Despite his role as a defender, Miguel Tourigny always had a flair for attack. So much so that his playing partners in the Blainville-Boisbriand Armada often had the impression that they were on their own. Furthermore, this deficiency was glaring at the rookie tournament in Buffalo last year.
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“Let’s say when we were in our zone, I often wondered what was going on,” admitted Tourigny, who met at Canadiens camp on Saturday. When we left for the other zone I was gone, but I was pretty lost in our territory. »
Cut off from the Laval rocket, largely due to this deficiency, the Victoriavillois exiled himself to Slovakia, where he wore the colors of the Dukla de Trencin. At the age of 20, Tourigny truly understood what the saying meant that travel shapes youth. On and off the ice.
“I was really the youngest in the team. I was like the child and all the boys were like my fathers. Also, the one I played with (Tomas Strarosta) was 41 years old. »
In short, he was “in the business of listening,” as the fathers of the 1970s and 1980s would have told him. And that’s what he did. For his own good.
“I matured a lot there. I became proud of playing well defensively. “I have improved this aspect of my game a lot and I think that has been clear since the start of the training camps,” analyzed Tourigny.
“Now when I’m in my zone, I focus on my defensive game first. Then I go into attack,” explained the defender, who is aiming for a position in Laval this season.
Pierre-Paul Poulin / Le Journal de Montréal / Agence QMI
“I missed mom and dad”
Obviously, arriving in a foreign country at the age of 20 requires quite a bit of adaptability. Let’s say that learning to play well defensively may not have been his biggest challenge.
“When I was released from Laval, my agents and I made the decision (to play in Slovakia). I was at full speed back then. But after a few days I hit a wall. I missed mom and dad,” he said.
When he laughs today when he thinks about the situation, he initially found it less funny.
“The first time I went grocery shopping, I understood absolutely nothing. I walked around with my Google Translate to figure out what I bought. It’s not famous, but famous, he added. I ate sandwiches that I bought ready to go before my games. The boys looked at me strangely. »
One thing led to another and he became friends with Phil Pietroniro, another Quebecer who played in Trencin, and then things went back to normal.
Don’t worry, the young man ate his fill in the end. He now tips the scales at 186 pounds, up from 168 last year.
“I ate a lot of protein in the summer and gained a lot of weight as a result. Last year I gained 10 pounds, but I didn’t feel as good as I did this year. »
Although he is heavier, he has lost none of his speed and flair.