Following the Vancouver Canucks‘ 5-2 loss to the New York Islanders, head coach Rick Tocchet took the blame for the game and apologized to the fans that came out and the fans that watched from home. “I got to apologize to the fans,” Tocchet said. “We’re not playing good enough at home and that’s on me.” The apology caught fans and local media off guard, coaches don’t often begin post-game press conferences by apologizing to the fans after a loss in mid-November. It proves that Tocchet’s team is not meeting the standard that he expects them to be at.
Canucks Missing the Mark
It has become evident after those comments that the Canucks are not reaching the bar that Tocchet needs them to hit. “Guys played light tonight, I thought we were ready to go tonight, we weren’t, and that’s on me. I have to get these guys to play better in the first period.” Tocchet wouldn’t even field questions about individual performances from his players because of how bad he thought they played. “Don’t ask me about individual players, I’m not going to answer them.”
Tocchet took the blame for what he believed to be a lacklustre first period which saw Vancouver tied after the opening 20 minutes. The Canucks proceeded to allow two goals in the second to go down 3-1 after two periods and allowed another two in the third to lose 5-2.
Tocchet may be the one taking the blame here, but that is what a good coach does. The players should be the ones taking the blame for Thursday night’s performance and other performances this season. A coach can only prepare a team so much, but it’s on them to execute and they did not. Vancouver should have come out with a lot of energy with Dakota Joshua finally getting back into the lineup after missing time with a serious medical condition and rookie Jonathan Lekkerimäki opening the scoring with his first NHL goal. Those two factors should have been enough to give the Canucks the energy to compete in this game but they followed the opening goal by allowing five goals and losing on home ice by a wide margin. With the high standard that has been placed by the coaching staff, that is unacceptable.
How to Meet Tocchet’s Standard
To reach the standard put in front of them, the Canucks need to go back to the drawing board and focus on their game. Although the team is in third place in the Pacific Division, they have not had the same success that they had last season. With expectations higher for them after exceeding last season’s expectations, the Canucks need to improve their play if they want to be seen as one of the top teams in the league again. They cannot take shifts off and play lifeless hockey like they played on Thursday. Any shift that is not played at 100% intensity is not acceptable on a team that has aspirations of going deep into the playoffs.
Related: Lekkerimaki Scores First NHL Goal in Canucks’ 5-2 Loss to the Islanders
The club also needs better play from their top players. Even though Brock Boeser is out right now, that is no excuse to have their offence deteriorate. The team needs better performances from Elias Pettersson, who has taken a lot of criticism since signing his new contract, and they need more from J.T. Miller and Quinn Hughes because those are the players that the team looks to for leadership. If they are not meeting the standard that must be hit by the team, then no one will be hitting the standard and the team will not be anywhere close to the Stanley Cup this season.
Tocchet’s words were a message to his team. He decided to take the blame for their bad performance when it was the players who didn’t perform. If the team keeps this up, it’s going to start getting loud in Vancouver very quickly.
