Flyers Hall of Famer Rick Tocchet hired to replace Bruce Boudreau as Vancouver Canucks coach

Former Flyers winger Rick Tocchet, who was inducted into the organization’s Hall of Fame last season, became the Vancouver Canucks’ 21st head coach on Sunday.

Tocchet, 58, replaced the fired Bruce Boudreau, taking over an 18-25-3 Canucks team that has the sixth-worst record in the league.

While Tocchet is transitioning from a broadcasting role as an analyst for TNT, he has years of coaching experience. He was first named a head coach in 2008, replacing Barry Melrose with the Tampa Bay Lightning.

The Lightning’s new ownership group fired him in 2010, and Tocchet picked back up in 2014 when he joined the Pittsburgh Penguins as an assistant and won two Stanley Cups with them. Tocchet landed his second head coaching job in 2017 when he took over the Arizona Coyotes. He made it to the playoffs for the first time as a head coach in 2019-20, but he and the organization mutually agreed to part ways after the 2020-21 season.

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In Tocchet’s six seasons as a head coach, his teams went to the playoffs once and finished with a winning record two times. He is career record is 178-200-60.

Before becoming a head coach, Tocchet played 18 years in the NHL and then worked as an assistant for several years.

Tocchet also spent two years on probation because of criminal gambling charges. He was accused of financing a gambling ring based out of New Jersey and pleaded guilty to conspiracy and promoting gambling. He could have faced up to five years in state prison but was given a lighter sentence because he was a first-time offender. He was reinstated to the NHL with the understanding that he would stay away from gambling.

Tocchet’s NHL playing career began and ended in Philadelphia. The Flyers selected him in the sixth round of the 1983 draft. He debuted in the 1984-85 season and played eight seasons before being traded to the Penguins. In addition to winning the Stanley Cup as a Penguins coach, he also won it as a player.

Tocchet also played for the Los Angeles Kings, Boston Bruins, Washington Capitals, and Phoenix Coyotes. In 2000, the Flyers traded for Tocchet, and he played his final three years with the team that had drafted him.

In the 1,114 NHL games Tocchet played, he had 440 goals, 512 assists and 2,972 penalty minutes. He played 621 of those games with the Flyers and scored 232 goals and 276 assists while wearing Orange and Black. His 1,815 penalty minutes put him first on the Flyers’ list. Those numbers helped get Tocchet inducted into the Flyers Hall of Fame on Nov. 16, 2021.

When the Canucks chose Tocchet to take over for Boudreau, they also relieved assistant Trent Cull of his duties and named Adam Foote an assistant and Sergei Gonchar a defensive development coach.

Former Flyers interim head coach Mike Yeo remains on the Canucks staff. Like Tocchet, Yeo has ties to both the Flyers and the Penguins.

The two former Flyers will coach their first game together Tuesday night against the Chicago Blackhawks.