Avalanche great Adam Foote lands a job as an NHL head coach

Former Colorado Avalanche great Adam Foote is now an NHL head coach.

The Vancouver Canucks announced the hiring of Foote as the franchise’s 22nd head coach on Wednesday.

Foote had worked as an assistant in Vancouver since January of 2023, and takes over after the club parted ways with Rick Tocchet after failing to make the playoffs this past season.

Vancouver Canucks General Manager Patrik Allvin announced today that the team has hired Adam Foote as the 22nd Head Coach in franchise history. pic.twitter.com/dJTDh8XoHb

— Vancouver Canucks (@Canucks) May 14, 2025

Adam Foote played for the Avalanche from the franchise’s first season in Colorado in 1995-96 all the way until the end of 2004. He then returned to finish his career from 2008-2011 after parts of threes seasons with the Columbus Blue Jackets.

Foote won two Stanley Cups with the Avs in 1996 and 2001 and had his No. 52 jersey retired by the team in November of 2013. It hangs in the rafters at Ball Arena.

Adam Foote was a gritty defenseman who opponents feared, while also tallying 56 goals and 203 assists in his 17 total years rocking an Avalanche sweater.

He coached with Colorado right after his playing days ended a defensive assistant from 2011-2017 before taking a job as the head coach of the Kelowna Rockets of the WHL in October of 2018. That ended in him getting fired in 2020. Foote briefly did TV work with the Avalanche before heading to Vancouver, where he’s now the head coach.

It’s cool to see former Colorado greats get their shot behind the bench in the NHL, as Foote joins the likes of Patrick Roy who is the head coach of the New York Islanders.

Avalanche fans will certainly be pulling for Adam Foote to have success in his new role, except when the Canucks are skating against Colorado.