New Vancouver Canucks coach explains what 'Adam Foote hockey' will look like
Adam Foote hasn’t even been a head coach for a preseason game, yet his boss already compared him to one of the NHL’s best coaches, Rod Brind’Amour.
Hopefully for the Canucks, Foote and Brind’Amour have more in common than the fact that they’ve both suffered a broken nose more than once.
Between the Brind’Amour comparison and having to replace a head coach who won the Jack Adams in 2024, Foote has a tough job ahead.
No pressure, right?
While there’s a rhetoric that his playing style will be similar to his predecessor, Rick Tocchet, Foote is already trying to bust that notion by putting his own spin on how the Canucks will play.
That’s great news in a nutshell, but his answer about how the Canucks want to play is a little unorthodox.
“We want to be able to adapt against our opponents,” Foote told the media when asked what “Adam Foote hockey” looks like. “I can’t sit here and say we’re going to be a rush team or be a dump and chase team. We’re going to be a team that adapts to our opponents, make them feel uncomfortable.”
“We’re not going to get caught in playing one way. It’s not the way I want to play.”
Most NHL clubs play with a defined structure, but you don’t hear many head coaches say that their playing style is adapting to opponents.
There’s an argument that instead, your opponent should have to adapt to your playing style.
Still, Foote is talking from experience when he mentions that the 2025-26 Canucks have to be adaptable.
“I’ve been lucky to play on some good teams, with Canada… and Colorado over the years, playing with some great players,” Foote explained. “When those great players are ready to win, they adapt and play the shift that’s needed at that time.”
The Canucks do have some players at the top of their forward group who could excel in an environment where they need to adapt. That starts with Elias Pettersson, who did excel defensively last year, even when his offensive game fell off. Conor Garland has consistently been a good defensive player for the Canucks, while Brock Boeser has quietly been solid in his own end as well.
Still, it’s no secret that the Canucks can defend, but can Foote implement a system where his team can score more?
“We are a great defending team, but I think we get back quicker with numbers where we can strike and get better at striking faster,” Foote said. “It almost feels when you play great hockey teams and you run into your Game Sevens, the big games, good teams make you feel like they’ve got an extra player up against you, and that’s just working away from the puck.”
Even though Foote seems hungry to implement his style of hockey with the Canucks, it may not be drastically different from Tocchet’s.
“Rick instilled lot of great things with this hockey club, as far as where you play,” Foote said. “There’s things in our system that are going to stay in our system.”
Good coaches do adapt. That includes Toronto Maple Leafs coach Craig Berube, who admitted to adapting his style to the Leafs last season. Of course, he also took over a St. Louis Blues team midseason in 2018-19, leading them to a Stanley Cup.