Welcoming Steve Potvin
The Tucson Roadrunners formally introduced Steve Potvin as Head Coach on Thursday, August 18. Joined by Arizona Coyotes General Manager Bill Armstrong and Roadrunners General Manager John Ferguson, the three took questions from local Tucson media after giving opening remarks. The full press conference is included below.
Bill Armstrong: This was a big hire for us, we’re at a crucial time in the organization’s development of young players. We have some tremendous young talent coming through the door, and we wanted to make sure we had a good coach. A coach that would see the best in them, help develop them and push them. From watching Steve do his work as Head Coach [in 2020-2021], he did an outstanding job. The feedback from our players was incredible about how much they liked to play for him, they enjoyed being pushed by him, how fair he was, and how he got the best out of them. That was very important in the hiring process, and we came to the conclusion that didn’t take very long. We pulled the trigger and hired Steve, and he’s going to be a big piece of this organization moving forward. He’s going to help us from developing players to helping us win a cup.
John Ferguson: Our commitment here is to develop Arizona Coyotes in a competitively successful environment. We’ve done that for a number of years, I’ve been here for about a year now, and couldn’t be more pleased with Steve Potvin’s progress as a head coach. He’s a proven player developer and a proven winner at this level. his experience as a coach and as a player, not just in North America but also in Europe, put him in a great spot. I’ve seen him work day in and day out for a year straight, attacks every day and prepares every day. He knows when to push, knows when to support, knows when to take a step back at times. I couldn’t be happier to have him named as Head Coach of the Tucson Roadrunners.
Steve Potvin: I’d really like to take the opportunity to thank the Meruelo Family, their strength and their commitment to Arizona Hockey and the growth of it is tremendous. Not only from the Tempe side, but here in Tucson as well. We look forward to continued success and continued growth here. The thing I appreciate the most is that Bill and John have the foresight for growth and what it takes to win. They’ve been able to put together a strong staff, not only from a coach’s perspective in the NHL, but our development staff all the way down the ranks is second to none. We appreciate that at the American Hockey League level, and we’re going to create a standard that gets us from good to great. That’s what we’re here to do, and we’re looking forward to every challenge. We’ve got a great staff in place to meet all of those challenges.
Q: What is the hiring process like when you already have a candidate in-house like Steve Potvin?
Armstrong: It wasn’t that hard in the fact that we had seen his work before here as Head Coach [in 2020-2021]. The feedback from all the players and agents after that year was outstanding. The players had such high regard for Steve and what he had accomplished. That’s the type of environment we were looking for, where players are going to come through the door and they’re going to want to play for the coach. To have a coach that has their back and pushes them in a way that they can still have that nice relationship with the coach is really important for us, and an environment to get the most out of the player. When we knew Steve brought that, there wasn’t anybody else on our board.
Q: What do you remember about serving as Head Coach in 2020-2021?
Potvin: I remember that there were a lot of moving pieces. At the time, we weren’t allowed that many staff members at the arena, so we were significantly outnumbered [by the players]. The day-to-day structure wasn’t really what the norm is at our level. Usually, the players can interact with skills coaches and a plethora of coaches and people that they can lean on. Unfortunately, we just weren’t able to get that connection with the players and the staff. I think that was the thing that was lacking the most. Honestly, that’s what I’m looking forward to now, the opportunity to work with the development staff, and our players far closer than we could in the past.
Q: How would you define your own growth over the last two seasons?
Potvin: The opportunity for me to step in and be the Head Coach was really good for me to see, experience and feel. Then the opportunity for me to step back and see how another coach does it was a major growth period for me. I think that prepared me and made me a lot more confidence with my approach.
Q: What is your philosophy on player development?
Potvin: My philosophy is that everybody needs a mentor, everybody needs a coach. I think development for us is seeking the truth. Seeing what the players are really good at, and sometimes trying to find where their weaknesses are at requires you to dig down and actually seek the truth. When you’re doing that, I think you’ll find the answers a lot easier and get with the approach and through the process a lot better
Q: How do you get to that truth?
Potvin: I think it takes a lot of commitment to the player in building relationships. You have to really understand what’s unique about each individual’s personality and start to dig in. You create that trust with that player, and the next thing you know you’re talking about those truths. It bodes well for them and bodes well for us as well.
Q: What does Tucson bring to the Coyotes organization?
Armstrong: It’s a great place to play. If you’re a prospect coming through and playing in the American Hockey League, I don’t think there’s a better place to play. Great weather, good travel, good coaches, and a good setup at the rink. We try to do everything down here from the hotels to the food, to the skills coaches at a first-class level. When we sit down with the player and the agent after the season it always comes back that players love Tucson. You can’t beat it.
Q: How do you feel about the potential number of high-quality prospects that could be coming through Tucson?
Potvin: That’s the exciting part, to be able to step in here at the ground floor and really try to grow with the organization and make sure the players understand what the standards are and what the expectations are from day to day. That’s what’s exciting about being a coach, helping those players along the way to help them achieve their goals and achieve the organization’s goals. I don’t think there could be a better position for a coach, it’s exciting.
Q: What’s it been like living in Arizona for more than a decade?
Potvin: It’s been great, we probably considered it home two months into it. We looked up at the blue skies and understood that Arizona would be home for the next 15 years. It’s been great for my family, they’ve enjoyed it and haven’t looked back. It’s been a wonderful place for our kids to grow. I appreciate the weather and the people, it’s really been a great place to live.
