In April of 2024, the NHL announced that Utah would be getting its own NHL team. Since that day, the team’s popularity and success have skyrocketed.
This success is thanks not only to the players on the ice, but to the men who manage and guide the team. On Tuesday, Sep. 22, Highland students had the opportunity to hear from the team coach and general manager about how they achieved their success.
Bill Armstrong, the general manager of the Utah Mammoth, grew up in Canada. He spent winters helping his father drive tow trucks and his school days doing just enough to be allowed to play hockey. He says he always dreamed of championships, a goal he achieved, evident by the Stanley Cup ring he wears proudly.
His colleague and coach of the Mammoth, André Tourigny, had big dreams of his own.
“I would be nine or ten saying, ‘when I am coach,’” Tourigny recalled.
Both have come as far as one can go in terms of achieving success in the world of sports leadership. But it wasn’t easy. Throughout the years, both men have had to overcome immense obstacles, from battling their own anger to learning new languages.
“Until 2006, I didn’t speak a lick of English,” Tourigny said. “While I was already a high-level coach, I had to learn English from scratch.”
Tourigny is French-Canadian, with his childhood consisting of mostly working on his family’s farm. He only spoke French. He says he didn’t try very hard in high school, something he regrets now.
Both men emphasize the importance of hard work and perseverance in achieving success.
“The magic you’re looking for is in the work you’re avoiding,” Tourigny said.
They both spoke on the importance of putting in effort and taking your failures in stride. Saying that they don’t look for player who never fail, but for ones who know how to handle it — even when failure can cause emotions to boil over.
“I have four or five times a week when I drive home and I’m livid because we didn’t play well,” Armstrong said. “But it’s really about controlling your emotions and not getting too deep in the bad.”
This sentiment applies not just to anger over a failure but to doubt as well, with the two men saying that you can’t achieve your dreams if you tell yourself that you can’t.
“Don’t let your thought steal what you want to do,” Armstrong said,
But if you dream of being a champion, as Armstrong did, achieving your dreams doesn’t just come from handling failures but from working to improve yourself.
“They say a champion does three things: sleep, eat, and train,” Armstrong said.
Obsession might not be the best path for everyone, but there is an important lesson to be learned in dedicating yourself towards something you passionate about, according to Tourigny.
“You can have a goal, but you have to love the journey,” Tourigny said.
Above all, both men believe life should be passionate. Achieving dreams, managing failure, and dedication comes from finding one’s true love in life.
Both men say that they can work hard at their jobs because they have that passion.
“If you love what you do, you never really work,” Armstrong said, quoting his father.
