"A lot alike": Miller opens up about relationship with Canucks coach Tocchet
The Vancouver Canucks are on top of the hockey world right now and it’s partly due to the work of a pair of important team figures.
Head coach Rick Tocchet might have had a controversial start to his tenure on the Canucks bench, with the Bruce Boudreau fiasco in full force, but the 59-year-old has done wonders helping this team get back to the top of the NHL standings.
Standings time.#Canucks are now 6 points better than the next best team in the entire NHL standings. pic.twitter.com/9yw64W5U9J
— Rob Williams (@RobTheHockeyGuy) February 16, 2024
Chief among the players that are helping make Tocchet look good is J.T. Miller, who has 24 goals and 70 points in 56 games with the Canucks so far. At the moment, he is tied for ninth in the league in points.
The two threads that tie each other together are their fiery personalities and desire to win. Both Tocchet and Miller aren’t afraid to let people know what they really think and it’s this dynamic that makes them an interesting pair.
Miller appeared on Hockey Night in Canada’s After Hours segment with Scott Oake following Saturday night’s 4-2 loss to the Winnipeg Jets where he opened up about his relationship with Tocchet.
“[Tocchet] has done so much for me,” Miller started. “Toch and I, we have a really honest relationship. Sometimes it’s not pretty but I’m okay and comfortable in that environment and I’m still learning.
“There is nothing I feel like I can’t tell the guy and he’s the same with me… we’re a lot alike in the sense of the emotion so I guess there is moments on the bench where there’s a ‘hey, we’re good?’ type of thing afterwards but that’s great, I need somebody like that, and he makes this team wanna run a hole in a wall.”
Since taking over as Vancouver’s head coach in January of 2023, Tocchet has a 57-25-10 record through 92 games. Miller added that he thinks Tocchet has done a great job at making sure every player holds themselves accountable from game to game.
“We have guys, they were really young on this team for the first three, four, five years of their career and then everyone is kind of grown up now and Rick has really helped in the accountability aspect of having a high standard and that is something we preach as a group.”
A fan then sent in a question asking Miller if he would rather fight Tocchet as he is now or a 27-year-old Tocchet while he was in his prime with the Pittsburgh Penguins. Miller realized he didn’t have a good chance with either one.
“I’ve seen him working out in the gym and he does some pretty insane stuff still,” laughed Miller. “I’m probably not going to pick a fight with him number one, but I think I’m going to have to take 59-year-old, maybe he’d lose wind a little earlier or something… we’ve all seen his videos back in his 20s and I don’t think anybody wants to mess with him there.”
No matter how the Canucks season ultimately ends, with or without a Stanley Cup, Tocchet is undoubtedly going to be the favourite to win this year’s Jack Adams Award given to the league’s best coach.