PAID HIS DUES
Tourigny comes to Coyotes with wealth of experience
The Arizona Coyotes got their highest priority of the offseason done, with André Tourigny beginning his new job as head coach after being introduced to the public on Thursday.
Tourigny takes the helm of a team that could start the new season in October in more of a rebuilding mode than as a playoff contender. The roster could see a major revamp before July is over, with the expansion draft, the entry draft and free agency on the horizon, along with possible trades.
In Tourigny, Coyotes General Manager Bill Armstrong has a coach who understands well how to work with young players, and how to handle personnel decisions from his days as a general manager in junior hockey.
Tourigny has seen everything that Armstrong has, through only a slightly different lens — Armstrong as a scout, Tourigny as a coach, and both as talent evaluators in charge of roster decisions.
And when it came to the idea of one set of rules for the players at the NHL level, a staple of Tourigny’s approach to coaching, Armstrong was all in.
“It’s simple... and I love it. I think it’s important to have someone who brings culture into this organization. That’s one of the things that we loved about André,” Armstrong said. “He brought that culture and he’s going to continue to bring it. Culture’s a 24-7, it’s every day. You’ve got to bring it every day and he does that.”
Tourigny called himself a sponge, saying he enjoys listening and reading and gathering information. Armstrong is a believer in transparency in which other opinions are encouraged.
On the surface, there is compatibility in that regard.
“We know the background of each other. We did not work together but we know about each other a lot,” Tourigny said. “It’s not like you get hired by someone where you don’t know the background or you don’t know what it’s all about. I think Bill is a pretty straight shooter in who he is and what he likes.”
Tourigny said he has no specific timeline for naming his assistant coaches. He is glad to be hired three weeks before the NHL draft, which will give him time to find who he wants on his staff.
Tourigny isn’t just familiar with Armstrong. He spent three weeks in May and June in Latvia with Coyotes Chief Hockey Development Officer Shane Doan, the assistant general manager for Team Canada at the international hockey world championship tournament, and as an assistant coach saw current Coyotes players Darcy Kuemper, Adin Hill and Michael Bunting up close in every practice and tournament game.
“You go somewhere, you want to make sure the philosophy will align and how they want to do things fits with you. I cannot be another coach, I am who I am,” Tourigny said. “Other places might be really good, but it’s not a fit for who I am and how I do things. You don’t want to just get there because ‘OK, I’m in the NHL.’ You want to get somewhere where you can be successful and can fit your philosophy, and here it’s a really good fit.”
Armstrong likes that Tourigny has “paid his dues” as a coach in juniors, the national team and in the NHL, where he was an assistant with Ottawa and Colorado.
“He’s not trying to figure it out. He’s seen almost every situation, along with being an assistant coach in the NHL, he’s seen situations in NHL players,” Armstrong said.
When Armstrong laid out a description of the type of coach he sought following the end of last season and the mutual parting of ways with former head coach Rick Tocchet, he said he wanted a younger coach who could bring energy and be tough on the players when it’s needed.
“He aligns with a lot of the pieces that we need. He’s a pusher of the culture. He’s a demanding coach, but I also feel he’s almost like a new-wave coach where he’s got that likability,” Armstrong said. “If you go to the practices, he’s going to be pushing, he’s going to be yelling and screaming, but afterwards you’re going to see him interacting with his players.”
Ice chips
Armstrong said he and his staff have determined whom the Coyotes will protect from being selected in the upcoming expansion draft for the Seattle Kraken, and who will be exposed. They are moving on to what they want to do in the entry draft on July 24.
“You’re handcuffed by the past, and that’s a little bit frustrating,” Armstrong said of the Coyotes not having a firstround pick due to NHL sanctions against the previous front office. “The only thing that heals the past mistakes is patience and time. Hopefully next year at this time we’re talking about the first-round picks that we do have.”
The Coyotes figure to be active in free agency, which is after the two drafts, to fill holes in expected departures of defensemen who are set to be free agents.
Armstrong hopes to find players who help give the team more of an identity and more grit.