Speculation: Head Coach Hunt 2021

[rt]

If I had to guess which guy would be Bill Armstrong's favorite, I would guess Andre Tourigny. I think Groulx is my favorite. I think Nelson is the least risky, and might be the play BA ultimately makes, even if he likes Tourigny's style a lot. If I was laying down odds, I'd say that Groulx is probably the least likely, based on all that I've heard from BA.

Tourigny is the youngest, he's had the most varied experience at such a wide variety of levels and roles, and I think he speaks BA's language the best. I could see BA falling in love Tourigny. They've got that same big, brash, owns the room kind of personality. They both had really long careers with tons of different roles and experiences.

I think BA's head is going to tell him to hire Nelson and his heart is going to tell him to hire Tourigny. Which is fitting. I see Nelson as the head pick and Tourigny as the heart pick. Groulx might be the backbone or balls pick!!! LOL.

 

[Mosby]

I almost get the impression that he sees winning hockey games as a byproduct of improving players.

This made me think of that quote from Army’s introductory press conference, something along the lines of “when you stack good player on top of good player, that’s when you start winning”.

These descriptions make me feel that both Groulx and Tourigny would need a good tactical assistant. I imagine Jacques Martin wouldn’t be a hard sell, French guys and all.

 

[rt]

These descriptions make me feel that both Groulx and Tourigny would need a good tactical assistant. I imagine Jacques Martin wouldn’t be a hard sell, French guys and all.

That would be basically a dream come true, honestly.

 

[rt]

When Tourigny was an AC in COL and OTT he was the D coach. Who was the F/PP coach? Tim Army. Where's he from? Providence Rhode Island. I expect he's well-known to Bill Armstrong and Andre Tourigny both. He's another experienced guy who's been around a long time and coached in a variety of roles at a variety of levels.

How'd he do? Hmmm... well when he was AC with ANA from 93/94-96/97 the Ducks had the 25th ranked PP and 22 in GF/GP. But that's because they went from lowly expansion doormat to real team. By his final season there, they were 10th in GF/GP and 10th in PP. Then he went to the Caps. He was there for five years. They had the 6th ranked PP in that span and the 15th ranked offense. If you look at just his last two years, they had the 2nd ranked PP in the league and the 12th ranked offense. After returning to Providence to be head coach for six years, he came back to the NHL for the Avs. He was there for six seasons, and had three head coaches (Sacco, Roy, and Bednar). Which is insane that he stuck. Obviously, that was a dark period for the team, going through HCs in six years. They had an offense and a PP both ranked in the mid 20s during that span. He's been with Iowa as HC the last couple of years and had the 2nd and 5th ranked PP in the AHL respectively.

HC: Andre Tourigny
D/PK: Jacques Martin
F/PP: Tim Army

^ Yep! Sign me up!

EDIT: Wouldn't mind Martin having a 2nd title in Hockey Ops, too. He was a Sr. Advisor in PIT as well as D/PK coach when they won their last two Cups. Guy is a legend. Could help not only Tourigny but also BA, honestly.

 

[Mosby]

You do better investigative work than Katie Strang.

 

[rt]

You do better investigate work than Katie Strang.

Maybe I should start a substack

 

[Heldig]

An interesting tidbit is how close of a relationship Tourigny and Groulx have. Andre says at one point that he’s never had a phone conversation with Groulx that lasted less than one hour. That a “quick hello” is an hour minimum. He says he calls him regularly because every time they talk, he feels he becomes a better coach.

NHL first - 2 head associate coaches!

 

[Matias Maccete]

We all know what's going to happen right? There's 3 coaches that seem like great choices so we'll get deep into talks with all 3 then announce some out of left field hire that's terrible. Classic coyotes.

 

[Jakey53]

When Tourigny was an AC in COL and OTT he was the D coach. Who was the F/PP coach? Tim Army. Where's he from? Providence Rhode Island. I expect he's well-known to Bill Armstrong and Andre Tourigny both. He's another experienced guy who's been around a long time and coached in a variety of roles at a variety of levels.

How'd he do? Hmmm... well when he was AC with ANA from 93/94-96/97 the Ducks had the 25th ranked PP and 22 in GF/GP. But that's because they went from lowly expansion doormat to real team. By his final season there, they were 10th in GF/GP and 10th in PP. Then he went to the Caps. He was there for five years. They had the 6th ranked PP in that span and the 15th ranked offense. If you look at just his last two years, they had the 2nd ranked PP in the league and the 12th ranked offense. After returning to Providence to be head coach for six years, he came back to the NHL for the Avs. He was there for six seasons, and had three head coaches (Sacco, Roy, and Bednar). Which is insane that he stuck. Obviously, that was a dark period for the team, going through HCs in six years. They had an offense and a PP both ranked in the mid 20s during that span. He's been with Iowa as HC the last couple of years and had the 2nd and 5th ranked PP in the AHL respectively.

HC: Andre Tourigny
D/PK: Jacques Martin
F/PP: Tim Army

^ Yep! Sign me up!

