Hockey was always good to Kurtz

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This article was published 23/02/2016 (3704 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current.

Justin Kurtz scored his National Hockey League goal. In fact he got three of them.

The 39-year-old defenceman, who patrolled the blue-line for the Brandon Wheat Kings from 1993-97, also added five assists in 27 games with the Vancouver Canucks in 2001-02.

Now retired from the game and living in his hometown of Winnipeg, the business owner, married father of three and hockey school instructor says the game was good to him.

“I put in the most I could,” Kurtz said. “I worked hard, I always worked out in the off-season and was there every day, five days a week training. Looking back, I would have liked to have stayed there longer than I did in Vancouver, but I got there and I did fairly well. I scored, so looking back, that’s one of the highlights of my career, just getting up there and playing those games.

“I’ll always have that.”

Kurtz spent four seasons as a Wheat King, putting up 200 points in 243 regular-season games from 1993 to 1997. While he went on to play 16 years of professional hockey, he never forgot where it all began.

“It was just a great time in my life,” Kurtz said of his Brandon years. “I have nothing but good memories. To this day I go back and think about living there and the teams we had and the guys we played with and against.”

He visited during the Memorial Cup in Brandon in 2010 and was able to see several former teammates. He remains particularily close with Cory Cyrenne, who he also played with for several seasons with the Manitoba Moose in the International Hockey League.

Kurtz played eight of his last nine pro seasons in Europe. He has a very tangible link to his time there.

“One of my sons was born in Denmark, I had another that was born in Austria and then my last one was born here in Winnipeg,” Kurtz said. “I have three kids from three different countries. Overall it was great. I got to see a lot of the world and had a great time doing it and met a lot of great people. I feel fortunate. I have nothing bad to say. The game gave me a lot.”

He finally retired three years ago, and while he was ready, it wasn’t how he wanted it to end.

Kurtz had two injuries that sidelined him early in his career, a clavicle issue that cost him a few weeks in Brandon and a slapshot to the face in his first pro season with the Moose that required surgery.

“Other than that I was never really injured,” Kurtz said. “My last year playing in Germany in Dresden, I got hit — and I hardly got hit, I’ve been hit way harder than that — but I ended up with some concussion issues.

“That was my last year. It happened right around Christmas and I had to take the rest of the year off.”

His wife Nicole had just accepted a teaching position in the Winnipeg School Division and his oldest son, Tegan, who is now 7, had just turned five. Kurtz realized it was time.

“I know some guys have a hard time after, especially the way it ended for me when I didn’t get to play my last game,” Kurtz said. “Even my wife was worried about that, how my psyche would be because I didn’t get to finish on my own terms. But I really haven’t had a problem with it. I got to play for a long time and see lots.

“I got to meet a lot of great people and am still friends with a lot of them to this day. It just happened how it happened. I was more fortunate than most guys.”

It took about six months after the concussion for Kurtz to start feeling good again. He has no side-effects anymore and played senior hockey with the Prairie Thunder the last couple of years, winning the Allan Cup last spring.

This year he will be co-coaching the team, something that interests him. The drawback to coaching is the travel, because the 39-year-old is clearly devoted to his family, which also includes sons Kade, 4, and Brody, 19 months.

A couple of years before he retired, Kurtz joined a four-way partnership that purchased some land and put in a

self-storage company called Total Storage. (It’s between Headingley and Winnipeg just past the John Blumberg Golf Course on the south side of the Trans-Canada Highway.)

For the last two years, he has also run PhD Hockey Camps, with in-season skates and some spring and fall sessions.

“I’m doing some stuff at the storage company and running some camps but I’m pretty much the stay-at-home dad,” Kurtz said. “My days are pretty packed taking care of those boys too.”

Kurtz said he talks to his former teammates from time to time. He ran into Danny Tetrault recently for the first time in many years and they chatted for 15 minutes.

He’s been back to Brandon a handful of times, and marvels at how the city has grown. His days as a Wheat King are even occasionally mentioned to him at his hockey schools.

“I still have guys come to the camps who say ‘I remember watching you in Brandon,’ or stuff like that,” Kurtz said. “It’s just nice to know that.”

It’s not the only legacy of his time in Brandon. A lesson relayed by Wheat Kings coaches and management really sticks with him.

“One thing they taught was when you’re out there, concentrate and focus on what you’re doing,” Kurtz said. “Always work hard. I always took that and even to this day, when you have something to do, be there and be ready …

“To this day, I think it’s helped me out even after hockey because people respect that and know you care. It’s a good philosophy to have.”

» pbergson@brandonsun.com

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