More Canucks Praise For Ex-Coach Tocchet

The Canucks coach-no-more, Rick Tocchet, continues to get love from his former players. The latest from big, mobile Vancouver forward Drew O’Connor, who last week helped Team USA win its first World Championship in 92 years.

O’Connor appeared Wednesday on the “The Sick Podcast – The Eye Test” with Jimmy Murphy and Pierre McQuire.

“Tocc’ was great,” O’Connor stated with a wide smile. “He was awesome. I mean, yeah, it was tough to see him go. It would have been nice to have him around. He was great, I think he’s so good personally, one-on-one, talking to him, he knows so much about the game, he played so hard, too. So he’s an easy guy to learn from; I thought he was awesome for our group.”

Along the way, he did manage to sneak in a, “but we’re in good hands with (Adam Foote) ‘Footie’,” but when asked to elaborate on that thought, he instead talked about the strength of the goaltending, the D-corps, the young guys coming up, and the disappointment of last season.

Then again, what’s to say definitively about a guy who’s about to start his first ever gig as an NHL head coach.

The acquisition of O’Connor, an accompaniment to bringing in defenceman Marcus Pettersson from the Pittsburgh Penguins on February 1st for three players and a conditional 2025 1st-round pick, may have been one of the small highlights of the season. Pettersson is proving to be a stalwart while O’Connor should be entering his prime as a mobile power forward and feisty, energy guy.

Both signed contract extensions after arriving in Vancouver, O’Connor for two years at $2.5-million per season.

As for the Worlds, O’Connor tallied a goal and three assists, and along with Canucks teammate Conor Garland, helped the Americans win the tournament for the first time since 1933. The Yanks won the Winter Olympic Gold in 1960 in Squaw Valley, California, which doubled as a world title, but USA Hockey chooses not to recognize it.

O’Connor is working out in the Boston area this summer before returning to BC to play for a new look Vancouver squad. The biggest new look being an assistant coach turned 1st-time NHL bench boss.