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Mike Turner notches win number 600

By Byron Copley, 02/16/13, 9:45PM EST

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Number 600 for Trenton coach a 4-3 Showcase Win Over Traverse City Central

"It was a nice personal milestone," said Turner of his 600th win at Trenton, with the inflection of one who just finished a good book. "I have been very fortunate to have some great assistant coaches along the way. Mark Bronson, Freeman Floyd, Greg Obrycki, Rod Wakeham and Chad Clements shared a great deal of the workload and they make coming to the rink a lot of fun."

PAIR of come-from-behind wins at MIHL Showcase clinch #600

 

The day that someone other than Mike Turner stands behind the bench as the Trenton High School Varsity hockey coach for the first time will likely generate some unusual vibes throughout the rink, especially for the returning players who inherit his successor. Ironically, Turner has been such a fixture there over the past 19 years that his presence is practically taken for granted.

His absence won’t be, though. It will most certainly be noticed, like the empty chair at the dinner table that was occupied by the oldest child who grew up and left home.

And though that day is coming, it's not here yet.

“I’ll know when it’s time to walk away,” said Turner, in his accustomed droll, unassuming voice. “But I know I’m not looking at the long haul anymore.”

A career teacher, mentor and quiet disciplinarian, there are several facts about Turner that are not common knowledge, but augment the profile of a person who simply established a manner and method of coaching hockey that has never changed in more than 40 years, 27 of them at Trenton.

Turner played Varsity hockey at Ohio State in the 1960s, and he often shared table space at study time with Rex Kern, Jim Stillwagon, Jim Otis and other players from that legendary 1968 OSU football team.

“They were perceived as god-like, even by us hockey players,” Turner said years ago, in another interview prior to winning one of his 10 state championships.

He also has a record of every single game he's coached at Trenton.

"I have kept all the stat sheets in a box," he said.

There is a 13-year hiatus in his hockey-coaching career at Trenton, from 1981 to 1993, caused by a four-year layoff from the Trenton school district and a nine-year run by Skip Howey, who coached the hockey team as Turner coached other sports like baseball and golf when he returned to teach.

“I’ve always coached,” said Turner, “as long as I was teaching, I was coaching.”

Turner resumed head-coaching duties in 1994. He might be approaching 1,000 career wins without that 13-year career gap in the timeline, where Trenton averaged more than 20 wins a year.

“Maybe more like 900,” Turner offered.

Win number 600 was imminent as the 2012-13 season loomed last November. And it is fitting that the 13-9-1 Trojans awarded Turner at the MIHL Showcase with a 4-3 win over Traverse City Central on February 9 at Kennedy Recreation Center. Trenton trailed 3-2 going into the third period, until Phillip Pugliese and Justin Dunn scored the tying and winning goals to secure the milestone.

It would not have happened at the Showcase at all had the Trojans not edged Calumet 3-2 the day before, where Dunn and Bradley Teska scored in the third to erase a 2-1 Copper King lead.

These goal scorers, along with most everyone who has ever worn the Trenton jersey, looked to play for the high school since they could first skate.

“I’m proud of the fact that we’ve been able to be a contender year in and out,” said Turner. "We created an atmosphere that carved out a place in the school for hockey at a time when football was king.”

That atmosphere formed in the middle and late 70s when Trenton won three state championships in five years with entirely homegrown talent. That this tight pool of prospects, which is cultivated within the 7.51 square mile city perimeter, has produced 13 state championships and 10 with Turner as coach is testimonial to Turner’s methods and the willingness of his players to adopt them.

He does not give them much of a choice.

“I tell the them at the beginning of the year that ‘you’ve come from different teams and played for coaches a lot smarter than me, but we have a way of doing things, and the sooner you buy into the system, the better your chances of success.’”

Often times this traditional address is delivered in front of the display of the state championship banners that hang from the east wall of the Main rink.

“They are looking up at the banners, and they are listening to me,” said Turner, “and I say ‘my way works, and the sooner you adapt, the sooner we’ll be successful.’”

Someday, probably within the next decade, another coach will be delivering that address to a new set of Trenton high school varsity hockey players ushering in a new era of Trenton hockey. That person will likely remember his first win.

Turner could not recall his when asked about his.

"Win number one?" He chuckled. "No, not really." He can always look it up.

And Turner will definitely recall his final victory, though, which will encompass so much more than the result on the stat sheet he will add to his collection.


This is the Trenton team that earned win number 600 for Mike Turner (second row, far right).


Justin Dunn scored key goals in wins #599 and #600.


Phil Pugilese (19) didn't score here, but his tying goal against Traverse City Central would come with 11:50 to play in the third. Photo: freep.com


Brad Teska's GWG against Calumet edged Turner one game closer to win 600.