André Tourigny has over 20 years of experience coaching junior and professional hockey and is currently the head coach of the Utah Mammoth.

Tourigny, a product of Nicolet, Quebec, is a forward thinking coach who helped to smash hockey’s glass ceiling. He admitts he's not a patient man. He wants his players to play fast in all three zones. He understands the importance of defence, but doesn’t want to spend more time on it than necessary.

That’s a message his players get behind. 

“As a coach, I’m an offence first guy,” said Tourigny at TCS Live. “But I like to win even more than I like offence, and if you want to win, you have to be good defensively, you need to be structured and you need to know what you’re doing.”

Tourigny previously worked as a head coach in the QMJHL & OHL before three seasons as an NHL assistant split between the Colorado Avalanche and Ottawa Senators, and in this presentation he goes into detail on how everything his teams do defensively is to create offence.

His defensive zone coverage is nicknamed TSN for the roles of trenchmen, supportmen, and netmen. In addition to a 1-1-3 neutral zone forecheck, offensive zone forecheck, and tracking, he explains specifically how to hunt the puck carrier and provide back pressure to take away options.

Another intriguing part of Tourigny’s 2022 TCS Live presentation is his view on mistakes and how his system allows for them to happen.

“If your system doesn’t allow for mistakes, maybe you need to think about your system. Players need to be able to play free, make mistakes and learn.”

Tourigny’s hockey resume includes working with young players allowed to make mistakes and it has resulted in international success, including back-to-back silver medals with Canada at the 2010 and 2011 World Junior Hockey Championships and a gold medal at the 2020 Tournament as head coach.

Noteworthy Timestamps:

• 0:07 Intro to defensive systems
• 1:04 Winning habits and D-zone coverage
• 2:03 Dmen in the offensive zone
• 3:29 Playing fast 
• 5:25 1 on 1 situations
• 7:13 The wall and defensive strategies
• 10:11 Defense leading to offense
• 13:21 Tracking and back pressure
• 16:21 Transitioning from defense to offense
• 19:27 Neutral zone forecheck strategies
• 22:16 Aggressive forechecking
• 25:36 Quick attacks after puck recovery