A recent Okotoks Oilers graduate with a laundry list of individual accomplishments has capped of his Junior career with a scholarship to play Division 1 hockey with a familiar face in the fall of 2012.
Jon Turk, the Oilers’ all-time leader in games played, 182, and second leading scorer all-time with 153 points amassed from 2008-12, has committed to the University of Vermont Catamounts for the 2011-12 season, joining Oilers’ alumnus and former teammate Kyle Reynolds at the Hockey East school.
Turk, who led the Oilers with 30 goals and 62 points in 2011-12, said Reynolds’ words carried weight in his decision to join the Burlington-based National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) school.
“We have a couple guys going there, Kyle (Reynolds) is there this year and he has so many good things to say about it,” Turk said. “I want to go to go with someone that I know (who says) the place I’m going to is going to be a perfect fit.”
“If (Kyle) says it’s good, it sounds right to me.”
Turk is the second Oiler from the 2011-12 roster to accept a scholarship to Vermont after rookie blueliner Robert Hamilton committed to be a Catamount, starting in either the 2012-13 or 2013-14 season. Oilers head coach James Poole said he’s hopeful the franchise and the university continue their recent run of affiliation.
“We’re happy that Vermont now having three of our players I think that’s a good pipeline hopefully that we’re building,” Poole said. “A lot of the credit should go to Kyle Reynolds, with him going there last year and doing such a good job this year I think gave them confidence to take players from our program.”
Reynolds’ consistency as a freshman from the Oilers may have also played a part in swaying the discerning minds of Vermont of Turk’s ability to follow in his old teammates footsteps.
Reynolds was named to the Hockey East Conference all-rookie team and finished second in team scoring with 23 points.
“It shows that we have a good program here in Okotoks and that we’re going to come in and give her our all and they know what they’re getting,” Turk said.
The Catamounts’ scouts had eyes on Turk since the AJHL showcase weekend in September and were gradually convinced of his potential in the collegiate ranks.
“They’re all going to be older guys, faster, stronger so just the fact that they know I’ll be able to keep up with them and I’m not scared to be hit by those bigger guys and get into it,” Turk said.
The 20-year-old said he went through some rough patches wherein he thought he might not end up with a spot on an NCAA roster following his Junior career.
“I came into the year knowing it was going to be a lot of hard work that it was going to take a whole season of doing what I need to do,” Turk said.
See Turk on page 27
“You go through those lulls where it’s in your head that it’s not going to work out for you and then for it to eventually work out is pretty satisfying.”
Poole said it was a process for the school to be able to forge ahead with the scholarship offer.
“They talked to him at the showcase a bit and for them it was kind of a situation of finding how much money they had for a scholarship,” Poole said. “For a lot of these programs with 20-year-old’s it’s a juggling act for them because they can only give a certain amount of full scholarships out.”
The interest in Turk really peaked in the last couple months, Poole said.
“Finally some money became available with one of their players leaving and they had their eye on Jon that if that did happen, he was a guy they would go after.”
Reynolds and Turk skated on different lines for most of their two years together as members of the Oilers in 2009-11, but Turk said he’s eager to lace up the skates with the former Oiler sniper.
“I’ve been with him for two years so I know what he’s like and we were good friends those two years so it will be fun.”
Turk, who has himself a four-year scholarship at Vermont, said he will likely begin his post-secondary education in general studies with an ultimate focus on business.
