Not many NHL players have stepped up to represent their country in hockey the way Kyle Turris has. The former Ottawa Senator played for Team Canada in three world championships and six other national teams at various junior age levels, starting at U17 and closing at the World Juniors in 2008, when he won gold and led Canada in scoring.
Now, two years after closing out a fine NHL career, Turris has returned to the national program, joining their senior management team at the U17 level.
“Yeah, I’ve been working with Hockey Canada. And just a couple of weeks ago, I was at the U17 camp in Oakville. I’m working with Byron Bonora (U17 head scout) and a couple of other people there to work through the process with the U17s, and it’s been a lot of fun.”
Turris is also the new hockey director at the North Shore Winter Club, a family athletic club serving the Greater Vancouver Area that has its own minor hockey program. And unlike his 14 years in the NHL, this job doesn’t have much travel.
“It’s 10 minutes from our house,” Turris said. “I work with great people, TC Carling (Club COO and GM) being one of them.
It gives me an opportunity to work with families and kids and help educate them, help develop, and also kind of guide a hockey program. So I’ve really been enjoying that too.”
Even before these new jobs, Turris has been a busy man in “retirement.” He coaches his kids in hockey and also did an internship with the Vancouver Canucks last season, learning about the inner workings of an NHL team.
“I stepped away from that at the end of the season, and it was a great experience,” Turris said. “I can’t thank the Canucks enough for giving me that opportunity. I was on the business side, learning how a franchise is run and how it operates. It was such a neat experience and an invaluable learning experience.”
Turris also recently finished off his business degree, which he started at the University of Wisconsin back in 2007 as he suited up for the Badgers hockey team.
“Yeah, so I’m officially a University of Wisconsin business graduate,” Turris said. “I started taking courses online in my last three or four years in the NHL.
When COVID hit, universities offered everything online, so I didn’t have to go back. And once I retired, I signed up for full course loads at 18 credits. I was able to get through it and graduated with my business degree this past spring.”
Graduating 17 years after you started is a long haul, but two of his Badgers teammates went through it with him.
“Yeah, a bunch of us freshmen on the hockey team,” Turris said. “My roommate was Ryan McDonagh. And another freshman that year was Cody Goloubef, who played a bit in Ottawa. So the three of us actually graduated together at the same.”
Turris always stepped up in overtime during his career, so it stands to reason that he doesn’t mind all this extra work.
While Kyle and his wife, Julie, have set up shop in Vancouver, close to family and where he grew up, they both miss everyone back in Ottawa.