Trenton’s Mike Turner announces his retirement
By Michael Caples –
Trenton’s Mike Turner is going out on top.
The longtime bench boss of the Trenton high school hockey program – with 11 state titles and the all-time coaching wins record to his name – announced his retirement last night at his team’s end-of-year banquet.
The announcement comes just 18 days after the Trojans captured the Division 2 state title at Compuware Arena, defeating Hartland 8-3 at Compuware Arena on March 8.
Talking with Matt Shepard on WDFN 1130 this morning, Turner pointed out that his 28 years behind the bench of the Trojans program was actually 41 years worth of work.
“It’s been 28 years, but I started in 1973-74 in Trenton, 41 years ago,” Turner said in the interview. “I went eight years in Trenton, was laid off from my teaching job in 85-86, then got the team back 20 years ago. So it’s been 28 years, but it’s been over a 41-year period of time.”
Turner said it’s going to be hard to step away from the game.
“I started in the City of Detroit as a young kid at 10, spent 55 years in hockey,” Turner said. “I’m certainly not going to walk away cold, but you know, I’ll stick around. I think I’ll enjoy watching the games now, and be a critic in Trenton like everyone else is of whoever’s taking over, laughs.”
After the state title game, Turner told MiHockey about how special it was to capture another state title for Trenton.
“It’s a tradition and it’s a family atmosphere down in Trenton,” said Turner, who earned his 627th career win, building on his all-time lead for Michigan high school coaches. “Last year in our last 10 games, we went 5-5 and this year, went 9-1. We knew we were playing well and playing well enough to win. People always say, ‘Oh, it’s old hat coming back here,’ but it’s not. These guys (seniors) haven’t been here and I just tried to sit back and enjoy the moment.”