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Andre Tourigny Postgame 10-24-26 · ESPN 700 & 92.1 FM | Utah's #1 Sports Talk

• 0:07
  Speaker 1: What a game. There's a lot to unpack here. I
• 0:11
  Speaker 1: think the first thing for me is we started really good,
• 0:16
  Speaker 1: but then we got a little bit of bad luck.
• 0:18
  Speaker 1: This morning I was talking about helping our goalie. I'm
• 0:20
  Speaker 1: not sure shooting in our own net was part of
• 0:23
  Speaker 1: the plan, but it's part of what I want to
• 0:27
  Speaker 1: talk about. You know, it's veg had tough stretch and
• 0:32
  Speaker 1: you start the game that way and then they scored
• 0:35
  Speaker 1: three goals in the first period he showed a lot
• 0:38
  Speaker 1: of character bouncing back and coming up big like he
• 0:41
  Speaker 1: did at the end of the game and making big
• 0:43
  Speaker 1: saving over time and in the third and so on
• 0:45
  Speaker 1: and so forth and really proud of him really proud
• 0:48
  Speaker 1: for him I think we all know how much he
• 0:51
  Speaker 1: care and how much the team mean for him so
• 0:54
  Speaker 1: to see him bounce back and come a big and
• 0:58
  Speaker 1: key moment and help us to get the two point
• 1:01
  Speaker 1: was huge. So is the team because after the score,
• 1:06
  Speaker 1: you could see the stress and we're not as connected
• 1:09
  Speaker 1: from that moment. We, uh, we mis-executed a lot of
• 1:12
  Speaker 1: play and we were a little bit nervous and we
• 1:15
  Speaker 1: were capable of regrouping and finding our game and play much,
• 1:20
  Speaker 1: much better in the second half of the game. Really
• 1:21
  Speaker 1: proud of the guys for that. You know, we talk
• 1:24
  Speaker 1: about that being one of our goal this season of,
• 1:27
  Speaker 1: being able to find a B game, being able to
• 1:30
  Speaker 1: close game, being able to find your game when you
• 1:35
  Speaker 1: don't necessarily play your best game, being able to find
• 1:39
  Speaker 1: a gear, find a shift, a momentum, and get your
• 1:43
  Speaker 1: game back. The way we play in the third period,
• 1:46
  Speaker 1: extremely proud of the boys and the way we react,
• 1:51
  Speaker 1: so a lot of positive there. And obviously, Baradate in
• 1:56
  Speaker 1: line was... wow, they were really good. What were the
• 2:00
  Speaker 1: details that the Barrett-Hain line were doing throughout.
• 2:02
  Speaker 2: The game, especially late in that first period when they
• 2:04
  Speaker 2: brought that push.
• 2:04
  Speaker 1: And then you were third too? Right from the beginning,
• 2:08
  Speaker 1: first year of the game, I would like to find
• 2:13
  Speaker 1: a sexy way to tell you they just keep it simple.
• 2:17
  Speaker 1: And they win battles. Hockey is not that complicated if
• 2:22
  Speaker 1: you don't want it complicated. And the They're our best
• 2:27
  Speaker 1: line because they were our simpler line. You don't see
• 2:30
  Speaker 1: them make drop pass east-west play. You don't see them
• 2:33
  Speaker 1: make any blind play. They protect the puck if they
• 2:35
  Speaker 1: have to. They play north all the time. They get
• 2:38
  Speaker 1: on the forecheck. They get puck behind the D. They
• 2:40
  Speaker 1: put pucks at the net. Move the puck at the
• 2:42
  Speaker 1: open guy. The guy's not open. They put puck in
• 2:44
  Speaker 1: a safe place. You know, and other lines are trying
• 2:50
  Speaker 1: too hard, trying to make play who are low percentage,
• 2:54
  Speaker 1: and then you end up having to check and bad
• 2:58
  Speaker 1: check and defend just because of your puck decision. I
• 3:01
  Speaker 1: think that line, all our lines work for me in
• 3:05
  Speaker 1: terms of work ethic and intensity. That line take the
• 3:08
  Speaker 1: best decision with the puck. I'm sure there's a few
• 3:11
  Speaker 1: that stand out. Was there a play or a moment
• 3:13
  Speaker 1: that felt more like a turning point in terms of
• 3:15
  Speaker 1: the confidence and the connectedness.
