Darren Turcotte

Darren Turcotte
Born (1968-03-02) March 2, 1968
Boston, Massachusetts, USA
Height 6 ft 0 in (183 cm)
Weight 190 lb (86 kg; 13 st 8 lb)
Position Center
Shot Left
Played for New York Rangers (1988–1993)
Hartford Whalers (1993–1995)
Winnipeg Jets (1995–1996)
San Jose Sharks (1996–1997)
St. Louis Blues (1997–1998)
Nashville Predators (1998–2000)
National team  United States
NHL Draft 114th overall, 1986
New York Rangers
Playing career 1988–2000

Darren Turcotte (born March 2, 1968, in Boston, Massachusetts) is a retired professional Ice hockey player.

Early life

Turcotte's family moved to North Bay, Ontario where he spent most of his childhood. After his family returned to northern Ontario, he began playing ice hockey at the age of five.[1] He then played six seasons with the Pinehill Coffee Shop 'AAA' minor hockey team, which at the time was coached by his father Don Turcotte.[1] In 1984, now playing in the midget division, Darren scored 60 goals and in that same year he led the Pinehill Coffee Shop win the NOHA, Ontario, and Canadian Midget hockey titles.[1] After his impressive 60 goal season, Darren was drafted to the Ontario Hockey League (OHL) North Bay Centennials in the third round. He played four seasons with the Centennials, averaging 60 points a season with 30 goals and 30 assists.[1] He also made it to the OHL Cup championship final series in 1987, but North Bay lost the series in seven games to the Oshawa Generals.[2] Turcotte finished his OHL career with a record of 128 goals and 150 assists for a total of 278 points with 211 regular season games played.[1]

Professional career

Turcotte was drafted in the 1986 NHL Entry Draft by the New York Rangers in the sixth round, number 114 overall. Due to suffering a shoulder injury in training camp, Turcotte was forced to miss the first 34 games of the season with the Rangers.[3] Although Turcotte was drafted in 1986, he did not make his NHL debut until October 6, 1988. Once he was put into the lineup, he only played a couple of games before getting sent back down to the International Hockey League (IHL).[3] After he scored 49 points in only 40 games in the IHL, the Rangers decided to give him another shot.[3] In his second game back, he registered his first NHL goal and went on to record his first career hat trick a couple weeks later.[3] As a member of the Rangers he played in the NHL All-Star game in 1991. In Turcotte's NHL career he played for the Rangers (1988-1993), Hartford Whalers (1993-1995), Winnipeg Jets (1995-1996), San Jose Sharks (1996-1997), St. Louis Blues (1997-1998), and Nashville Predators (1998-200). In 2000, Turcotte was forced to end his NHL career in Nashville due to injuries. In his 12-year NHL career, Turcotte recorded 411 points with 195 goals and 216 assists in 635 career games.[1]

Post career

After finishing his career with the Nashville Predators, Turcotte stayed in middle Tennessee and founded the Southern Ice Lightning AAA Midget traveling team in Brentwood, Tennessee. While in Tennessee, Turcotte began coaching his son Devan's tyke house league team as well as his Elite midget 'AAA' team.[2] After a few years in Tennessee, Turcotte returned to North Bay where he became the assistant coach for the Abitibi Eskimos (A Junior A Tier II team) of the Northern Ontario Junior Hockey League (NOJHL) in 2005–06.[2] Shortly after, he became the head coach for the North Bay Skyhawks for two seasons. During his two seasons with the Skyhawks, Turcotte had a 41-28-1 record.[2] Turcotte went on to be the assistant coach for the Nipissing Lakers Men's hockey team from 2008-2011.[4] Then in 2012, when Nipissing gained a woman ice hockey team, Turcotte made the switch to women's hockey, where he still remains the coach today. The Nipissing girls' hockey team was not the only girls' team Turcotte coached, as he also coached the North Bay Ice Boltz midget-AA team. With the Ice Boltz, Turcotte took the team to the finals of a LLFHL championship tournament in 2012 and the Esso Cup national championship in 2013.[2] Turcotte also has an impressive international coaching record, having coached Team USA inline hockey team, that won gold at the 2006 World Inline Tournament. Turcotte also went on to create hockey camps and skill development programs in his hometown of North Bay. "I'm hoping they can enjoy some of the joy and success I had playing the sport."[2] Turcotte continued to support and develop youth hockey in North Bay and became an instructor at a local off-ice youth hockey skills development facility called Elite Hockey. There Turcotte and other instructors like Boston Bruins prospect Matt Marquardt helped develop young players in hopes to create future NHL players. Although the facility eventually closed due to lack of involvement, Turcotte still continues to support and develop hockey programmes within his own community. On April 27, 2004, Turcotte was the 196th inductee into the North Bay Hockey Hall of Fame.[1] On May 3, 2013, Turcotte received the Judge Harry J. Reynolds Memorial Trophy for his contribution to hockey.[2] This award is given out to those who have dedicated their time towards hockey either as a coach, player, or builder. Turcotte joined his father Don Turcotte, who also received this award in 1984.[2]

Personal life

Turcotte has three children, two daughters, Amanda and Kaylyn and a son, Devan. Devan played as a forward with the North Bay Trappers, in his second year as a 19-year-old.

International play

Turcotte represented the United States at the 1987 and 1988 World Junior Ice Hockey Championships and senior level at the 1993 Men's World Ice Hockey Championships.

Awards

  • Played in NHL All-Star Game (1991)

Legacy

  • Ranked No. 86 on the all-time list of New York Rangers in the book 100 Ranger Greats (John Wiley & Sons, 2009).

References

  1. 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 "North Bay Sports Hall of Fame Inductee". www.northbaysportshalloffame.ca. Retrieved 2017-03-23.
  2. 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 "Turcotte honoured for dedication to hockey". BayToday.ca. Retrieved 2017-03-23.
  3. 1 2 3 4 "Darren Turcotte". www.greatesthockeylegends.com. Retrieved 2017-03-23.
  4. ↑ "Turcotte to coach Lakers women's hockey team | Nipissing University". www.nipissingu.ca. Retrieved 2017-03-23.
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