Prior to the start of this season, the Arizona Coyotes were in an interesting situation. Their plan to build a sports and entertainment district in Tempe failed as rampant rumors about the team relocating spread throughout the rest of the NHL world. Meanwhile on the ice, the Coyotes continuously struggled to put out a winning product, only making the playoffs once since 2013. Now everything has suddenly changed. The Coyotes currently hold the first wild card spot in the Western Conference with a record of 18-14-2 and 39 points. 20231227_PostGame_Tourigny_FTP While it may seem that this is just a coincidence, it took years of planning to get to this point. The Coyotes hired Bill Armstrong to be the general manager on Sept. 17, 2020 and that was the start of a drastic change for the organization. Armstrong knew where the team stood when he took over and prioritized accumulating as much young talent and draft picks as possible in order to build a strong foundation for the future. Over the years, Armstrong has added numerous young players through the trade block, draft and even waivers which includes Jack McBain, J.J. Moser, Juuso Välimäki and Logan Cooley just to name a few. It’s not just about adding these young players, but it’s equally important to develop them the right way. That’s why on July 1, 2021, Armstrong decided to hire André Tourigny to take over as head coach. Tourigny had a history of coaching young talent in both the QMJHL and OHL, so this was a perfect fit. It was clear that the Coyotes were not just going to flip a switch overnight and become a playoff caliber team which is why after two years of failing to make the postseason, Tourigny still received a multi-year extension this summer. Through Tourigny’s first two years the culture was beginning to shift even though their record may have not necessarily shown that. Tourigny is known to be a ‘player coach’ and his approach has been effective as the Coyotes young core have continued to grow under his guidance. This past offseason, Armstrong felt the Coyotes were ready to take the next step of their rebuild, so they went out and acquired win-now players including Sean Durzi, Jason Zucker, Nick Bjugstad, Alexander Kerfoot and Matt Dumba. Not even Armstrong would expect what his newly assembled team was truly capable of. Through the first 34 games of the season, the Coyotes are playing at a level that has everybody pleasantly surprised. They are playing with passion, resilience, physicality and speed that has completely turned around the way fans view this team. It all starts with culture. The Coyotes are mixed with young exciting players and veterans that have helped create a new identity. Their chemistry and strong comradery in the locker room has translated to their performance on the ice. The Coyotes are a team that plays a hard-nosed style and just never quits. That was perfectly shown on Wednesday night when they were down by four goals against the Colorado Avalanche and Arizona found a way to climb their way all the way back to win 5-4 in overtime while completely out playing the 2022 Stanley Cup champions. The Coyotes have gone from one of the laughingstocks of the league to a team that is starting to prove that they may actually be a playoff caliber contender. There are still a lot of games left this season, but this sort of play by the Coyotes seems to be no fluke. These Coyotes have some sort of magic and Disney type feel to them that just feels special and no matter what happens throughout the rest of the season, they are finally giving fans in the Valley something to root for. The gloomy days for Arizona may finally be behind them. This stretch to start the season may be exactly what the Coyotes needed to forge and transform into a winning organization.
