Coach Tourigny publicly exposes and calls out the Arizona Coyotes

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Graham Montgomery
April 12, 2024 (8:32 PM)

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Arizona Coyotes head coach Andre Tourigny behind the bench

Photo credit: Sportsnet

The last few days have been extremely difficult on the Arizona Coyotes with news of their relocation seemingly being imminent. Now head coach Andre Tourigny is stepping up to address problems that affect employees of the team.

While news of the Coyotes relocating is certainly entertaining for the fans across the NHL, no one really wanted to see the franchise come to this. After all, these are human beings we are talking about. Countless people will have their lives changed forever by this move. This is the kind of thing that head coach Andre Tourigny wanted to bring up amidst all the chaos and rumors about the team.

"I will tell you where it has the most impact, is we have 31 staff members who don't have a contract for next year,» Tourigny said. «Those guys have families, some are divorced. Some, their kids are in Phoenix and are divorced. Some have a wife or a partner who has a job, who will now have to make a decision if the team is moving. Some guys have kids at university, they have to pay for university. Those kinds of things are real. That's emotion, that's real life. That's what we are in."

The coach certainly did a good job of explaining the ramifications of this move to the fans. While it is certainly a sad story though, it appears to be the reality as the narrative around the team has quickly evolved into talks about relocation.

.@ToddWalsh, those working behind the scenes and on the ice are true pros tonight. Working through unimaginable times.

Here's how they and head coach André Tourigny addressed the reports the Coyotes could relocate to Salt Lake City. @12SportsAZ

(video: @ArizonaCoyotes)

Furthermore, Tourigny believes the rumors that have surrounded the team effected the way they played on the ice this season. While the team got off to a hot start, they have since fallen off and are back in the draft lottery. As a result, it appears as though their time in Arizona will end with a wimper rather than a bang.

Arizona Coyotes coach Andre Tourigny believes the relocation rumors affected his team's performance this season 👀😩

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12 AVRIL \| 139 ANSWERS Coach Tourigny publicly exposes and calls out the Arizona Coyotes Do you think Tourigny is correct in calling out the Coyotes for everything that is going on with the franchise right now?
Yes	119	85.6 %
No	20	14.4 %
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