Vancouver Canucks General Manager Patrik Allvin introduced Adam Foote as the Canucks new Head Coach at a press conference on Thursday morning.
The GM began with an opening statement on Foote being named head coach.
He called it a very exciting day for the Canucks organization and said that he quickly began the process of a head coaching search following Rick Tocchet’s departure.
“I interviewed a couple of former head coaches, assistant coaches, up-and-coming coaches and the deeper we got into this process — Adam being one of them — I felt really comfortable that Adam was the choice to lead this franchise moving forward,” said Allvin.
Foote is excited to take on the challenge of being the head coach of the Canucks and praised the fan base for their passion for the team. He is passionate about being a head coach in a Canadian market.
“The way hockey is huge here, I understood that a long time ago,” said Foote. “I always enjoyed playing here, and I love coaching here. This city wants to win, and it’s nothing but what we all want to do, so it’s very exciting times for me.”
Foote mentioned that he had a talk with Canucks captain Quinn Hughes on Thursday morning and that they had some good laughs in that conversation. The captain and the head coach are excited about moving forward with their relationship.
He was later asked about forward Elias Pettersson and how Foote will approach getting him back on track after a down season this year.
“Petey and I had some pretty good discussions this year. I really think he wants it. I really think he knows what he has to do, and he’s going to dial in. He’s got a great group around him, supporting him and being a team for him, and I’m going to make sure that I have that conversation with him and we continue that relationship, and I support him,” said Foote.
“For Petey, just for him moving forward, I think that support for him will really get him in a good place, and we’re going to make sure that he understands that we’re there for him, and we’ll do whatever it takes and have a great relationship.”
Regarding filling out the bench with associates and assistants, Allvin mentioned potentially looking to add two bodies to the bench, and the GM and head coach have had some preliminary discussions. They aren’t necessarily looking for someone to come to the bench with a lot of experience, but they did mention that it would be ideal.
“The guy that we want is the best for our situation, and works well with me, that’s who I want to go with,” said Foote. “Whether he’s got five years, three years or 15. In a perfect world, yeah, we want an experienced coach with us, that would be the ideal thing, but I’m confident of who we choose, and we’ve got a lot of guys in mind. It’ll be a great fit.”
Foote also commented on the defensive depth being something the team is very fortunate to have. He liked how some of the young defencemen were able to come in at the end of the 2024-25 season, and that they impressed with their play.
“I love stacking the D[efence] up. You need them to win a championship, and we’re doing a good job. I like where we’re at with the D, and as a coach, you always want more,” said Foote.
As for the team’s offence, Foote joked that even though he was a defensive defenceman in hockey, he was quite the offensive player in lacrosse, scoring 50 points (25g-25a) in 20 games with the Whitby Warriors. He feels confident in the defensive side of the game and is going to work closely with his staff to generate more offence next season.
“You can paint me with whatever brush you like. I’m a big guy. I’m a big boy. I’m going to surround myself with the right people, too, and we’re going to have that deep discussion. We’ve got some great people here with the Sedins, and we’re going to continue to keep getting better. But I would say I’m very fortunate that I had to play against those top players and shut them down, and it was a fun job. We’ve got lots of ideas on how to make that offence better.”
Foote and Allvin are excited about working together through the offseason to improve the Canucks and bring playoff hockey back to Vancouver.
