The Vancouver Canucks have named Canadian Olympic gold medalist Adam Foote of Toronto, Ontario as their new head coach according to the Canadian Press on Wednesday. Foote replaces Rick Tocchet of Scarborough, Ontario, who could not come to terms on a contract with the Canucks, and eventually became the coach of the Philadelphia Flyers.
Foote had been the assistant coach of the Canucks for the last three seasons. This is Foote’s first National Hockey League coaching job. He was previously a coach of the Colorado Thunderbirds in minor hockey (2012-13, 2014-15), the Colorado Avalanche as a team consultant (2013-17), and the head coach of the Kelowna Rockets (2018-20).
As a player, Foote spent 19 seasons as a defenseman in the NHL. He was with the Quebec Nordiques/Avalanche from 1991 to 2004, and again from 2008 to 2011. He also played three seasons with the Columbus Blue Jackets from 2005 to 2008. In 1154 NHL regular season games, Foote scored 66 goals and had 42 assists for 308 points. He was a +99 with 1534 penalty minutes, 65 power-play points, 19 shorthanded points, 10 game-winning goals, and 1128 shots on goal.
Foote won two Stanley Cups with the Avalanche. The first came in 1996 and the second came in 2001. Foote also won a gold medal for Canada at the 2002 Olympic Winter Games in Salt Lake City and the 2004 World Cup in Toronto.
