The Utah HC head coach wanted his veterans to lead the way through pre-season, and they've responded, he said Wednesday at the Olympic Oval.
Wednesday was a good day for the Utah Hockey Club.
The team saw no. 6 overall pick Tij Iginla return to the ice for the first time since being sidelined with a lower-body injury last week in rookie camp, and forward Sam Lipkin also took the ice wearing a yellow non-contact jersey.
It was also a day for head coach Andre Tourigny to reflect with the media on what he's seen from his team through two pre-season games, wins over St. Louis and Los Angeles, Wednesday at the Kearns Olympic Oval.
They've been two games where Utah HC has looked shaky on defence at times, but were able to rally both times to win, led by some standout performances by the second line of Jack McBain, Logan Cooley, and Dylan Guenther against the Blues, and a physical bottom-six output against Los Angeles.
"I think we've stayed in the present; that's what I like," Tourigny said. "We have a good amount of veterans now, and they're not caught up in the score in pre-season."
The veterans have also played to the crowd, as evidenced in Monday's game by Liam O'Brien pumping up the sold-out Delta Center with a fight following Lawson Crouse's opening power-play goal.
Tourigny said, however, the point of the pre-season is to fine-tune the details for the regular season, and while there are some things to clean up, he's pleased with how the veterans have helped to do that so far.
"We know we need to win the day today," he added. "(The veterans) know what we need to do better."
More from training camp this morning: