Estimated read time: 2-3 minutes
- André Tourigny defends starting goalie Karel Vejmelka for 18 consecutive games.
- Tourigny argues Vejmelka's consistent play is crucial for a potential playoff run.
- Utah lacks a backup goalie, intensifying reliance on Vejmelka amid playoff hopes.
SALT LAKE CITY — André Tourigny flipped the script.
The Utah Hockey Club head coach sat down after his team's morning skate on Tuesday, and instead of taking questions, he asked one.
"Do you believe we can win the Stanley Cup with Vej" he said, speaking of goaltender Karel Vejmelka, who will start his 18th straight game Tuesday night against Calgary.
After a beat of silence from the room of reporters and team media, one reporter chimed in, "Eventually, maybe."
That was good enough for Tourigny.
"So if we expect to win the Stanley Cup with him," Tourigny responded. "How many games will it take in the playoffs?"
He did the math himself — "four rounds, six games per round, let's say 24 games."
In that sense, he doesn't think 18 is that crazy, especially due to Utah's situation. With Connor Ingram away from the team indefinitely, the team doesn't have an NHL-caliber backup on its roster.
"If we get in the playoffs and we're in the semifinal and it's Game 6 and I tell you, we'll load manage Vej and I play the backup — how would you assess my decision?"
The answer was obvious.
Tourigny wouldn't trot out an AHL goalie in a must-win game in the postseason, so why would he do the same thing in a must-win game in the regular season?
The team is hanging on to a faint hope of reaching the playoffs. Sure, it will take a lot of losses from either Minnesota or St. Louis and a flawless finish from the Hockey Club, but until it's officially curtains on the season, Tourigny sees no reason not to fight for it.
"We're fighting for our life every night, and you don't want us to not put our best line up on the ice?" he said. "That makes no sense. We are in our playoff, we are in our Stanley Cup run, we are fighting to get the right to play game No. 83."
If the team was securely in the playoffs or were already eliminated, then, yes, giving Vejmelka some rest days would make sense to Tourigny. But if nothing else, he sees this marathon run as a training ground for the netminder whom the team signed to a long-term extension at the trade deadline.
"If we aspire to win the Stanley Cup with Vej in net, he'll play 20-odd game in a row," Tourigny said. "So let's say it's a preparation for the big moment."
It's looking more and more likely that moment won't come this season, but, regardless, Tourigny believes the players have benefited from feeling the pressure of these end-of-season games.
"What we're going through, it's super important for us to soak it in," he said. "We want to prevail. … But at the end of the day, we need to learn from every moment, every failure, every success. The way we have felt, mentally, physically down that stretch, will be really useful (in the future)."
