André Tourigny reflects on coaching Nikita Kucherov with the Rouyn-Noranda Huskies during the 2012–13 QMJHL season: “I won't say any different than what anybody knows about Kuchy. He did not become like that. There's a lot of players where at some point you're 25, 26, 27, 30 years old, and now you understand there's things you need to change. You need to change certain ways you train, or you need to change certain life habits, or whatever. You can listen to Tom Brady talking and say, ‘Hey, it's later in my career where I figured out my nutrition, or I figured out certain things.’ Kucherov was like that at 19 years old. He brought a really good culture in our organization because extended time at the rink to work on his body, on his therapy, or he was coming back from a shoulder surgery. A lot of professionalism in the way he prepped. A lot of extended time in the gym, a lot of extended time studying film and stuff like that. So that bled into his teammates, and it was awesome. And talking with him, I was kind of, okay, it's another level, because when you talk with a junior player, he can be really smart, but he's not as mature in everything. When I talked to Kuchy about games or specific plays or whatever, he knew right away. He often asked me questions about simple plays. I was kind of, there is not one junior player in 10 years who talked to me about those kinds of things. That's how he was. He's a student of the game. What you hear about him right now when you talk about how he prepared during the summer, it's exactly the same. I could say stories about him forever, and I had him not that long of a time, but how committed he is at being a hockey player. Kuchy is a hockey player 24/7.” #GoBolts #TusksUp