Tocchet deserves a lot of credit for Canucks' best start in 18 years

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If you’re looking for reasons why the Vancouver Canucks are off to their best nine-game start in 18 years, the star players certainly deserve some shine.

So does the head coach.

Rick Tocchet has the Midas Touch right now, evident by his benching of J.T. Miller Tuesday night, and the third-period response he got from his fiery centreman. Miller sat the final four minutes and change of the second, but came back to draw a penalty and score a goal in a 5-2 win over the Nashville Predators.

That was the most pronounced coaching move to work out this season, but Tocchet and staff have already accumulated a long list of successes:

The changes that have been made to a power play that uses more motion and sits sixth in the NHL.
The use of the Hughes-Hronek defence pairing — that surrendered its first goals-against Tuesday, the last perfect pair in the league — to boost the defensive prowess of Miller’s matchup line.
The use of backup goaltender Casey DeSmith to keep Thatcher Demko fresh and get the best out of both netminders.
Boeser’s hot start (10 points in nine games) after changing his offseason training at the behest of the head coach.
The empowerment of the leadership group under new captain Quinn Hughes.
The honesty — even if it’s tough love — with players, fans and media, and how it’s built trust both with personal relationships inside Rogers Arena, and with the market at-large.

This week, Tocchet noted that players are now coming to the coaching staff asking for individual video sessions — an exercise players often loath. He was also given a vote of confidence from Miller (pre-benching).

“There were a lot of holes before this staff got here,” he said. “I know last year they were teaching on-the-fly, which is hard to do when we’re playing almost every night in the last half of the year.

“There was some stuff implemented in the summer where we knew what to expect, and we kind of hit the ground running with what he brought in last year. (It) helped a lot.”

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There was ample criticism of the Canucks handing the reigns to Tocchet last year when they did. Not only the gross mishandling of Bruce Boudreau’s termination, but the new coach bump and how that hurt their chances of landing North Van’s Connor Bedard in the draft lottery.

The trade-off was getting Tocchet, his systems, standards, expectations and accountability in early, and getting that head start Miller spoke of.

There were many skeptics that whatever took place last season in mostly meaningless games could take root and carry over to this season.

Well, at 6-2-1, we have our answer.

Canucks management got this one right. And right now, Tocchet can do no wrong.