s an old-school guy, but he’s been so good at adapting how he’s able to communicate with the next generation, these younger players, in order to really get the core of that locker room to bond together and hold. And then that has ripple effects down.”
Biz, Ace and Hank have another UNANIMOUS award pick… Our old pal Tocc for the Jack Adams Award 🏆 pic.twitter.com/UUtPz94e8q
— NHLonTNT (@NHL_On_TNT) April 18, 2024
Bissonnette added that Tocchet has built a strong coaching staff around him.
“Another thing is with him getting all these other guys to help him out, the way he’s loaded up his coaching staff with respectable guys. When you walk in the room, there’s just Hall of Fame guys everywhere. Adam Foote’s not a Hall of Famer, but he’s a very well respected guy who’s got Stanley Cups. Then there’s the Sedin twins. It’s just been impressive what he’s done.”
Earlier on that media call, Bissonnette said working with Tocchet was particularly beneficial for the panel for the coach’s perspective he brought, which has continued to inform their tape breakdown segments.
“We dive deeper into teaching something, like faceoffs, how important faceoffs are this time of year. We correlate it to something, like, if Wayne [Gretzky]’s in studio, something from when he was playing, going back down memory lane, which is extremely entertaining. We were fortunate when we had Toc, obviously, because he always brings that coach’s perspective, so he’s always seeing it from a different angle. Where, Ace, we would be like ‘Oh, what a goal!’, and Toc would be shaking his head, ‘That defense was terrible.'”
Funnily enough, the panel wound up doing something along those lines to Tocchet’s team in Game Four:
The boys break down Vancouver’s positioning on Nashville’s goal 🧐 pic.twitter.com/Xg3wzQHInZ
— NHLonTNT (@NHL_On_TNT) April 28, 2024
But, back to that media call, Bissonnette said Tocchet’s contributions were huge to the panel trying to educate viewers on specific moments of the game. And he said they’ve built on that since by adding other figures like Lundqvist with their differing perspectives.
“He would kind of bring us back to reality with ‘Here’s a teaching tip,’ or a whiteboard for a breakdown. And then we were obviously blessed to get Hank [Lundqvist] in studio; we don’t know anything about the goalie perspective, and he brings those breakdowns. So it’s just about finding the balance of maybe what the fan at home wants to learn or understand about what’s going on in real time, or whether it’s the past and a fun story. Continuing to find that balance throughout the broadcast is something that we’ve been proud of ourselves for doing, but yet still look to improve upon moving forward.”
Coach @BizNasty2point0 on the whiteboard breaking down how the Canucks can get past the Preds shot blocking ⬇️ pic.twitter.com/IkUiiNNlU6
— NHLonTNT (@NHL_On_TNT) April 27, 2024
And Bissonnette said working with Tocchet regularly made it not surprising to see how well he’s done with the Canucks.
“I’m proud of him. I was grateful to be able to work with him and see how his mind works. It’s no surprise to me that he was able to go there and turn everything around so quickly. And also then knowing the emotional aspect it takes to go in there and not only do what it takes with that communication perspective, but also with the Xs and Os. In my opinion, he’s Coach of the Year with that turnaround. It’s been easy to pump his tires.”