On this date two years ago, the Arizona Coyotes found out they were moving to Utah.
After so many seasons suffering through a rebuild and some of the most extreme arena issues in the modern era of the NHL, it’s serendipitous that the players woke up precisely two years later with the comfort of a clinched playoff spot.
“We went through pretty deep water at some point,” head coach André Tourigny reminisced after practice Friday. “We were pretty deep in the ocean. And I think it’s an outstanding feeling, to be honest.”
He gave full credit to the players, but he also pointed out the team’s staff members, from hockey operations to equipment staff to social media — many of whom weren’t sure, two years ago, that they’d even be hired by the new team.
“We’ve been so fortunate to have Ryan and Ashley Smith and SEG and Utah arrive in our life at the perfect timing and treat us like kings since (we’ve been) here,” Tourigny said. “And everywhere we go in the city with the fans and everybody, it’s been so magical.”
But for every soundbite talking about how exciting playoff hockey at the Delta Center will be, there was another stating that this is only the beginning.
“It’s a good step,” said star defenseman Mikhail Sergachev, who has two Stanley Cup rings in his collection already. “But it’s just the (first) step in our goal of winning it all. So, yeah, I’m very happy, but we still have a long way to go.”
Ian Cole, another two-time Stanley Cup champion and the most experienced player on Utah’s roster, was even more blunt.
“I don’t think it’s some big accomplishment,” he said. “Is it a necessary first step to do what we want to do? Yes. But I don’t think us making the playoffs is something that was some outlandish accomplishment.
“We have a great hockey team in here. We think we have a great hockey team in here. We think we’re one of the best teams in the league. It’s a fact that we should absolutely make the playoffs every single year.”
Last season was the first time since Cole’s rookie year that he missed the playoffs — and his expectation for success is part of the reason Utah signed him in the first place.
Tourigny told the story of a conversation he had with one of Cole’s Vancouver Canucks teammates when they signed him.
The Canucks were one of the top teams in the league that year, but it was the first playoff experience for much of the group. Some of the guys started feeling sorry for themselves when they lost Game 2 of their first-round series against the Nashville Predators, at which point Cole stepped up as a leader.
“What were you expecting? You were expecting we will win the next 16 games?” he said. “... “We’re in one. It will be a grind. Get used to that. Get used to being uncomfortable.”
Vancouver went on to win that series and take the next one to Game 7, where they lost by a single goal.
That’s the type of lesson that this team will learn in what is, for many of the players, the first taste of playoff hockey. As GM Bill Armstrong put it in a February interview with the Deseret News, it takes a significant amount of “growth and pain” to learn how to win.
But expectations are still high for the franchise’s first-ever playoff berth.
“That doesn’t mean you need to have three Stanley Cup (rings) in your pocket to be good in the playoffs,” Tourigny said. “There’s guys who’ve been good way before that and that’s what we attempt to do. We expect our veterans who have experience — our leaders — to do their part, but we expect everybody to be ready for the challenge when challenge will arrive."
Playoff hockey is different
Aside from the overtime format, the regular season and the playoffs use the same rules — but it’s a completely different game.
That’s because in an 82-game season, a bad shift or two usually won’t hurt you too badly in the long run. But in a best-of-seven playoff series, it could be the difference between golfing and celebrating a championship.
Defenseman Sean Durzi described it as a “game of mistakes.”
“Whoever can limit the most (mistakes) usually can come out on top,” he explained.
The faster pace and tighter checking makes for a much more tense environment, as well as a more involved crowd.
“It’s an absolute thrill. I can’t wait to see this crowd in playoff hockey,” said newly acquired defenseman MacKenzie Weegar. “They’re already having a great time, you know, just during the regular-season games. I can’t wait to hear how loud they are during playoff games.
“It’s fast, it’s physical, it’s intense at moments, but they’re going to have so much fun. I’m so, like, I can’t even explain how excited I am to hear that crowd when we play home games.”
“That’s what you play for,” added Durzi.
