Probable future Hockey Hall of Famer Pierre Turgeon, who retired from his NHL career as a member of the Avalanche in the summer, is still all about the pucks.
The Cherry Hills resident and father of four took over coaching duties for the Colorado Select Under-16 girls squad, which includes one of his twin daughters, Elizabeth, and so far, the team looks unbeatable.
The state all-star team, which plays in youth hockey’s highest division, began the season by going 5-0 in last weekend’s Midwest Elite Showcase at Taylor Sportsplex in Taylor, Mich.
The Select, featuring the best players from Colorado and neighboring states, outscored its opponents a combined 34-3. Colorado defeated Michigan’s national powers Little Caesars and Honeybaked 5-1 and 4-2, respectively, and then pounded Belle Tire, another Michigan team, 5-0.
On Sunday, the Selects outscored Ohio and Texas a combined 20-0, 10-0 apiece.
“We did very, very good; the girls played really hard,” said Turgeon, who amassed 515 goals and 1,327 points for the Islanders, Canadians, Blues, Stars and Avs. “We just wanted to know where we fit. We didn’t expect to win that big, but all the lines had a lot of goals, and the girls had confidence, which you need anytime you play Honeybaked or Caesars.”
Nicole Craft of Westminster and Jordan Lee of Colorado Springs share goaltending duties for Colorado. Elizabeth Turgeon and Molli Mott of Colorado Springs are the team’s top scorers. They produced a combined nine goals in the first three games.
Pierre Turgeon, 38, called his new job “so much fun.”
“I enjoy being ’round the girls and teaching them positioning,” he said. “The learning curve for girls, compared to boys, is different. Girls like to compete, but sometimes you only have to tell them to do things once, and they go out and do it.”
Does he miss the NHL? “I saw my first game a couple days ago, and yeah, it was kind of weird,” he said. “I do miss it, but at the same time it was time for me to retire and spend more time with the family.
“What I really miss is being around the guys in the locker room. But I’m able to be a part of it still, because the organization allows for us to go see the guys in the locker room and stuff like that.”
WHEN IN FOOTBALL COUNTRY…
Pucks and pigskin. Fresh off its two-game, season- opening sweep against Maine, the University of Denver hockey team heads off to cherished football country Wednesday. The Pioneers begin a two-game nonconference series at Notre Dame on Thursday, with the finale slated for Friday.
DU coach George Gwozdecky surprised his young team by postponing the return flight until Sunday, so the entire program could attend Saturday’s Notre Dame-USC football game in South Bend, Ind.
The DU-Notre Dame series begins a day earlier than normal to avoid interfering with the football game and other Notre Dame homecoming festivities. The change played right into Gwozdecky’s hands, and he delivered what figures to be a special treat for his players.
Notre Dame homecoming weekend
Thu.-Fri: DU hockey at Irish, 5:35 p.m. MDT
Sat.: USC at Irish, 1:30 p.m. MDT
THE WEEK AHEAD
TV GAME OF THE WEEK
Rox vs. D-backs. It’s all about acronyms. Thank you, TBS, for getting your HD together and letting us enjoy Game 4 on our expensive TVs.
Cable and HD satellite subscribers were sent a phone message last week announcing TBS would be available in HD. What, when TBS and MLB signed its playoff deal did they not anticipate that viewers would freak out about watching the playoffs in snowy conditions? We like snow in the mountains, not our living rooms.
FIGHT NIGHT IN DENVER
Chuck Norris’ World Combat League begins its second season Friday at the Denver Coliseum. The newly formed Denver Fury faces Western Conference foes the Texas Dragons, Oklahoma Destroyers and Los Angeles Stars in a mix-martial arts match judged similarly to high school and college wrestling.
“We’re very excited to be introducing the WCL to the Denver market,” Norris said in a release. “We think we have the most exciting product in all of MMA.
“Last year our bouts featured a 33 percent knockout rate – by far the highest such rate in any contact sport. Combine this with our short bouts (each individual fight lasts no longer than three minutes) and the sheer number of bouts we fit into our team concept, and the entire evening unspools like a YouTube highlight video.”
AVS HOST CALGARY
Hot Flames. Colorado continues its homestand Tuesday against the visiting Flames, who have won two in a row since starting 0-3. The Denver stop completes Calgary’s four-game road trip, which began with a 4-2 loss at Detroit last week. The Flames have scored 10 goals in their past two games, winning 3-2 in overtime at Dallas and 7-2 at Nashville.
DIAMOND LOVERS
Prep state softball on tap. The Rockies aren’t the only stick-and-ball team still swinging when Mother Nature begins to warn us that winter is coming.
The prep softball tournament is Friday (regionals) and Saturday (finals).
Let’s hope softballs are the only white things flying around this weekend, and the snow doesn’t come down until the trees lose their leaves and football season heats up.
VROOMING ALONG
Gordon in driver’s seat. So when does NASCAR’s marathon season end? When Jeff Gordon kisses his fifth championship trophy Nov. 18 at Homestead, Fla. Gordon won his second straight race Saturday to take a 68-point playoff lead over teammate and defending champion Jimmie Johnson. Gordon should hold the lead over the final five races unless he wrecks in at least two of them.
