Utah Hockey Club goaltender Karel Vejmelka (70) guards the goal as the Utah Hockey Club and Carolina Hurricanes play at the Delta Center in Salt Lake City on Wednesday Nov. 13, 2024 (photo by Scott G Winterton, Deseret News).
(photo by Scott G Winterton, Deseret News)
SALT LAKE CITY – After stepping off the ice first at Delta Center on Tuesday morning, goaltender Karel Vejmelka signaled that he would yet again protect the Utah Hockey Club’s net for the 18th straight game.
Considering that Vejmelka has made the most consecutive starts between the pipes in the NHL this season, there’s been some concern about his ability to stay fresh and avoid injury.
During the Utah Hockey Club’s morning press conference ahead of their matchup with the Calgary Flames, Head coach Andre Tourigny addressed the matter.
To begin Tuesday’s press conference, Tourigny took a bit of a different approach.
Rather than immediately opening it up to questions, he wanted to address the Vejmelka situation and provided some insight on the coaching staff’s thought process.
“To start I want to address a little bit our fans through you guys. You ask me a lot about the load management of Vej,” Tourigny said. “If we get in the playoffs, we get on a run, we’re in the semifinal of game six and I tell you load management with Vej. We’ll play the backup tonight. How would you asses my decision?”
“We’re fighting for our life every night and you want us to not put our best lineup on the ice every night? That’s make no sense. We are in the playoff. We are in our Stanley Cup run. We are fighting to get the right to play game number 83,” he added.
Like Tourigny noted, Utah clearly hasn’t given up on their playoff hopes despite trailing by nine points with only eight games left on their schedule.
That likely means that until Utah is mathematically eliminated from clinching a playoff spot, it’ll be No. 70 between the pipes.
Additionally, with Connor Ingram out indefinitely, Utah has been shorthanded in net since March 9.
While they did recall Jaxson Stauber and more recently Matt Villalta from the AHL, the two only have a combined 11 NHL starts. That doesn’t exactly instill confidence into a team that’s refusing to quit battling.
“If we were in any other situation, that makes sense. But eventually, if we get in that run where we aspire to win the Stanley Cup and we aspire Vej to be a huge part of it, we’ll have to play 20 odd games in a row,” Tourigny said.
Aside from the road matchups with Edmonton and Tampa where Vejmelka was benched after allowing a handful of goals, he’s looked really good.
In the 17 previous starts, Vejmelka has helped the team claim nine wins with just 2.4 goals against per night.
That’s pretty phenomenal considering how many games in a row he’s had to play.
If Utah wins this game, the team owes Vejmelka a steak dinner with his choice of veggies on the side. https://t.co/Efn7Ztlj6s
— Cole Bagley (@BagleyKSLsports) March 30, 2025
What’s been the key to remaining as fresh as possible during this lengthy stretch?
Tracking his energy level and making sure he feels prepared to man the net.
“What’s important for us is energy level.” Tourigny said. “Every day for practice, how do you feel when you wake up, how does your body feel, what kind of maintenance he needs in terms of therapy.”
“A couple games ago, he was a little bit tired. That’s why we laid off on practice time…when we got to Florida, he told us he was feeling great…we think we’re at par right now. He’s feeling great.”
So, while there may be a collection of different opinions regarding the matter, Utah has made it clear that Vejmelka will continue to start as long as they’re in the race.
Additionally, everyone is on the same page in terms of his ability to remain in net and he’s more than willing to answer the call.
The Utah Hockey Club will now return home to host the Calgary Flames on Tuesday night. The game can be viewed on SEG+. Fans can also tune in on air on the KSL Sports APP or on 97.5 and 1280 The Zone. Click here for the full schedule.
