Breaking Down The Coaches Heading To The 2024 NHL All-Star Game
The 2024 NHL All-Star game is not just for the players, the top four coaches from around the league also get a chance to be apart of the fun.
By Jim Lynch
The 2024 NHL All-Star Game is just a few short weeks away, and now the four coaches heading to the game are known.
Rick Bowness of the Winnipeg Jets, Jim Montgomery of the Boston Bruins, Peter Laviolette of the New York Rangers and Rick Tocchet of the Vancouver Canucks are all heading to the All-Star Weekend event.
Each year, the head coaches for the All-Star game are determined by the team with the highest point percentage in each of the four divisions. Jets' head coach Rick Bowness led the pack with a point percentage of .714 as the Jets have gone 28-10-4 on the year.
The 2024 NHL All-Star Weekend kicks off on Feb. 1 with the return of a fan favorite event, the All-Star Player Draft. It will be interesting to watch how the draft works out with one of the four teams captains being randomly assigned a coach as well as a celebrity captain going into the draft.
The @NHL announced today that Jim Montgomery (@NHLBruins), Rick Bowness (@NHLJets), Peter Laviolette (@NYRangers) and Rick Tocchet (@Canucks) will serve as the head coaches for the 2024 #NHLAllStar Weekend, Feb. 1-3 in Toronto.
— NHL Public Relations (@PR_NHL) January 14, 2024
Details: https://t.co/wUPtUOSgMp pic.twitter.com/nc5gV2JlyQ
Bowness, Laviolette, Montgomery and Tocchet head to NHL All-Star Game as coaches.
This will be Laviolette's fourth time at the NHL All-Star game. He coached at the event in 2011, 2015 and 2018. Interestly enough, Laviolette has coached a different team for three of his four All-Star game appearances. He was with the Flyers in 2011, the Predators in 2015 and 2018 and now the Rangers in 2024. In his first year with the Rangers Laviolette has coached the team to a 26-13-2 record through 41 games.
This will be Rick Bowness's first All-Star game. Bowness has taken a Winnipeg team few expected to be very competitive and turned them into an absolute beast on the ice. Through 42 games they have been the best team in the league in just his second year with the team.
This will be Montgomery's second straight All-Star game appearance. Despite numerous departures this offseason, the Bruins continue to be a force to be reckoned with in east.
This is Rick Tocchet's second All-Star game appearance with a Pacific Division team. Tocchet went to the All-Star game in 2020 being the lone representative for the Arizona Coyotes after then Yotes goaltender Darcy Kuemper missed the game due to injury.
Like a few other coaches heading to the All-Star game, Tocchet's team was not expected to be this good this season, but the Canucks have stepped up to the plate in 2024.