Former home lends support to coach Tocchet
latein the 1992 season because“I had to be there for myguys,” you know the losing is just about killing him. TheCoyotes play the PenguinsTuesday night at PPG PaintsArena.
“Iknew what I was getting into,” Tocchet said Saturday,a few hours beforeArizona won its second game,2-1, in a shootout at homeagainst Carolina.
“Theowner and general managerare on board. Theyknow we can’t venturefrom who we are and whatwe’re trying to build here.We’re going with kids. It’s going to take time.”
That’swhen Tocchet droppedtwo words that he musthave said a dozen timesin our 35-minute chat: HoustonAstros.
“Theylost 100 games threeyears in a row, but theyweathered the storm. Lookwhere they are now. WorldSeries champs.”
Itquickly became clear Tocchethas studied the Astrosride to the top of baseball.He said Coyotes ownerAndrew Barroway senthim a lengthy article detailingAstros general managerJeff Luhnow’s strategy.Tocchet’s takeaway?“If you believe in it, stick with it. Don’t deviate.”
Thatdoesn’t mean Tocchetis comfortable with losing. He certainly doesn’t acceptit. He could have stayed on Sullivan’s staff for anotheryear, taken a run at athird consecutive Cup and waitedfor a better head coachingopportunity, but it washard to turn down a four-yearcontract. He also believedin what Barroway andgeneral manager John Chayka— at 28, the youngestGM in major professional sports — are selling. Theteam’s payroll is an NHL-low$57 million, accordingto spotrac.com. The Penguinspayroll of $73.5 millionranks fifth in the league,by comparison. The Arizonanumber should growsignificantly if Barrowayis able to get a muchneedednew arena.
“I’m not just biding my time here and coaching just to coach,” Tocchet said. “If I wanted to do that, I would have stayed in Pittsburgh. I want to win. I’m rolling up my sleeves every day …
“Idon’t look at us as a [212-1]team. I think we’ve scored the first goal in just aboutevery game but two orthree. We’ve been tied in thelast few minutes and lostseven or eight games. Tome, that’s just inexperience.The thing I’m most pleasedwith is our energy levelhas stayed high. Sometimeswhen you’re losing, the energy level isn’t there. I haven’tseen that. As long asour young guys continue todevelop, that’s what I’m looking for.”
TheCoyotes are building aroundrookie forward ClaytonKeller, who is 19 and,in Tocchet’s words, “a star.”Keller scored his 10th goalagainst Carolina and alsoscored in the shootout. “He’sa mini-Patrick Kane tome,” Tocchet said.
Alower-body injury to goaltenderAntti Raanta in the first period of the third gamedidn’t help the Coyotes.He returned to the lineupThursday night in a lossto Buffalo and then made36 saves against Carolina in just his fifth start of theseason. Arizona’s goaltendingwithout Raanta wasawful. Think Niemi. TheCoyotes started 0-10-1 before getting their first wina week ago in overtime againstPhiladelphia.
“Raantagives us a chance,”Tocchet said.
TheCoyotes schedule alsohas been a bear. They playedfive games in nine dayson an Eastern swing, camehome for two games andwent back on the road Sundayfor three more gamesthis week at Washington,Pittsburgh and St. Louis.
“We’vehad one practice inthe last seven days,” Tocchet said. “But that’s life in theNHL.”
Tocchetis looking forwardto this trip back to Pittsburgh.His return will beemotional. The Penguins areknown for their classy scoreboardtributes to coachesand players who haveleft. The one for TocchetTuesday night surely willinclude highlights from hisplaying and coaching dayshere.
“Ican’t wait,” Tocchet said.“Jimmy Rutherford textedme that he has my [StanleyCup] ring. I can’t wait to see it. I can’t wait to seethe guys …
“Pittsburghand the Penguinswere such a big part ofmy life. To be there for threeCups? It was an unbelievable ride. What a firstclassoperation they have there.”
Coachingagainst the Penguinswon’t be as enjoyablefor Tocchet.
“I’mexcited to see how ouryoung team plays againstthose guys. But it won’tbe much fun playing againstSid. I have to try to strategizehow to stop him. That’snot easy.”
TheCoyotes have heard allabout Sidney Crosby fromTocchet. Early on, Tocchetkept using Crosby asan example of the right thingsto do to be great.
“Iwas always saying, ‘Siddoes this’ and ‘Sid does that’and ‘Sid does this to takecare of his body,’ ” Tocchetsaid. “I realized I was doingit too much. But you knowwhat? Keller and [Max]Domi are coming to menow and asking, ‘What wouldSid do in that situation?’ I like that. They’re attentive.”
Kellerand Domi aren’t theonly ones who have learnedfrom Crosby.
“He made me a better coach,” Tocchet said. “Guys like him and [Evgeni] Malkin and [Kris] Letang, they’re very intelligent guys. They look outside of the box. They’d come to me and tell me what they were thinking and ask questions. You had better have a response for them. That group and Sully definitely made me a better coach.”
It’s safe to say Sullivan, Rutherford,Crosby and the otherswill offer Tocchet moreencouragement after thegame. It will help to keepTocchet going. So does this:
“Ikeep reminding myself that Sully lost his first four gameswith the Penguins,” Tocchetsaid. “Turned out prettywell for them, didn’t it?”