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Utah Hockey Club goaltender Karel Vejmelka (70) catches the puck after the Tampa Bay Lightning attempted to score during a game at the Delta Center in Salt Lake City on Saturday, March 22, 2025. | Tess Crowley, Deseret News
Utah Hockey Club head coach André Tourigny kicked off his routine press conference on Tuesday in an unorthodox manner: a message to the fans.
He was aware of the skepticism surrounding the decision to repeatedly start goaltender Karel Vejmelka. Tuesday will mark Vejmelka’s 18th consecutive start — something that hasn’t been done in the NHL in the last six years. Tourigny wanted to state his piece.
It began with a question to those in the room: “Do you believe we can win the Stanley Cup with Vej?”
The general consensus was that it could eventually happen.
“If we can win the Stanley Cup with him, how many games will that take in the playoffs?” he asked.
The minimum is 16, though it almost always takes more than 20.
“If we get in the playoffs, we win a round and we’re in the semifinal, Game 6, and I tell you we’ll ‘load manage’ Vej (and) we’ll play the backup tonight, how would you assess my decision?”
“Very poorly,” one reporter said.
“Exactly. So we’re fighting for our lives every night (right now), and you want us to not put our best lineup on the ice? That makes no sense. We are in the playoffs. We are in our Stanley Cup run. We are fighting to get the right to play game number 83.”
How likely is Utah HC to make the playoffs?
Utah is currently nine points out of a playoff spot with eight games remaining and three teams to pass. The math isn’t in its favor, but it also still gives the team a chance.
Does Tourigny actually believe his team will make the cut? Maybe, maybe not. But the team has stated time and again that its goal for the season was to play “meaningful” games in March and April.
Starting Vejmelka makes these games more “meaningful.” Rather than waving the white flag by using the third- or fourth-string goalies, Tourigny is dragging his team into the battle. The best way to develop young players is to have them play meaningful games, and that’s one outcome of this decision.
Whose decision is it to start Vejmelka?
Earlier in the season, Tourigny stated that while final roster decisions are his, he defers to goalie coach Corey Schwab on goaltending decisions. For that reason, this should come as no surprise.
In the 2018-19 season, the Arizona Coyotes were fighting for a playoff spot — not unlike Utah HC now. Rick Tocchet was the bench boss at the time, but Schwab was still in charge of the crease. Under his direction, Tocchet started Darcy Kuemper 22 times in a row.
Kuemper got a break once the team was mathematically eliminated, though it wasn’t until the final game. Tourigny’s message implies that Vejmelka will do the same.
Schwab saw the benefits of a true No. 1 goalie firsthand when he played behind all-time wins leader Martin Brodeur — and it’s because of that experience that Schwab’s name is on the Stanley Cup.
“He knows exactly (how) it is to have a guy that plays 70-plus games a year,” Tourigny said. “I think having that championship experience from Schwabbie, it’s huge. He saw it from the inside and he can relate to the backup as well.”
Vejmelka still has a ways to go before breaking the all-time consecutive starts record: 502, set by Glenn Hall in the 1950s and ‘60s. That’s widely considered the most untouchable record in sports, as goalies never play the full season anymore.
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Utah Hockey Club goaltender Karel Vejmelka (70) lets a goal in during a game against the Detroit Red Wings at the Delta Center in Salt Lake City on Monday, March 24, 2025. | Kristin Murphy, Deseret News
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