EDIT: Wouldn't mind Martin having a 2nd title in Hockey Ops, too. He was a Sr. Advisor in PIT as well as D/PK coach when they won their last two Cups. Guy is a legend. Could help not only Tourigny but also BA, honestly.

Man, where do you find time to do all this research, work and have family time? Martin would be an excellent hire and help stabilize our coaching and help calm the nerves and offer suggestions for our new inexperienced HC at time during the year when he is being outcoached. Martin has seen and done it all.

 

[Coyotedroppings]

This made me think of that quote from Army’s introductory press conference, something along the lines of “when you stack good player on top of good player, that’s when you start winning”.

These descriptions make me feel that both Groulx and Tourigny would need a good tactical assistant. I imagine Jacques Martin wouldn’t be a hard sell, French guys and all.

Assistants are precisely what they should be, at this level and at this time.

 

[MIGs Dog]

The draft is 4 weeks from today. This thread's days are numbered.

 

[The Feckless Puck]

Maybe I should start a substack

Yours, I'd subscribe to. It'd be my first.

 

[rt]

Yours, I'd subscribe to. It'd be my first.

Too bad I’m basically illiterate. I’ll do the researching, you do the writing.

 

[Mosby]

HC: Andre Tourigny
D/PK: Jacques Martin
F/PP: Tim Army

And then Cory Stillman in Tucson.

 

[MIGs Dog]

Too bad I’m basically illiterate. I’ll do the researching, you do the writing.

Your too modest. Besides, Grammarly can fix most of your mistakes...it does for me.

Grammarly edit: perhaps you meant to use "you're"...dufus

 

[YotesFan47]

We all know what's going to happen right? There's 3 coaches that seem like great choices so we'll get deep into talks with all 3 then announce some out of left field hire that's terrible. Classic coyotes.

Bro... I was living happily in my dream world and you just had to go and wake me up with some real shit.

 

[Mosby]

And same format for Groulx:
‎The Hockey Masterclass: The Hockey Masterclass Episode 12: Ben Groulx on Apple Podcasts

I liked the Tourigny interview but this one with Groulx was a little boring and underwhelming.

 

[Jagged Ice]

We all know what's going to happen right? There's 3 coaches that seem like great choices so we'll get deep into talks with all 3 then announce some out of left field hire that's terrible. Classic coyotes.

Mike Yeo

 

[rt]

I liked the Tourigny interview but this one with Groulx was a little boring and underwhelming.

Tourigny one was way, way more engaging. Apart from Thompson, Tourigny has by far and away the biggest most interesting personality of all of these candidates. By hockey coaching standards he’s a big, brash, takes over the room type of personality. Definitely a dude that makes you stop and listen.

 

[rt]

Mike Yeo

Ugh. Shhhh….

 

[Bonsai Tree]

Claude Noel.

 

[rt]

Claude Noel.

Nyet.

 

[YotesFan47]

Tourigny one was way, way more engaging. Apart from Thompson, Tourigny has by far and away the biggest most interesting personality of all of these candidates. By hockey coaching standards he’s a big, brash, takes over the room type of personality. Definitely a dude that makes you stop and listen.

What's your take on how he runs his teams from a X's and O's standpoint? I know you had posted earlier that it seems more like he cares about player development and that the development will propel the teams record higher but this is the NHL. Would you say he runs a defense first, up tempo, strong transition and cycle game? Does he place more emphasis on physical play? I really don't know much about Tourigny.

 

[rt]

What's your take on how he runs his teams from a X's and O's standpoint? I know you had posted earlier that it seems more like he cares about player development and that the development will propel the teams record higher but this is the NHL. Would you say he runs a defense first, up tempo, strong transition and cycle game? Does he place more emphasis on physical play? I really don't know much about Tourigny.

He hasn’t got into it too much. I guess you don’t have to when you have won 100 of your last 130 games in a the OHL and are fresh off a 14-0 run in the playoffs. lol.

He did say he likes to “play fast” (which gave me Tocchet PTSD) but then he proceeded to laugh off the idea that someone could call that a philosophy (hilarious unintended ricochet shot on Tocchet - lol). And he said that means nothing in and of itself. And that his true hallmark is hard work. That none of the rest of any of it means anything without the hard work. Basically saying no system will be successful without it and most systems will be at least fairly successful with it.

He did talk vaguely about always pressuring, creating turnovers, and being hard on the forecheck. He talked a lot about the Vegas forecheck. And about how everyone tried to do what they do but only they seem to have such success with it. And why is that. And he talked about how you need to develop players to play that way and you have to hammer that work ethic into them. And most teams can’t do what Vegas does on the forecheck because it’s hard.

So honestly, the way he talks about systems play from a categorical standpoint sounds almost exactly like Tocchet. But when he talks about executing it, he couldn’t be more different. And he actually laughs off the idea of just saying these bullshit truisms like “Play fast. Generate turnovers. Forecheck hard.”

 

[Mosby]

The 67s have scored a shitload of goals over the last few seasons. Yes they had Rossi and Quinn but a lot of the overagers got some pretty insane totals too.