Analysis of the successes and failures of the Utah Hockey Club Deseret News

On the very first day of rookie camp, a member of the Utah Hockey Club front office asked me to temper the team's fans' expectations for this season. It's not that he didn't believe in his team. His intention was simply to under-promise and over-deliver.

Regardless of what the team, the media or anyone else said before October 8, starting the season 3-0-0 and beating two of last year's playoff teams sent fan expectations through the roof . Some fans wondered if the team would ever lose a game.

They would.

It's a long season, team captain Clayton Keller said after Utah HC's 4-0 loss to the Ottawa Senators on Oct. 22. You can't get frustrated. You have to stay patient and get better every day, and good things happen.

That's the kind of wisdom that comes from playing more than 500 games in the NHL, as Keller has done. The wins and losses come and go, but if you become too fixated on the good or bad things from the past, you can quickly lose focus on the task at hand.

How good is the Utah Hockey Club?

What can fans expect from Utah HC this season? Is it the team that stole opening night at Madison Square Garden with a 6-5 victory, or is it the team that blew a 4-1 lead in the third period against the winless San Jose Sharks?

Realistically, it's somewhere in between.

It's likely a hybrid between the team that beat the Boston Bruins 2-1 in overtime and the team that deadlocked the league-leading Winnipeg Jets for nearly two full periods.

In both games they played the right way, which gave them a better chance of winning. The outcome can be determined by breaks and bounces, but playing correctly gives you more opportunities to get breaks and bounces.

Playing correctly can take many different forms. Against the Jets, they focused on keeping the shooters out. It worked for the most part, as they were the first team to keep Kyle Connor off the scoresheet all year. But when they stop focusing on those little things, like they did in the final five minutes against the Sharks, the floodgates open.

It's the best league in the world and it's hard to do it consistently every night, Keller said after his team's 5-1 win over the Calgary Flames on Oct. 30. That's something we strive for and even on nights when you don't have your team The best part is that there are still ways you can find a way to win or get some points.

Getting Sean Durzi and John Marino back from injury would also help them be more successful. There aren't many teams that can lose two of their top three defensemen and still be competitive every night.

A leadership test

The team has some new leaders and this is a good test for them. How will Keller, Lawson Crouse and the other veterans keep their teammates motivated and focused?

I learn every day, Keller said. It's the best competition in the world and I'm going to do everything I can to help this group. We have a lot of great leaders and I don't think it's just one thing. I think you learn different things day by day. Several things happen. That makes a special team. When things go well and when things don't go, I think that's when you learn the most about yourself and your team.

After their loss to the Sharks, the leadership group had a series of meetings to discuss what went wrong and how to move forward. They reviewed a number of aspects of the game to ensure this would never happen again.

Keller said he was happy to get back to it two days later in their game against the Flames, a game they would win 5-1.

There are times when a big speech isn't enough, said head coach Andr Tourigny. I think it's more through action.

A test for Tourigny

It is also a chance for André Tourigny to prove that he is more than just a development coach. Bill Armstrong hired him in large part because of his strong track record of developing and motivating young players on the OHL, QMJHL and Canada's World Junior Championship teams.

He has managed to take guys like Keller, Dylan Guenther and Logan Cooley to the next level. During reconstruction that was the only real expectation. With the rebuild coming to an end, Tourigny will show if he has what it takes to coach a winning team in the NHL.

If we get better every day, we are on the right track, Tourigny said at his press conference ahead of this year's training camp. I use the law of one percent: if we can be one percent better tomorrow, perfect, we have won the day. Do the same the next day. In 100 days you can do the math. It will be much better.