"It was soft:" Tocchet stunned with Canucks' effort in loss to Kraken
So long for a swift start to Rick Tocchetās Vancouver Canucks career.
Less than 30 hours after praising his new clubās efforts in a 5-2 win over the Chicago Blackhawks, the Canucks’ new head coach Tocchet was left stunned, speechless, and perplexed at the effort shown in a 6-1 loss to the Seattle Kraken.
āYou hate to call your team soft, but it was soft tonight,ā Tocchet said following Vancouverās first loss to the 2021 expansion club.
āWe didn’t participate on the wall battles. We didn’t get a rim out. We didn’t play predictable. Like, old habits came. We’re just talking to the coaching staff, and, man, I wish I had about 10 practices. I really do because it shows tonight that we’ve got a lot of work to do.ā
The Canucks have had one practice under the new coaching staff since firing Bruce Boudreau.
the maestro putting in work š„ pic.twitter.com/HGE4kByVev
— Seattle Kraken (@SeattleKraken) January 26, 2023
While Tocchetās debut win over Chicago had his new team executing on nearly everything to a tee, making breakout passes and playing with as much speed as the roster allows, it wasnāt the case in Seattle, a loss that may be Vancouverās worst of 2022-23.
The Pacific Division-leading Seattle are a different test than tanking Chicago, but the Canucks were far worse at Climate Pledge Arena.
āI don’t know what to say. I really don’t,ā Tocchet said. āThe gameplan is there, and it’s hard to continue to do it. Sometimes when you play a good team like that, it’s okay to live for another shift.ā
It took 10 minutes for the Canucks to trail 2-0, and the Vancouver club was four goals out of reach by the 28-minute mark. Seattle outshot Vancouver 35-20. The loss dropped the Canucksā record to 19-26-3, 14 points behind the Calgary Flames for the final wild-card spot in the Western Conference.
IT'S A SHORT-SIDE STINGER FROM JARED MCCANN! pic.twitter.com/sEMGlaZqri
— Seattle Kraken (@SeattleKraken) January 26, 2023
Tocchet called a rare timeout in the opening frame, looking to snap his team out of their dismal start.
āThereās two opportunities to go north with it, which we did last night to advance the play and actually chase a puck down and win a battle, but for some reason, we regrouped; the weak side winger is staying wide; nobody wants the puck,ā he said.
āIāve been here a short time, like 4-5 days, and from what I was told, this group has a tough time putting back-to-back predictable hockey or efforts together, so we got a long way to go.ā
Garland tips in the Lazar shot for his 9th of the season! pic.twitter.com/as5ukMk9Zl
— Vancouver Canucks (@Canucks) January 26, 2023
Curtis Lazar thought he scored Vancouverās lone goal of the night, banking a shot off teammate Conor Garland, as the Canucks couldnāt keep up with Seattle through the entire game. Garland was later credited with the goal.
Canucks fans welcomed Tocchet with boos on a winning night against Chicago, but the loss to the Kraken couldnāt have gone much worse.