New Pens Asst. Coach Rick Tocchet Looks Forward To Challenges
PITTSBURGH (93-7 The FAN) - After meeting with the media in his introductory press conference, new Penguins' assistant coach Rick Tocchet joined Starkey and Mueller to talk about the challenges this new coaching staff will face and how excited he is to take them on.
"I love the fire; I'm happy to be right shotgun with Mike [Johnston]," Tocchet said. "I think that Mike Johnston is welcoming the pressure. I mean who wants to take a job where there's no pressure, it doesn't matter if you win or lose?"
Talking about the challenges this coaching staff will face, Tocchet was posed the question about what he saw from Sidney Crosby in the playoffs this past year and what went wrong for him.
"He'll tell you, he had a bad week or a bad 10 days. He didn't play well," Tocchet told us. "I think he was frustrated. This guy is champion; he won a Cup. I'm sure he'll realize from past experience that, you know, you can't let your frustrations get to you. The opposition maybe frustrated him."
With little known about new head coach Mike Johnston, Tocchet shared with us what he has heard about him and his coaching pedigree.
"Mike really has a really smart mind when it comes to hockey; he thinks outside the box," Tocchet said. "I think about 85 percent of the teams kind of do have the same kind of system. It's the 15 to 10 percent difference, and I think that's what he likes to do whether it's joining a four-man cycle, having your defense come lower. There's just different ways of kind of maximizing that 10 percent. He's a career coach, and he said that today, this is his chance. I'm going to learn a lot from him and he's going to learn a lot from me; so I'm excited.
Click the audio link below to hear more from Tocchet as he also addressed the fiery mentality many believe he'll bring to the team, what he can learn from the players and the leadership already in the Pens locker room that they'll look to utilize.
Pens Assistant Coach Rick Tocchet
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