Martin St-Louis possibly has a similar speech regarding the identity of the next choice that the Canadian will make, Friday, with the fifth selection overall. However, André Tourigny, his counterpart in Utah, often has the gift of popularizing things: there is no question for him, as head coach, of getting involved in the work of recruiters.
“I am zero involved, in the same way that recruiters are not involved in the way we play in numerical superiority,” explained Tourigny, recently met by The newspaper. I haven’t seen these guys play. If people start calling me names, I don’t even know if they are right-handed or left-handed.”
André Tourigny, at a press conference on April 24, in Salt Lake City.
Photo Chris Gardner / Getty Images via AFP
“I know [Macklin] Celebrini, but we don’t draft first so we won’t get him. It’s settled and that’s the end of the discussion for me, continued Tourigny, whose team will instead have the sixth choice, just behind the Canadian. We have 82 games to coach per season in addition to training. I won’t make anyone believe that I watched Demidov play two or three times. I haven’t seen him once. I know where it is in the lists, but that’s it.”
Know how to compare
Tourigny, 50, has full confidence in the people in place, including the director of amateur recruitment, Darryl Pandlowski.
“Our recruiters see between 200 and 300 games per year,” explained Tourigny. They know the players and can compare them. If I arrived and said that I saw so-and-so play three times and I started to give my opinion, I would be told, rightly, that I have not seen the others play.
Once again, we can imagine that St. Louis is in the same situation. It is not he who will decide the identity of the player chosen at the fifth level. No more than Tourigny has the next right to speak.
“I don’t necessarily think it would be a good thing if our first round pick was already ready for the National League,” Tourigny nevertheless said. I believe in development and it’s all in its time. The NHL remains the best league in the world and I don’t think we should rush things.”
Optimism en Utah
Regarding the Coyotes’ recent move to Utah, Tourigny is enthusiastic for the future.
“The organization does an extraordinary job of making us feel welcome,” assured the head coach. The first thing that [le propriétaire] What Ryan Smith said when he spoke to the team was that he bought the human beings on the team. There was not a skate machine, not a pair of pants, not a sweater that was included in the sale… I found it extraordinary. We all felt important.”
