Estimated read time: 3-4 minutes
- The Utah Hockey Club's preseason game against Anaheim ended in a 5-2 loss marked by heightened emotions and numerous game misconduct penalties.
- NHL commissioner Gary Bettman has mentioned the potential for shortening the preseason to accommodate an 84-game regular season.
- Utah Hockey Club's head coach Andre Tourigny argues against reducing preseason games, citing their importance for player development and assessment.
SALT LAKE CITY — The benches were a bit more roomy by the end of Anaheim's 5-2 preseason win over the Utah Hockey Club on Wednesday.
That happens when five players (three from Utah, two from Anaheim) are given game misconduct penalties in the game's final minutes.
Emotions ran a bit high in Anaheim. All fun and games, right? Sure ... just don't tell that to the Ottawa Senators.
Ottawa forwards Brady Tkachuk and Tim Stutzle both left the team's preseason game early on Tuesday. Stutzle left after being on the receiving end of an open-ice hit. Tkachuk, the Senators' captain, soon followed him to the locker room for further evaluation after a retaliatory fight.
While those aren't expected to be serious issues, they still added to a growing list of key players going down this preseason, including long-term injuries to stars Drew Doughty, Artemi Panarin and Patrik Laine.
That begs the question: Is the preseason too long?
NHL commissioner Gary Bettman said Tuesday that shortening the preseason in favor of an 84-game season is "on a list of things to think about" once negotiations on a new Collective Bargaining Agreement between the league and the NHLPA begin. There is precedent for that number, too; the league played 84 games in 1992-93 and 1993-94.
For Utah head coach Andre Tourigny, that would change the purpose of the preseason — and maybe not for the better.
To him, training camp and the games serve three purposes: 1) Allow full-time NHLers to shake off rust; 2) provide an opportunity for players on the verge of the NHL to show they belong; 3) give young players who won't make the team a chance to get a taste of the show and help their development.
By shortening the preseason, "there will not be three categories anymore" Tourigny said, with the young, developing players drawing the short stick.
"That means a lot of guys you ask about earlier in the camp, you will not see them," he said.
Fewer preseason games would have made it harder for Cole Beaudoin to make a good early impression, or for Tij Iginla to get a chance against NHLers. Tourigny doesn't want to lose those moments.
"You want to see TJ Iginla playing against NHL players," Tourigny said. "You want to see him one-on-one with (San Jose defenseman) Mario Ferraro. You want to see him in those kind of situations."
As it is, the preseason is almost over for Utah. After Wednesday's loss — a game that got away from the team after conceding two goals during a four-on-four run in the third period — the Hockey Club has one last preseason game on Saturday against Colorado at the Maverik Center.
The final preseason game is usually a dress rehearsal. Teams often play something that closely resembles their opening night rosters; however, that might not be the case for Utah. Tourigny said the team may use the final game to make its final roster decisions.
"If we need to, we'll use the last game, as well," Tourigny said. "If we still want to have a look at those two or three guys, we'll use it. It might be our opening night roster, it might not be."
