Willie Desjardins Delivers Some Strong Comments on the Canucks' Decision to Name Adam Foote Head Coach
Photo credit: Brace Hemmelgarn-USA TODAY Sports
Former Vancouver Canucks bench boss Willie Desjardins has commented on the team's decision to name Adam Foote as their 22nd Head Coach in franchise history.
The Vancouver Canucks will enter the 2025-26 season with a "new" Head Coach for the fourth time in the last four years as the team promoted Adam Foote to the role of bench boss earlier this month.
Foote has a bit of Head Coaching experience dating back to his time with the Western Hockey League's Kelowna Rockets where, during the 2019-20 season, he faced off against former Vancouver Canucks coach Willie Desjardins.
Willie Desjardins comments on Adam Foote being named Vancouver Canucks' Head Coach
Desjardins, who is who is currently at the 2025 Memorial Cup in Rimouski, Quebec after his Medicine Hat Tigers won the WHL Championship, commented on the appointment of Adam Foote as Head Coach of the Vancouver Canucks.
The 68-year-old said to Ben Kuzma of The Province that Adam Foote doesn't need any coaching advice from him, adding that the former Stanley Cup champion in a smart guy who knows what it takes to win.
"No advice from me. He has enough experience on his own and doesn't need any from me. He knows the game and knows the players. He's a smart guy and passionate, too. We've crossed paths a few times. He has come from championship teams and he knows what it takes to win." Desjardins said.
When it comes to winning, as Willie Desjardins said, Adam Foote knows all about it from his time as a player in the National Hockey League and even on the international stage.
Foote won two Stanley Cups as a member of the Colorado Avalanche in 1996 and 2001, an Olympic gold medal in 2002 in Salt Lake City, Utah, as well as a World Cup of Hockey title in 2004.
The Vancouver Canucks are hoping that Adam Foote can translate that experience from his playing career to his role behind the bench, and help create a winning environment in the dressing room, which could turn the team's fortunes around after missing the Stanley Cup Playoffs in four of the last five seasons.
Source: Ben Kuzma/The Province
Canucks: Why Willie Desjardins believes Adam Foote doesn't need coaching advice
Canucks: Why Willie Desjardins believes Adam Foote doesn't need coaching advice
Previously on Vancouver Hockey Daily
| POLL | ||
MAI 25 | 1370 ANSWERS Willie Desjardins Delivers Some Strong Comments on the Canucks' Decision to Name Adam Foote Head Coach Do you think the Vancouver Canucks made the right decision by naming Adam Foote Head Coach? | ||
| Yes | 665 | 48.5 % |
| No | 220 | 16.1 % |
| Too early to say | 485 | 35.4 % |
| List of polls | ||