Darren Turcotte

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. 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. 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. After his impressive 60 goal season, Darren was drafted to the Ontario Hockey League (OHL) North Bay Centennials in third round. He would play four seasons with the North Bay Centennials, where he would average 60 points a season with 30 goals and 30 assists. He also made it to the OHL championship final series in 1987, but North Bay would end up losing the series in Game 7 to the Oshawa Generals. Turcotte, would finish his OHL career with a record of 128 goals and 150 assists for a total of 278 points with 211 regular season games played.

Professional career

Turcotte was drafted in the 1986 NHL Entry Draft by the New York Rangers. He was selected 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. Although Turcotte was drafted in 1986, he would not make his NHL debut until October 6, 1988. Even once he was put into the lineup, he only played a couple of games before getting sent back down to the International Hockey League. After he scored 49 points in only 40 games in the IHL, the Rangers decided to give him another shot. In his second game back, he registered his first NHL goal and would then go on to get his first career hat trick a couple weeks later. 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 New York Rangers (1988-1993), Hartford (1993-1995), Winnipeg (1995-1996), San Jose (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.

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, Darren began coaching his son Devan Turcotte's tyke house league team as well as, Elite midget 'AAA' team. After a few years in Tennessee, Darren 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. 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. Turcotte would go on to be the assistant coach for the Nipissing Lakers Men's hockey team from 2008-2011. Then in 2012, when Nipissing gained a woman ice hockey team, Darren would decide to make the switch over to women's hockey, where he still remains the coach today. The Nipissing girls' hockey team would not be the only girls' team Darren coached. He also coached the North Bay Ice Boltz midget-AA team. During his time 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. Darren also has an impressive international coaching record, having coached Team USA inline hockey team, that won gold at the 2006 World Inline Tournament. Turcotte, would also go 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." Darren didn't stop there, he continued to support and develop youth hockey in North Bay. He became an instructor at a local off-ice youth hockey skills development facility called Elite Hockey. There Darren and other instructors like Boston Bruins prospect Matt Marquardt, would help develop young players in hopes to create future NHL players. Although the facility would eventually close in later years due to lack of involvement, Darren still continues to support and develop hockey programmes within his own community. On April 27, 2004, Darren was the 196th inductee into the North Bay Hockey Hall of Fame. On May 3, 2013, Turcotte received the Judge Harry J. Reynolds Memorial Trophy for his contribution to hockey. This award is given out to those who have dedicated their time towards hockey either as a coach, player, or builder. Achieving this award was a big moment for Darren because it meant that he would join his father Don Turcotte who also received this award in 1984.

Private life

Turcotte has three children, two daughters, Amanda and Kaylyn and a son, Devan. Son 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

Legacy