2023-11-03 01:46:16
(Tempe, Arizona) Thursday night’s game between the Canadiens and the Arizona Coyotes was the first between Juraj Slafkovsky and Logan Cooley since they were selected first and third overall, respectively, in the draft. 2022.
Posted at 9:46 p.m.
The duel on the ice, at this stage of their career, and while their two clubs are rebuilding, is anecdotal. The difference between their two realities, however, is difficult to ignore.
After spending a year in college, Cooley arrived in Arizona with high expectations. He quickly proved that he was capable of imposing himself offensively at this level. This is evidenced by his seven points in nine games before facing CH.
PHOTO GARY A. VASQUEZ, ARCHIVES USA TODAY SPORTS
Logan Cooley (right) celebrates with teammate Sean Durzi (50) following scoring a goal.
Slafkovsky, as we know, made the jump directly to the NHL, with mixed results, at least on a statistical level: 11 points in 48 games in total, and a meager assist this season, before the game on Thursday.
Two hours before the start of the game, André Tourigny, head coach of the Coyotes, spoke at length on the subject of player development. Without looking into the specific case of Slafkovsky, let us mention it.
“The NHL is not a development league. You play in the NHL because you are able to help your club win. It’s a performance league. It’s a professional league; people pay to come see the players. »
There are leagues for development. I coached in those leagues, they are very good. This is where you can do some trial and error.
André Tourigny
Visibly launched, Tourigny assured that “you see it right away” whether a player is ready or not to make the jump, for good, to the highest level.
“When you’re not able to do something that’s normally your role without being nervous, it’s because you’re not there yet. I often give the same example: even if you are the best student, you cannot enter medicine at 12 years old. You haven’t gotten there yet. You can’t go into college and start your first year over seven times and tell yourself that at some point you’re going to get it. That’s not how it works. You’re going to continue to develop, one year at a time, and when you master your subject, one day, you’re going to be a doctor. »
“It’s the same thing with the NHL,” added the coach. If [un joueur] is nervous to make plays, that he doesn’t have confidence with the puck, that he has trouble sleeping at night because he doesn’t have confidence in himself… The world may say: “This It doesn’t matter, he’s young,” he has to live with himself every day. He knows he is not performing. And he’s sitting next to a guy in the room who knows he’s in trouble. This is not a position to grow in. »
The Cooley case
André Tourigny cited the example of Logan Cooley. From the start of training camp, it was obvious, according to him, that the young man was of NHL caliber.
The year that the American center spent at the University of Minnesota in the NCAA was providential, he believes. “He gained confidence, he understood beautiful things,” explained the Quebecer.
The Coyotes are, moreover, a better team than last year. Cooley, therefore, “comes into a good situation.”
Tourigny loved that his striker played “two championship matches”. One in the final of the end-of-season NCAA tournament, the other in the final of the World Juniors. “Win or lose, it’s an extraordinary experience. »
Already, for several weeks, he has seen it improve on several levels: the “management of its game », his patience, his positioning on the ice…
As the campaign is still very young, it should not be surprising if its production and performances decline. A college season is around forty games, half of a professional schedule.
Cooley is not perfect, however. “Now he has to find consistency. But we see that he is intelligent, that he is at the right level. At first, I was careful who I pitted once morest. Now I don’t care regarding it anymore. »
So we can develop a player in the NHL? a reporter then asked him.
“No, he was already at that level,” Tourigny said. You can improve in the NHL, I’m not saying otherwise. But there was never any question regarding whether he might play in the NHL. »
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