Vancouver Canucks head coach Rick Tocchet isn’t mad, he’s disappointed. He said so himself three separate times when addressing the media after Wednesday’s afternoon practice. To the gathered reporters, one of his first comments was how disappointed he was in his team’s performance Tuesday against the Buffalo Sabres.
Given the extracurriculars that took place late in the third period on Saturday, Thursday’s game against the Edmonton Oilers is expected to be emotionally charged. Tocchet wasn’t shy to share his unhappiness with his team’s efforts against the Sabres and could tell something was amiss from the previous practice.
“I can only go from day-to-day,” Tocchet explained. “I’m obviously very disappointed of last night’s game. Going in today, I thought it was a really good practice. I know people laugh. Yeah, practice, practice but I didn’t like the practice before the Buffalo game but I did like practice [today]; hopefully it correlates.”
Quinn Hughes has been the backbone for this Canucks team in what has been a disappointing season. At points, he’s single-handedly dragged the Canucks into games. But has the rest of the team deferred at moments because they’ve become so reliant on the play of their captain?
“I’ve played with some great players. You don’t stop playing because you play with a great player; that’s asinine,” Tocchet explained. “You want to use that great player to your advantage.
“You have a great player you should embrace the fact that you get to play with this player. How can I be better for this guy and the team? Not just about Huggy but about the team. You utilize that best player as much as you can for your benefit.”
Tocchet shared more about the Canucks captain:
“I thought last night he did,” Tocchet said when asked if there are points where Hughes tries to do too much. “I think, for the most part, he’s having an unreal year. He’s been great until last night. Too much ‘I want to put the team on my back.’
“We had a talk today. He likes to talk after games and we talked about that. That’s the one thing he has to guard himself. Is to try to take the team on himself and I think that’s when he gets in trouble.”
The Canucks head coach gave high praise to Hughes for his ability to produce despite all the outside noise surrounding the team.
“I think Hughes has been unreal dealing with all this stuff that’s happened this year,” Tocchet said proudly of his captain. “For him to do what he’s done this year, I give him a lot of respect for that. Cause, you know, some guys use this distraction. and it affects their game, you can tell, but for him, he’s a mentally strong kid. So, I give him a lot of credit. A lot of credit.”
The Canucks organization – much like the world outside of Edmonton – are pretty steadfast in their belief that there isn’t anything more to be said or done about Conor Garland holding Connor McDavid at the end of Saturday’s game. Tocchet seems especially exasperated that this is even a conversation and has gotten to a point where there are rumoured Conor Garland ‘Wanted’ posters in Edmonton.
“Yeah, he held a guy. Is that wanted posters?” Tocchet questioned. “I understand if he smashed him in the face or got into a fight or did something…it’s a hold. So I don’t really care what they think.”
Tocchet doesn’t believe any amount of posturing will get Garland to play his game differently. He even pointed out that Leon Draisaitl doesn’t even understand where the vitriol originates. The Canucks’ focus is on the upcoming game and coming out of it with a win.
“It’s not going to deter him to go into the corners and front of the net. He needs his teammates to be there right behind him. You heard Leon Draisaitl, one of the best players in the league, talking about this big war or something he didn’t understand, [saying] ‘Why is there a war?’ It was about a hold and a couple of things that happened at the end. We need two points. We don’t need vengeance. There’s no vengeance. It’s just two points for us.”
It seems the only thing anyone can expect out of the Canucks is the unexpected. This is a team that hasn’t won back-to-back games since the end of November. When asked if the players are waiting for something to happen, Tocchet didn’t have a clear answer. Tocchet was willing to speak about all the mistakes the team is making and why they are preventing them from getting consistent results.
“I can’t speak for some guys. Maybe some guys are. I don’t know. I can’t tell you that. I go day-to-day and game-to-game like I tell you guys. Obviously last game…being up 2-1, the shots were 18-11, I thought we were coming, then all of a sudden, about 19 minutes later, it flipped. And why is that? Because guys stopped skating. Guys started doing fancy plays. Body language came back for whatever reason. You just can’t do that. Winners don’t do that. You don’t slam gates. We’re up 2-1, someone misses an empty net. Okay, who cares? Why slam a gate? This is stuff I’ve been preaching since I’ve been here. And every once-in-a-while it creeps in. The frustration…now I don’t know if it’s because of the noise or not, I don’t know. But we have to stop that stuff.”
When asked if this was the most challenging period Tocchet had experienced since coming to Vancouver, the word “disappointed” resurfaced.
“Listen, it hasn’t been easy, but that’s my job. You tackle…you have tough years even as a player, and you face the music, and you’ve gotta march along. I will say, last game was one of the most disappointing since I’ve been here for two years. For a team that played the night before, I think Lindy [Ruff] skated them that morning, for us to be up 2-1, I thought we were okay, and then all of a sudden the tables turned. Yeah, I’m disappointed in the team. And I let them know that this morning. We’ll see the reaction.”
With the results on the ice, it’s hard for the players to keep their spirits high in games. This leads to unhappy faces and uninspiring body language from the players. But Tocchet sent a message to his players in the form of one of his favourite quotes, one from NFL legend Tom Brady.
“What did Tom Brady say? ‘If you want to have fun, go to Disneyland’? Winning is fun. Competing is fun. Listen, if you compete and you lose, and you’re competing, and you’re part of the process, you should smile and feel good about yourself. But I’m not sure we’re happy with the process. That’s why you got some frowns and people aren’t happy. You shouldn’t be happy. I love that line. Go to Disneyland if you want to have fun. We’re in the business of winning. But saying that it’s the process of it, and I don’t think we’ve liked our process. It’s been a rollercoaster ride all year.”
Although the Canucks improved shot suppression metrics, the results have remained the same for Tocchet’s club.
“Well, it’s the same thing, you’re up 3-0. Yeah, I know against Edmonton, we took a couple of penalties and stuff like that. For whatever reason, it is unlocking that ‘You’re up 3-0, don’t change it.’ If there’s a 3-on-2, go through the middle drive. Make a turn-up play. Make that play. But for whatever reason, we’re up 3-0, all of a sudden, we don’t skate as hard; we stay on the outside more. All of a sudden, the D don’t shoot the puck. It’s not just one guy; it’s a collective. I don’t know if it’s a mental block. Like I say, it’s my job to unlock it. We’re trying every day to unlock that attitude. Hughes doesn’t have that mental block. He tries to play the same way. So we need more guys to have that attitude that we were talking about.
Before leaving for Edmonton, Tocchet reiterated his problems with the effort against the Sabres.
“Did they score two goals off the face-off? Can’t happen. Can’t ice the puck. We have five guys in the zone; you can’t leave a guy by himself in front of the net. There are big-moment plays you just can’t do. We gave Buffalo juice. I think there’s part of the game in the second and the start of the third where, ‘Hey, these guys aren’t into it right now.’ That’s what disturbs me and pisses me off.
“But, like I said, we’re still in the mix. We can’t keep saying the same story, though. We can’t keep saying, ‘Hey, learn [from your] mistakes.’ Eventually, you’re going to have to put your hand on the stove too many times; you’re going to burn your hand off. So, we gotta make sure that we really learn from this.”
No one should be surprised if the Canucks pull out a win in Edmonton. On the other hand, a loss is equally as likely. How they go about their habits and in-game effort is what matters to Tocchet. Like a frustrated father, he’s hoping voicing his disappointment to the players will motivate them to change their ways and be better. Ideally, the Canucks get the message.
“Winning does solve everything.” – Joe Sakic.
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