The Arizona Coyotes suffered a brutal 6-2 loss to the Calgary Flames on Thursday night, but seem to be handling it the right way. On Friday morning, the Coyotes had a spirited practice that consisted of fast paced drills, physical play and even a little bit of friendly competition, leading to a lot of laughs. Coach André Tourigny also said that the team had a meeting prior to practice which seemed to go very well. 240111_Tourigny_Postgame “We had meetings before, that was the point of the day,” Tourigny said. “We addressed the situation. The players talked more than the coaches and that was perfect that way.” It’s clear that the Coyotes have not been themselves as of late. They went 1-4 through their five-game homestand. The fact that players spoke out and know that their play has not lived up to the standard they are capable of is a good sign that this locker room is still strong. “At some point, there must be accountability and responsibility from the players and they are well aware of that and they take their responsibility,” Tourigny said. “We have a good group, I've said that many times. It’s not because they don’t care. When you are with a team everyday, you know those guys care a lot… “We are all in this together. It’s not about the players or the coach. It’s about our entire organization. We care a lot, we want to do the right thing. We had a tough week, but let's giddy up and get out of it.” The Western Conference is only getting tougher, with a multitude of teams in the wild card hunt including the Nashville Predators, Seattle Kraken, Edmonton Oilers and St. Louis Blues. It’s important that the Coyotes get these struggles out of the way now if they want to remain in the playoff hunt. Despite a couple of bad losses, Arizona’s locker room remains united while also being fully aware of what they need to do to get back on track and into the win column.
