The Vancouver Canucks have announced multiple changes to their coaching staff on Sunday.
Bruce Boudreau, the Head Coach of the team, and Trent Cull, the Assistant Coach have both been relieved of their duties, with Rick Tocchet filling in as the new head coach.
Adam Foote will take on the role of Assistant Coach, while Sergei Gonchar has been hired as a Defensive Development Coach.
Vancouver Canucks General Manager Patrik Allvin says that the team appreciates Bruce and Trent’s commitment to their roles and wishes them the best of luck in their future.
“We would like to extend our sincere thanks to Bruce and Trent for their contributions to this organization,” said Allvin.
“We appreciate their dedication and wish them nothing but the best moving forward. This was not an easy decision to make, but one that we felt was necessary for this franchise.”
The 58-year-old Tocchet has most recently completed four seasons as head coach for the Arizona Coyotes from 2017-2021, while bringing the Pittsburgh Penguins to win back-to-back Stanley Cup championships in 2016 and 2017 as their assistant coach.
When talking about Tocchet, Allvin adds that he brings a lot of knowledge thanks to his time coaching and playing.
“Rick Tocchet brings a wealth of knowledge to this team from both a coach and player perspective,” said Allvin.
“He has had more than two decades of coaching experience, guiding teams of various styles. As a player, he displayed a high level of character, grit and intensity, while recording impressive offensive numbers.”
Foote, who’s 51 years old, recently served as head coach for the Kelowna Rockets for two seasons from 2018-2020, and 48-year-old Gonchar, spent the last two seasons as an assistant coach for Russia’s national team, including at the 2022 Winter Olympics.
