Estimated read time: 4-5 minutes
- Sean Durzi scored his first goal for the Utah Hockey Club after shoulder surgery recovery.
- Durzi's goal came during a 6-1 win over Minnesota, sparking team momentum.
- Coach André Tourigny praised Durzi's energy, contributing to Utah's recent winning streak.
SALT LAKE CITY — For months, all Sean Durzi had were the memories.
The rally towels waving. The thunderous crowd. The excitement of taking the ice for a new franchise.
"That first game was so much fun," the Utah Hockey Club defenseman said. "I was ready to pour my heart out for this state of Utah and for this team."
He then had to wait four months to do it again. Shoulder surgery stole most of his first year in Utah, and now he's trying to make up for lost time.
On Sunday, Durzi skated out with his team on the home ice for the first time since the historic day in October. Four days later, he got his first goal in front of those fans he wanted so badly to play in front of this season.
Late in the second period, Durzi sent a dart from the top of the faceoff circle that soared past Marc-André Fleury for his first goal of the season and as a member of the Utah Hockey Club.
"The crowd's been incredible. You get chills every time, but to finally contribute and hear the crowd cheer when they call my name, it's so, so huge," he said. "We're so lucky to have these fans."
Though, he kind of wished it had come a game earlier.
See, he had told his grandparents to stay up that game because he was going to get a goal for them. He was just a couple of days off — hopefully they still were tuning in Thursday.
"Hopefully they're still up at home right now," he said. "Hopefully they're watching. I got them one tonight."
If they weren't, he had a few thousand others that were just as happy to see his goal, especially considering when it came during Utah's 6-1 win over Minnesota.
FIRST OF THE SEASON FOR SEAN DURZI!!!!! pic.twitter.com/fcJAK8chG5
— Utah Hockey Club (@utahhockeyclub) February 28, 2025
Durzi's strike came less than two minutes after the Wild had cut Utah's lead in half, 2-1. From there, the floodgates opened, with Utah scoring three goals in the third to pull away. It was just the fourth time this season Utah has scored six goals.
"Momentum is so important in our game," Durzi said. "As the season goes along, you realize it more and more."
Durzi has brought a spark to Utah as it's come out of the 4 Nations Face-Off break. The team has won three straight (and played well enough in their only loss). And that hasn't been a surprise to head coach André Tourigny.
"I often say he's our energy bunny; he wants it badly. I think he had a huge impact," Tourigny said.
The results, thus far, have proven that. A fun fact: The team is 4-0-0 at home when Durzi plays. Coincidence? Probably, but Utah is quicky realizing just how good it can be now that they have their blueliners back healthy. The Club has given up just one goal in each of its last three games — all wins.
"He's an awesome teammate," team captain Clayton Keller said of Durzi. "Everyone in this room loves him. It's so great to have him back. He's such a smart player. He's a guy that you want to be out there with."
Durzi made a goal early on in his recovery that he would be back for the team's stretch run. He saw the depth Utah had — especially after adding Olli Määttä to the blue line to help with the injuries — and thought it could be a pretty special group once everyone was on the bench.
That pushed him to not only rehab, but to also improve as a player.
"Once we kind of had that mindset of I'm gonna try to come back better than I was, I think it gave me that excitement of pushing through those hard days and getting back to this point," he said.
Those dark days were helped by his teammate — some healthy, some not. He had the chance to build a relationship with defensemen John Marino and Robert Bortuzzo as the trio recovered together. And the group welcomed in some injured forwards along the way, too.
"It was so fun to kind of bounce ideas, grow from each other, laugh with each other, and, obviously, make the process a little bit easier," he said. "I was welcoming them and then, you know, wishing them luck (when they returned)."
He can smile about it now, because he finally got back to the ice, too.
He's been welcomed back by the same thing he had missed so much: a thunderous cheer from a Utah crowd.
"I'm gonna give everything I have for the rest of the year here," Durzi said. "It's such an exciting time. I hope the city feels that and the state of Utah feels that. I'm just ready to give my all again."
