Utah HC wraps up preseason with win over Avalanche; final roster decisions await

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WEST VALLEY CITY — It hadn't dawned on Utah Hockey head coach Andre Tourigny the significance of playing at the Maverik Center.

As his team took the ice, he thought of it as the place for the final dress rehearsal. The Delta Center was busy with UFC 307, and the West Valley City arena served as a nice substitute as Utah finished its prep work with a 2-1 win over the Colorado Avalanche.

But when he was reminded the arena was the site of Canada's gold medal triumph during the 2002 Olympic Games, the memories started flooding back.

"For my side, it was a good one," the Nicolet, Canada, native said. "A lot of players on that Olympic team were my favorite players."

That included Jerome Iginla, the father of recent Utah HC draftee Tij Iginla (yes, he admitted that was a little strange), and Joe Sakic, the current president of hockey operations for the Avalanche.

"I was a Nordiques fan (the team that moved to Colorado), so it was 'Big Joe,' and I had the opportunity to work with him after, so it's a small world sometimes," he said. "I remember that game, no doubt about it."

Saturday may be memorable to a few players on the Utah Hockey Club for different reasons, too; it might be when they cemented their spots on the team.

Tourigny has a new problem this season: There's too much talent on the roster. It's something he rarely — if ever — faced during his time with the franchise in Arizona.

"I think all of the guys we have are NHL players," he said. "We don't have guys that don't deserve to be on an NHL roster. They all deserve that. I really believe that."

There isn't room for them all, though. The final decision will likely be at the forward spots, where Utah only has two spots out of a group of Kailer Yamamoto, Josh Doan, Liam O'Brien, and Michael Carcone.

Yamamoto has drawn praise all camp (and almost added to his goal tally Saturday with a shot off the crossbar); Carcone has proved he can contribute to an NHL team and has had a productive preseason; O'Brien has quickly become a fan favorite; and Doan is a strong all-around player with a great pedigree.

Doan is on an entry-level contact, so he can bounce between the AHL and NHL — that might make him an easy choice. Yamamoto is on a professional tryout deal, but there have been reports that Utah has started to talk with him about a contract.

If O'Brien and Carcone are waived, Utah HC will risk losing them on the waiver wire.

It's a tough decision, but not the worst problem to have.

"I could not wait to have a hard job," Tourigny said. "We will have a really good player that won't play on opening night, and that's really good for the organization."

After Utah's win over Colorado, Doan said he wanted to "control the controllables" during camp and show that he could fit in with a number of different groups. He said management hasn't spoken to him yet about where he'll start the season, but he is confident he's prepared for any game — no matter which league.

Tourigny understands someone will be disappointed, no matter what the decision, but his advice is to keep a long-term perspective.

"They are all competitors, they all want to play," he said. "It's a long NHL season — there is room for all of them. … You look at any team that's won, you don't win without depth. We'll need them."

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Ryan Miller

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KSL.com Utah Jazz reporter