News

When Kyle Turris makes his way from the Nationwide Arena stands tonight to greet the general manager who selects him at the National Hockey League entry draft in Columbus, he may take a circuitous route to the stage in order to pass the Detroit Red Wings' table.

The reason for his walkabout would be to meet his idol, Steve Yzerman, the retired superstar who is now a hockey executive.

"I have grown up watching him play and have watched all those Don Cherry videos," said Turris, who would go with his parents to see Yzerman perform when the Wings visited Vancouver to play the Canucks. "[Yzerman] is the ultimate all-around player and warrior. He battled through everything.

"I really wish I could meet him. It would be a dream come true."

That dream likely will be realized. In town to represent the Wings, who will draft 27th in the first round and have no shot at Turris because he will be among the first three selections, Yzerman would like to meet Turris, also.

"I look forward to meeting Kyle this weekend," Yzerman said Wednesday. "I haven't seen him play, but have heard nothing but good things about him."

Experts foresee the Chicago Blackhawks drafting playmaker Patrick Kane of the London Knights first overall, the Philadelphia Flyers choosing power forward James vanRiemsdyk of the U.S. under-18 team second and the Phoenix Coyotes selecting Turris third.

Kane and vanRiemsdyk, who played for the bronze medalist U.S. squad at the world junior tournament last Christmas, have been on the scouts' radar for some time. However, Turris's rise has been swift.

The skilled centre, who will turn 18 on Aug. 14, spent the past two seasons with the Burnaby Express of the British Columbia Hockey League. He was surrounded with former NHL players, as former Canucks forward Darcy Rota is the club's general manager and Rota's former Vancouver teammate Rick Lanz is the coach.

After a solid 72-point, 57-game rookie regular season, which didn't begin as planned because he suffered a broken wrist, the spotlight found Turris. He led the Express to the 2006 national title at the Royal Bank Cup and was chosen as the tournament's most valuable player. Turris then made the Canadian under-18 team for the Junior World Cup last summer and helped it strike gold in the Czech Republic. He also played for Canada at the under-18 world championship this past spring.

"I think the Royal Bank Cup put me on the map," Turris said. "That tournament was a great experience for my confidence."

Another reason for his success on the ice was a growth spurt in which he went from 5 foot 2 as a 13-year-old to 5 foot 9 two years later. Once his co-ordination caught up to his body, his hockey talent came shining through. He adheres to a strict diet that is supposed to pack some weight on his 6-foot-1, 170-pound frame.

Turris, who will attend the University of Wisconsin in the fall, was ranked ahead of Kane and vanRiemsdyk when E.J. McGuire and his NHL Central Scouting staff released their final rankings.

He is the product of athletic and caring parents. His mother, Vikky, was a high-school track star and her 48-year-old husband, Bruce, is a Canadian lacrosse Hall of Famer because of his strong career with the Vancouver Burrards and Coquitlam Adanacs. His son not only wears the number 19 because of Yzerman, but because his father wore it while playing lacrosse.

Flyers general manager Paul Holmgren is on record as saying that Turris deserves his No. 1 standing. If the Blackhawks surprise every one and select him first overall, he would be the first product from British Columbia to lasso that honour.