Turner McHugh | Junior Review

[Turner 8]

Turner McHugh, born and raised in Timmins, Ontario, spent his younger years playing rink hockey with his friends. His parents couldn't afford every piece of hockey gear, but they had enough to buy him a stick and gloves, so he could partake in the local ball hockey league that came around every summer. He spent most of his days in his basement, shooting at targets he had made out of potato sacks. One day, he asked his parents if he could do chores, and make an allowance, but they had a better idea. His grandfather was looking for a helping hand down at his auto repair shop. Turner's job was to go around town and post flyers every weekend. 

 

In the matter of a year and a half, Turner made enough money to buy every piece of equipment necessary. His first team was the Timmins North Stars of the NOHA. He played the whole season, but failed to mark a point. This did not discourage him. During the next ball hockey season, he played sixteen games and achieved a statline of 3-11-14. This gave him confidence for the next season with his team, the Timmins North Stars.

 

He played all twenty-five of their regular-season games and managed to get two goals and helped out on sixteen others (2-16-18). Then came along the playoffs. This was a first for Turner and a first for the franchise in seven years. Finishing one point ahead of the last-place Iroquois Falls Eskimos, the North Stars now had to face the nearly unbeaten Kirkland Lake Blue Devils (Record: 23-0-2). Inevitably, the North Stars get eliminated, but Turner did pull away with five assists. 

 

As Turner anxiously waited for the next season to begin, he gets a call from his coach, telling him that he would no longer be playing for the North Stars, and that he had been called up to play with the Timmins Rock of the NOJHL. Turner was ecstatic. He instantly called his parents to tell them the good news.

As the season begins, Turner gets the chance to play against the Soo Thunderbirds, Espanola Express, and the dreaded Powassan VooDoos, lead by veteran forwards Parker Bowman, Tyson Gilmour and Gary Mantz, along with the Number One ranked defenceman, Eric Nagy.

 

Turner managed to get in seven assists in his first twelve games, but soon after gets traded to the worst-ranked French River Rapids. The trade between Timmins and French River was an exchange of center prospect Turner McHugh and goalie prospect Dylan Dellaire for veteran forward Gabriel Reault. Turner would finish the season with the Rapids and managed to net seventeen goals and help out on thirty-four others in forty-one games (17-31-48 41GP). French River would not qualify for the playoffs, finishing seventeen points behind the Cochrane Crunch.

Not long into the off-season, Turner receives a call from his agent. He said that the scouts from the Houston Bulls organization would be pleased if they could sign the young center prospect. He agreed to the terms.

     |502 Words|

Edited April 10, 2020 by Turner
I made a miscalculation