• 3:16
  Speaker 2: In that game?
• 3:18
  Speaker 1: Probably the third goal thing. When we scored that goal,
• 3:23
  Speaker 1: we felt okay. We're alive. It's coming. Obviously, a forward
• 3:29
  Speaker 1: goal was a tiny goal, a big goal, but from
• 3:32
  Speaker 1: there I felt, okay, we got this. You will never
• 3:36
  Speaker 1: be perfect, but we were a really good team at
• 3:39
  Speaker 1: that point. And then were there any comments? I mean,
• 3:41
  Speaker 1: I know Veggie's pretty cerebral. Was there any message or
• 3:44
  Speaker 1: conversation with him at any point during maybe the second
• 3:47
  Speaker 1: or the third?
• 3:48
  Speaker 2: No.
• 3:48
  Speaker 1: I had a good chat with Veggie after the game
• 3:51
  Speaker 1: in Seattle, and, you know... There's more than one way
• 3:58
  Speaker 1: to address the situation. But when someone is totally dedicated
• 4:04
  Speaker 1: at improving and fixing things and cares a ton, putting
• 4:09
  Speaker 1: head pressure to the situation is probably not the right
• 4:13
  Speaker 1: thing because he cares a ton and he wanted to
• 4:20
  Speaker 1: make the difference. And one big thing is he was
• 4:23
  Speaker 1: in this head of, oh, I need to change this,
• 4:25
  Speaker 1: I need to change that, maybe I will change this,
• 4:26
  Speaker 1: maybe I can do, well, okay, no, no, no, just relax,
• 4:32
  Speaker 1: just have focus and concentration on what you have to
• 4:36
  Speaker 1: do and confidence. Now you're thinking, what if it doesn't work,
• 4:41
  Speaker 1: what can I change? Your focus is going in the
• 4:45
  Speaker 1: wrong direction. Just trust yourself as much as we trust you,
• 4:48
  Speaker 1: as much as our fans trust you, and You could
• 4:51
  Speaker 1: see the reaction of the fan when he came up big,
• 4:53
  Speaker 1: and I think it's huge for him. I think our
• 4:55
  Speaker 1: fan did a fantastic job to pour some love and
• 4:58
  Speaker 1: make him feel how important he is for our team.
• 5:01
  Speaker 2: And then just lastly, with Simashev, what did you say
• 5:04
  Speaker 2: to him after the game tonight in congratulating him on
• 5:06
  Speaker 2: those goals?
• 5:07
  Speaker 1: Yeah, you know, he scored a goal last game, and
• 5:11
  Speaker 1: they took it back, so to have him score it.
• 5:15
  Speaker 1: You know, scoring a goal is always great, scoring a
• 5:18
  Speaker 1: goal at a key moment like he did. I think
• 5:21
  Speaker 1: that's pretty cool. I think I'm really happy for him,
• 5:25
  Speaker 1: and I'm sure it's not the last one.
• 5:28
  Speaker 2: You've got a lot of defensemen that can play in overtime.
• 5:30
  Speaker 2: What went into this decision to choose him as one.
• 5:32
  Speaker 1: Of those guys? It was Futter's call. Futter came to
• 5:37
  Speaker 1: me after the third period, and we can say overused
• 5:43
  Speaker 1: some guys, and he fell. Seema had legs, and he
• 5:47
  Speaker 1: was fresh or more fresh than other guys. So he
• 5:52
  Speaker 1: asked me, and I trust what he's feeling and his
• 5:56
  Speaker 1: feel for the game, so went with that. It was
• 5:58
  Speaker 1: pretty good. That was a pretty good call.
• 6:00
  Speaker 2: And then is it cool to see one of your
• 6:03
  Speaker 2: guys that you coached in junior come full circle and
• 6:05
  Speaker 2: lead a franchise now in the NHL?
• 6:07
  Speaker 1: I would love him to do that against somebody else, though.
• 6:11
  Speaker 1: But as long as we get the two points, I'm
• 6:14
  Speaker 1: proud of him and happy for him as long as
• 6:16
  Speaker 1: we get the two points. Maybe a similar answer as before,
• 6:20
  Speaker 1: but When your goaltender gives up 3.
