Goal-scoring D-man thrives on hard work

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This article was published 29/08/2019 (2463 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current.

Fifteen-year-old Zach Turner talks a lot about hard work, which might just carry him a long way in hockey.

The six-foot-one,167-pounddefenceman from Boissevain, who is perhaps best known for his goal-scoring, wants to show Brandon Wheat Kings brass that he has a lot to offer when he has his first chance to join the Western Hockey League club on a full-time basis next season.

“I just want to work my hardest and let them know what they can have in the future,” Turner said. “I just want to do my best so that I can make the team in the future.”

Turner started skating around age five, and played forward up until major peewee. The move to the back end was apparently a success.

He finished second in team scoring with the Southwest Bantam AAA Cougars with 20 goals and eight assists in 36 games. He also accumulated 56 penalty minutes.

“It was joining the rush, just working hard and playing my best and they just came to me,” Turner said of his outstanding goal production for a blue-liner.

The Wheat Kings took an interesting path at the WHL bantam draft in selecting Turner, who they coveted.

After taking three forwards in the first round, Brandon held the 23rd pick overall, which came from the Swift Current Broncos as part of the Jordan Papirny trade on Jan. 10, 2017.

Instead of using it, the Wheat Kings sent the pick to the Red Deer Rebels for the 31st selection and a fourth-round pick, and then happily took Turner eight picks later. (They later took Alberta forward Liam Watkins with the fourth-round pick that was also acquired.)

Turner’s bantam teammate Owen Harris of Wawanesa was also selected by Brandon, in the third round with the 53rd overall pick.

Turner certainly greeted the news of being taken by the nearby Wheat Kings happily that day, and nothing has changed.

“I think it’s amazing,” Turner said after practice on Wednesday morning. “Now that I think of it, being with a junior team, it’s going to be really fun in the future.”

Turner is too young for full-time duty in the WHL this season, so he plans to try out for the Cougars of the Manitoba AAA U18 Hockey League. As a 15-year-old, he thinks playing with and against 16- and 17-year-olds will help his game.

“I think again it’s just working my hardest and doing all the little things right and trying to make sure that I can stick up with the big guys and do well,” Turner said.

Turner, who was also taken in the Manitoba Junior Hockey League draft’s sixth round by the Dauphin Kings, believes his strengths as a defenceman come on both sides of the puck.

“I think I’m really good defensively, and offensively I know when to join the rush and know when to stay back and hold my D-zone,” Turner said. “I just work my hardest.”

Brandon general manager Darren Ritchie agrees that Turner does a lot of things that go well beyond his goal-scoring ability. Ritchie, the team’s former director of scouting, saw a lot of the young defender last season.

“He’s a really composed guy with the puck, and really good at reading the play and joining the rush at the right time,” Ritchie said. “He has a really good shot coming in late. He defends well, has a good stick and is still a young guy and is going to get stronger. When you have young D, you always have to be a little more patient with them.”

Turner, who will be in action this evening at 6 o’clock as teams Black and White meet at rookie camp for the second day in a row, hopes he has many big days ahead of him at Westoba Place.

He definitely wants to be a Brandon Wheat King.

“Really, really badly,” Turner said with a smile. “A lot.”

» pbergson@brandonsun.com

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