Turko becomes a growing problem for opposition

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This article was published 22/04/2024 (574 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current.

Every part of Brady Turko’s game has grown in the last couple of years: It had to, just to keep up.

The Brandon Wheat Kings drafted the five-foot-five, 124-pound forward from McCreary in the fifth round of the Western Hockey League draft in 2022.

Two years later, he’s blossomed into a five-foot-11, 152-pound frame and developed into one of the top players in the Manitoba U18 AAA Hockey League with the Wheat Kings.

“It’s been good to get some height to my game,” said Turko, who moved to Brandon to attend the Western Canada Hockey Academy. “I think it’s helped me out quite a bit.”

When Turko was drafted by the Wheat Kings, director of player personnel Chris Moulton noted his hockey smarts and ability to read plays and create offence.

If you asked Moulton now, he would also likely mention Turko’s skating, which has evolved dramatically and helped lead to him signing with the WHL’s Wheat Kings in December.

Turko said that goes back to his growth.

“I’ve gained a lot of quickness with my height,” Turko said. “It helps a lot when your legs are longer and you get more of a stride. With the height, my skating has improved a lot. I haven’t really worked on it a whole lot. I’ve skated every day but I don’t really pick out that aspect of the game.”

The other thing that grew substantially was his production.

The 16-year-old forward, who is in his second U18 year, posted 14 goals and 29 assists in 44 games as a rookie a year ago. This year, Turko finished second in the league in regular season scoring with 41 goals and 49 assists in 41 games, behind only his linemate Jaxon Jacobson.

“I saw a lot of confidence in his game,” Jacobson said of Turko. “Last year, both of us being young guys in the league, I didn’t think we played with complete confidence. I think this year we both took a big step in our confidence. I think he had a huge year for himself, and obviously he signed with the Wheat Kings.”

Turko added nine more goals and 11 assists in 11 playoff games, and four goals and two assists at the Telus Cup west regionals held in Winnipeg. Overall, the Wheat Kings are now 55-1-1-0.

“I definitely had goals to have good success this year but I don’t think I expected to have as much as I’ve had so far this season and that our team has had so far this season,” Turko said. “But I’m not as surprised as you might think. I’ve been working pretty hard and our team has been working pretty hard so it’s been a good season.”

Turko also had a chance to practise with the WHL Wheat Kings at times this winter, and suited up for seven games, scoring once and earning a pair of assists.

He said there were a lot of benefits to his time spent with major junior players.

“I think it helped a lot,” Turko said. “The game is so much quicker at the next level, and getting a little sniff of that here during the season, I think it helped me when I came back (to the U18 club). I felt I was quicker, I was more aware and all around my game just improved.”

It didn’t hurt that fellow WHL Wheat Kings prospects Jacobson and Easton Odut were on his U18 line. While Jacobson and Odut bring different skillsets, each proved to be a big help.

“Jax is a great player to play with, so smart with the puck,” Turko said. “He makes good plays all the time and it obviously makes it a lot easier with a guy like that. And then when you get Odie there, too, he helps a lot by receiving a lot of pressure and stress on us. When he hits guys, he creates a lot of ice for me and Jaxon. He doesn’t get as much credit as he deserves.

“It’s great playing with both of them.”

Turko’s biggest goal this season came in three-on-three overtime in the west regional final on April 7, when he led Brandon to a 1-0 victory over the Saskatoon Blazers that sent them to the Telus Cup, which starts today in Cape Breton at the Membertou Sports and Wellness Centre.

“It was kind of a broken play,” Turko said. “Our D-man, Josh McGregor, got the puck in our own zone and backhanded it in reverse and fell over. Their guy skated around him and I picked up the puck and starting skating up the ice. No one came to me and all of a sudden I found myself on a one-on-one.

“I noticed it was a forward so I made a move and ended up putting it in the back of the net. It was pretty surreal.”

Turko said it was a great moment for his entire team, and a memorable one for him.

“It was incredible,” Turko said. “You don’t get too many times when you score an OT winner to win regionals and punch your ticket to nationals so there was a lot of joy I felt.”

Now a new challenge awaits at the Telus Cup as the Wheat Kings prepare to face five teams from across Canada they’ve never seen in person.

“You can’t take anyone lightly, and with our group, we’ve never taken anyone lightly all year, including regionals,” Turko said. “We’ve been a solid team the whole year and I think that doesn’t change going into nationals.

“Our coaches do a great job of giving us scouting report on teams so we can look at that. It just comes down to who wants it more.”

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