• 6:22
  Speaker 2: On 10 and then 4 on 16, what goes into
• 6:25
  Speaker 2: the decision to keep him?
• 6:26
  Speaker 1: Yeah, you know, there's different ways you can go about that.
• 6:34
  Speaker 1: I often say it's about the decision the player, it
• 6:39
  Speaker 1: could be the goalie or the player, makes. If he
• 6:43
  Speaker 1: takes a decision to take shortcuts or he takes a
• 6:46
  Speaker 1: decision to be undisciplined in his play, work ethic on
• 6:50
  Speaker 1: his life, on his preparation and stuff. Okay, that doesn't fly.
• 6:55
  Speaker 1: That doesn't fly. But when you take all the right
• 6:58
  Speaker 1: decisions and you try really hard and you really want
• 7:02
  Speaker 1: to fix things, you need to be supportive as well.
• 7:05
  Speaker 1: If you and your job, you're doing everything right the
• 7:09
  Speaker 1: right way and you work really hard at it and
• 7:13
  Speaker 1: your boss is always on you for every single mistake,
• 7:17
  Speaker 1: How can you build yourself back? How can you get
• 7:20
  Speaker 1: your confidence back? If you're lazy, if you're not on time,
• 7:24
  Speaker 1: you deserve to get your ass kicked. So that's just
• 7:27
  Speaker 1: the way it is. But if you do everything right,
• 7:29
  Speaker 1: you need to have some support. How long the sport
• 7:33
  Speaker 1: has to go? That's a good question. At some point, things...
• 7:38
  Speaker 1: We're in pro sports, so you need to get it done.
• 7:41
  Speaker 1: But I felt Veggie was really... a really good pro,
• 7:48
  Speaker 1: prepared right away, didn't want to do the right thing,
• 7:51
  Speaker 1: worked really hard. His mind was in a good space.
• 7:55
  Speaker 1: I think he deserved to have our support in that situation.
• 8:00
  Speaker 1: In a month from now, maybe it will be different.
• 8:02
  Speaker 1: It depends about what goes into it, but my gut
• 8:05
  Speaker 1: at this time was telling me he needed to feel
• 8:09
  Speaker 1: we were with him, and I think that paid back
• 8:13
  Speaker 1: right away.
• 8:14
  Speaker 2: All right. What about Simishev's confidence is different this year
• 8:19
  Speaker 2: as opposed to last? It allows him to step up
• 8:21
  Speaker 2: in these moments tonight.
• 8:24
  Speaker 1: You know, when you play in the level where you
• 8:27
  Speaker 1: feel the guys are fast, big, skilled, so on and
• 8:31
  Speaker 1: so forth, it's difficult to be extremely confident because people
• 8:37
  Speaker 1: may say, oh, he's pretty good, but you know how
• 8:40
  Speaker 1: it is. And a good discussion with him at the
• 8:42
  Speaker 1: end of the season was asking him the difference, and
• 8:45
  Speaker 1: he felt they were a big step in the physicality
• 8:48
  Speaker 1: and the strength of the player. And he felt that
• 8:51
  Speaker 1: was a big difference and was getting in his head
• 8:55
  Speaker 1: a little bit. And it was a really good year
• 8:58
  Speaker 1: of development for him because I realized, okay, how physical
• 9:02
  Speaker 1: it is and how hard it is physically and stuff
• 9:04
  Speaker 1: like that. So arriving this year, stronger, knowing what to expect,
• 9:09
  Speaker 1: a year older at that age, At my age, one
• 9:12
  Speaker 1: year or more or less doesn't change much. At his age,
• 9:14
  Speaker 1: it changed a lot. It's a huge difference, and he's
• 9:17
  Speaker 1: more mature. He was more prepared, know what to expect,
• 9:21
  Speaker 1: stronger physically, so he's more capable of applying. And all
• 9:26
  Speaker 1: the new information, new system, new rules, and so on
• 9:29
  Speaker 1: and so forth, now it's not as new. Last year
• 9:32
  Speaker 1: was a lot of information. Sometimes it can look like
• 9:34
  Speaker 1: they're in the headlight, not being sure what's going on.
• 9:39
  Speaker 1: This year, he knows what to expect. His focus was
• 9:42
  Speaker 1: at the right place. The game slowed down slowly for him.
• 9:45
  Speaker 2: Thanks, Coach. Thanks, everyone.