With less than a month to go until the first Utah Hockey Club preseason game, now’s the time to get to know the team. This is the second part in a three-article series introducing the players and coaches to Utah.
Next up are the goalies, followed by the coaches.
Connor Ingram
- Jersey number: 39
- Position: Goalie
- Catches: Left
- Age: 27
- Height: 6 feet, 2 inches
- Weight: 196 pounds
- Hometown: Saskatoon, Saskatchewan
It’s been a busy offseason for Connor Ingram. First, he went to Las Vegas to accept the Bill Masterton Memorial Trophy. Then, he traveled between his home in Saskatchewan and various cities for weddings of teammates, after which he went to Nashville for his own wedding.
Oh, and he did all that while also figuring out his move to Salt Lake City with the team.
The Masterton Trophy is awarded to “the player who best exemplifies the qualities of perseverance, sportsmanship, and dedication to hockey.” Ingram won the award because of his success in his mental health battle. He entered the NHLPA’s player assistance program in 2021, skipping most of the hockey season to get treatment.
He had never played an NHL game at that point, but when he returned from the program he got his first call-up almost immediately and recorded 35 saves in a 5-2 Nashville Predators win over the Minnesota Wild. He’d spend most of that season in the AHL, but when an injury sidelined Juuse Saros come playoff time, it was Ingram’s chance to shine. The Predators got swept that year, but Ingram stood on his head, making a name for himself in the NHL.
The Predators put him on waivers the following season, at which point the Coyotes scooped up their future starting goaltender at no cost.
Last season was particularly excellent for Ingram. His .907 save percentage and 2.91 goals-against average might not jump off the page, but he did that with a lot less support around him than a lot of elite goalies have. He saved 84.1% of the high-danger scoring chances he faced — the fourth-best rate among goalies who played 25 games or more last season.
Karel Vejmelka
- Jersey number: 70
- Position: Goalie
- Catches: Right
- Age: 28
- Height: 6 feet, 4 inches
- Weight: 224 pounds
- Hometown: Trebic, Czechia
Like Ingram, Karel Vejmelka is also a former Nashville Predator, though he never played a game there. The club drafted him in 2015 and allowed him to continue to develop in his home country of Czechia. They never ended up signing him, allowing him to pursue an NHL contract as a free agent.
The Coyotes gave him a contract in 2021 and he has been one of their go-to guys ever since.
Vejmelka and Ingram are good friends. Ingram told PHNX Sports that whenever they’re on the road, they always bring each other Diet Cokes to make sure they’re taken care of.
If Ingram continues on his current trajectory, Vejmelka will be the perfect backup goalie. His numbers since arriving in North America have been mediocre for a starting goalie, but he’s the perfect guy to take between 25 and 35 games off the starter’s plate.
Vejmelka won a gold medal with Team Czechia at the World Championships in Prague this spring, though Anaheim Ducks goalie Lukas Dostal played every game for the team.
Andre Tourigny
- Job: Head coach
- Hometown: Trois-Rivieres, Quebec
Andre Tourigny’s name has been associated with Team Canada for almost two decades. He’s coached the World Juniors team five times, the World Championship team four times and the Hlinka Gretzky Cup twice. He won four gold medals and four silver medals in those tournaments.
Between international appearances, Tourigny coaches the Utah Hockey Club. He has ample experience working with young players, having coached 17 seasons in the CHL. He also spent time as an assistant with both the Ottawa Senators and the Colorado Avalanche.
If you have a hard time pronouncing “Tourigny” (too-reen-yay), he also goes by “Bear.”
John Madden
- Job: Assistant coach
- Hometown: Toronto, Ontario
Three-time Stanley Cup-winning forward John Madden is an assistant coach with Utah HC.
As a player, Madden won the Selke Trophy as the best two-way forward in the NHL. He instills his defensive wisdom in his players as a coach, as the penalty kill is his main responsibility.
How good of a defensive forward was Madden? In a playoff game against the Toronto Maple Leafs in 2000, Madden and his New Jersey Devils allowed just six shots on net — the fewest a team has allowed since the moon landing.
Mario Duhamel
- Job: Assistant coach
- Hometown: Saint-Bruno, Quebec
Mario Duhamel has accompanied Andre Tourigny as an assistant or associate coach for the better part of the century. The two have made stops together with the Rouyn-Noranda Huskies in the QMJHL, the Ottawa 67′s in the OHL and the Arizona Coyotes and now the Utah Hockey Club in the NHL.
Duhamel oversees the defensemen for Utah HC, as he did with many of the other teams.
Blaine Forsythe
- Job: Assistant coach
- Hometown: Calgary, Alberta
Blaine Forsythe ran one of the most potent power plays in the NHL for 14 years before leaving the Washington Capitals for the Coyotes.
Was his job easier because he had power play menaces Alex Ovechkin and Nick Backstrom? Maybe. Was Ovechkin’s and Backstrom’s job easier because they had Forsythe behind the bench? Probably.
Before working as an assistant coach, Forsythe spent two seasons as a video coach and a season as a scout for the Capitals. Prior to that, he was an assistant general manager and assistant coach with the Calgary Hitmen of the WHL.
Forsythe won the Stanley Cup with the Capitals in 2018.
Corey Schwab
- Job: Goalie coach
- Hometown: North Battleford, Saskatchewan
Much of the success of both Ingram and Vejmelka, as well as every other Coyotes goaltender over the last decade, can be attributed to the efforts of Corey Schwab, the goalie coach.
Schwab spent eight seasons as an NHL goalie himself, capturing the Stanley Cup with the Devils in 2003 — receiving much defensive help from John Madden, of course.
In his fourth-ever NHL game, Schwab blessed the hockey world with one of the most entertaining events: a goalie fight. He chucked knuckles with Tommy Soderstrom of the New York Islanders in a bout that would put lots of modern-day tilts to shame.