Mitch Calvert
The Fort Frances Jr. Sabres have locked up three members of their core for next season.
Fort Frances native Kyle Turgeon and Atikokan’s Graham Dyck have signed on for a third season with the black-and-red while Kenora’s Colton Kennedy will return to the fold for a second year after joining the team back in November.
“This gives us three players that bring leadership, and a good base to build around,” Sabres’ head coach Wayne Strachan enthused.
The signings are a positive move in what has been an off-season of change so far for the Sabres—with the team parting ways with Brendan Baumgartner, Logan McDonell, Rod Bouchard, and perhaps Mitch Cain.
Turgeon, a former standout with the Muskies, started slow last season before tallying 36 points in his final 27 games, including an 11-game point streak from Dec. 6-Jan. 22.
He also added six points in seven playoff games, ending the year with 51 points in 52 games (including playoffs).
“The bounces just started going my way,” Turgeon said of his torrid second half. “I couldn’t catch any breaks in the first part of the year, but our line [with Mitch Cain and Dan Usiski] just started going and all of us picked up our play.”
The 19-year-old Turgeon said confidence was a major key in his turnaround.
“I’m usually really hard on myself because I always want to do the best that I can, but when you are down on yourself, it’s hard to do anything good out there,” he admitted.
“But when things go right, they go right.”
Turgeon wore an ‘A’ on his sweater a year ago, and could be a likely candidate to replace the departed Chris Sinclair as team captain.
“He is one of our leaders, both on and off the ice,” Strachan noted. “With his maturity in the league after two seasons, I believe he is poised to have another good season.
“I hear he is working hard in the gym, something he needs to do to become an elite player in our league and at this level,” Strachan added.
Even if Turgeon isn’t producing offensively, he is valuable at both ends of the rink and plays on the edge while staying fairly disciplined—often creating power-play chances by getting under the other team’s skin.
“He is, if not the best ‘PK’ player in the league, he is right up there,” Strachan said of Turgeon, referring to penalty killing. “He will definitely get more responsibility next season and be looked upon for more offensive production.”
Dyck, who turns 20 on Aug. 23, flourished in a checking role with the team last year, going against the opposing team’s best offensive line while still producing 30 points in 57 games.
“I think my role on the team this year will be a little more offensive than last year, but I’ll still be focused on bringing a strong defensive game,” Dyck said.
“I like to play [a] crash-and-bang style, so hopefully I can make some room for the other players.”
Strachan agreed, saying he expects the Atikokan product to bring veteran leadership and scoring to the Sabres next season.
“He is a big, strong player that can dominate the boards down low in our cycles and get the puck to his linemates or to the net,” Strachan explained.
“He has proved he can shut down the best opponents in the league, but next year I believe he can take the next step and produce more offensively for the team.
“He has the skill, he skates well for a big man, and he takes the puck to the net,” Strachan noted.
Dyck said he’s been working hard this off-season and should be better prepared for training camp in the fall.
“I’ve been working out and running trying to get ready,” he stressed. “As a 20-year-old especially, I have to show up in shape and ready to go right from the start because it’s my last year of junior and I can’t afford to take any time off.”
Meanwhile, Kennedy, who was acquired from the Winnipeg South Blues (MJHL) last November and came complete with a quality skill set, suffered both an ankle and collarbone injury at different points last season and spent considerable time on the injured list.
“He ran into some injuries but when he was in our lineup, we went from a good team to a great team,” Strachan lauded. “He [Kennedy] is a leader, a smart hockey player all over the ice, and he can produce on the scoresheet.
“He will be looked upon to make up some points for the loss of Chris Sinclair and now ‘Baumer.’”
Kennedy tallied 13 goals and 22 points in 22 regular-season games, and returned to the lineup in time to suit up for the final three games of the Sabres’ semi-final series loss to the Thunder Bay Bearcats in late March.
The reality of junior hockey at this level is the high likelihood of turnover from year to year. Strachan said the Sabres were in much the same situation a year ago and the on-ice product ended up improving in Year 2.
“Last season we had some good players leave our team, and we had players step up and take their roles on,” he reasoned. “This season we will need the same from a few guys and these three are more than capable of getting the job done.”
Turgeon said he’s also optimistic the Sabres can pick up where they left off a year ago after finishing the regular season with the third-best record behind the Bearcats and Fort William North Stars.
“We lost some of our key guys, but we’ve got some money to spend and hopefully we bring in some good guys,” Turgeon remarked.
“And there’s a couple guys coming up from the Muskies that we can use, so hopefully we keep the team strong.”
