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Rick Tocchet replaces Gerard Gallant as Pacific All-Star coach

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Joel Quenneville is named the NHL Coach of the Decade as part of the All-Decade Show, which looks back on the special players, teams, moments, and plays of the 2010s.

Gerard Gallant’s surprising dismissal as head coach of the Vegas Golden Knights on Wednesday also created another opening at the 2020 NHL All-Star Game.

Gallant had been named as the head coach of the Pacific Division team earlier this month because the Golden Knights had the best record in the division at the start of the new calendar year. But with him now no longer being the coach in Vegas, the NHL had to find a replacement.

The League announced on Thursday that Arizona Coyotes coach Rick Tocchet will be that replacement.

The Coyotes are currently in first place in the Division with 57 points entering play on Thursday.

[Related: Golden Knights’ firing of Galant short-sighted, knee-jerk reaction]

For Tocchet, this will be his first time coaching in the All-Star Game. He has been the Coyotes’ coach since the start of the 2017-18 season. It is worth noting that in the chaos of the league’s coaching carousel this season (that has now seen seven coaching changes) he is tied with Vancouver’s Travis Green as the longest-tenured coach in the Pacific Division. Both are in their third years with their respective teams.

Washington’s Todd Reirden (Metropolitan Division), Boston’s Bruce Cassidy (Atlantic Division), and St. Louis’ Craig Berube (Central Division) are the other three coaches at this year’s game.

The NHL’s All-Star weekend takes place later this month on January 24-25 in St. Louis.

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Adam Gretz is a writer for Pro Hockey Talk on NBC Sports. Drop him a line at phtblog@nbcsports.com or follow him on Twitter @AGretz.