First came hellos and handshakes with members the media. Next, players. Matt Murray. Tom Kuhnhackl. Bryan Rust. Chad Ruhwedel. Even Ryan Reaves, who never played for former assistant coach Rick Tocchet, stopped to shake his hand.
Think Tocchet was well-liked here?
Tocchet wasn’t completely comfortable returning as Arizona’s head coach — “It’s a little weird, honestly,” he said — but he certainly was excited to be back for the first time since taking the Coyotes job over the summer.
“It’s fun to be back,” said Tocchet, whose Coyotes played in Washington on Monday night. “It’s going to be a short trip, which I kind of like because it’s an in-and-out type of thing.