Rick Tocchet receives generous recognition in top NHL coach rankings

One of the best ways to start a debate, disagreement, etc, between sports fans, is to release a list of some kind. We're talking about top 10s, power rankings and so on, whether it be for teams or players.

You can also throw coaches into the mix, which is something NHL.com did just last week. More specifically, they unveiled their Super 16 top coach power rankings.

Of course from a Canucks perspective, the question is if and where Rick Tocchet was ranked? Well, we're happy to let you know he was ranked -- and quite generously so -- as the 10th-best coach in the NHL.

A renaissance in Vancouver

Certainly Tocchet has done well during his time in Vancouver, after taking over from Bruce Boudreau in January last year. Since then he has overseen a revival of the Canucks on the ice, which has brought back memories of past success.

This past season saw the Canucks win their first divisional title since 2012-13, while they also finished with the third-most points in franchise history. They then took the eventual Stanley Cup finalist Oilers all the way to a game 7 in the second round, before falling just short.

There was a certain element of what if, about the Canucks being knocked out by the Oilers. Such as, what if Thatcher Demko had been fit? What if Brock Boeser didn't have to sit out game 7? And so on ...

Regardless, Tocchet went on to win the Jack Adams as the NHL's best coach in 2023-24. It was richly deserved, with him becoming the third ever Canucks coach to receive the award.

What was the basis for NHL.com's power rankings?

As much as we have no issue with the 60-year-old being collectively ranked 10th by NHL.com's 15 voters, there is still some ambiguity about how they decided to put the list together. More specifically, are these power rankings based on how good the coaches are as of right now, or what they have done historically, a combination of the two, or something else altogether?

For example, Jon Cooper tops the power rankings, having won the Stanley Cup twice with the Lightning and gone to the Final three times overall. However, his last Cup win was in 2021 and he has never won the Jack Adams Award.

We would have put Paul Maurice at number one, as opposed to his actual ranking at number two. The Panthers coach has things covered both as of right now and historically speaking, coming off his first Stanley Cup win while also being ranked fourth all-time in coaching wins (and first among all active coaches).

Finally, we find it interesting that Kris Knoblauch has been ranked at just number 13, given his immediate success with the Oilers. He has the best coaching record since he took over on Nov. 12 and took his team all the way to game 7 of the Stanley Cup Final.

Again, we have no issue with Tocchet being ranked number 10, while also appreciating one of the purposes of lists such as this is to encourage debate (and in some cases arguments). However, we do still believe NHL.com should have been a little bit clearer on the guidelines and rational for putting their coach power rankings together.

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