"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."

We’d have the privilege of working with many NHL coaches over the years and that continued this past June at TCS Live in Ann Arbor.

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

Tourigny, a product of Nicolet, Quebec, is a forward thinking coach, one helping smash hockey’s glass ceiling. He is not, admittedly, 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 is obligated.

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.”

In his 28-minute presentation, Tourigny, who 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, goes into detail on how everything his teams do defensively, is to create offence.

Tourigny’s defensive zone coverage is nicknamed TSN for the roles of trenchmen, supportmen and netmen, which he explains, in addition to a 1-1-3 neutral zone forecheck, offensive zone forecheck and tracking, specifically how to hunt the puck carrier and provide back pressure, taking away their options, and transition tracking to d-zone coverage.

Another intriguing part of Tourigny’s 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.