Canada tabs former NHLer Kyle Turris for shootout tips ahead of world juniors

Tij Iginla, left, talks with Kyle Turris at Canada's training camp ahead of the world junior hockey championship Niagara Falls, Ont., on Tuesday, Dec. 16, 2025. THE CANADIAN PRESS/Nick Iwanyshyn

Kyle Turris never once felt unprepared.

Every time a linesman placed the puck at centre ahead of a shootout attempt, the former NHLer was a man with a plan. The confidence flowed from there as pressure lapped at his skates.

Canada is hoping some of that calm and poise rubs off ahead of the world junior hockey championship.

The men’s under-20 program brought the retired forward into the fold at training camp to help with shootout approach and mindset should the team once again find itself in that high-stakes situation.

“There’s actually a lot to it ... a lot more than people think,” Turris said earlier this week in Niagara Falls, Ont. “Having a plan is really important, and then executing on the details to give yourself the highest probability of success.”

The 36-year-old, who played 14 NHL seasons, would spend five to 10 minutes before each game pre-scouting opposing goaltenders solely for shootout purposes — just in case.

“See tendencies and how he moved and what I thought would be open,” explained Turris, who helped Canada win gold at the 2008 world juniors. “I always knew what I was doing.”

The process bore plenty of fruit. Turris retired in 2022 tied for 16th on the NHL’s all-time shootout list (minimum 75 attempts) with success rate of 38 per cent (30-for-79).

Hockey Canada invited Turris, who has stayed tightly connected to hockey, including work with the under-17 and under-18 programs, to share his institutional knowledge as the country looks to rebound off consecutive quarterfinal exits at the showcase set to begin Boxing Day in Minnesota.

The ugly performance last year in Ottawa was accented by a stunning 3-2 loss to Latvia in the preliminary round where Canada went 0-for-8 in the shootout, putting the hosts in a difficult spot for the medal round.

“It just gives them different ideas,” head coach Dale Hunter said of having Turris around for camp. “The kids are just absorbing it.”

During one session at the end of a long practice, Canada’s potential takers took shot after shot, with some speaking to Turris before and after each attempt. The goal is to have a pool of shootout names ready based off camp performance and past success.

“A lot of the strategy,” said forward Jett Luchanko. “It’s a game within a game.”

Gavin McKenna, one of six returnees from last year’s flop in the nation’s capital, was among the unlucky eight against Latvia some 12 months ago.

“Shootouts are a big key,” he said. “We want to have every little detail down.”

Turris, whose official title is shootout and goal-scoring consultant, said the fact he was even at camp speaks to how much coaching has changed since his time with the junior program. Canada also brought in former NHL centre Mike Eagles to work on faceoffs.

“When I came up, the coach would speak to the team as a whole and would never speak individually to a player,” Turris said. “Now coaches have to have individual relationships with the players to get the most out of the player, to contribute that performance to the greater sum of the whole team. It’s a very different mentality.

“It results in having more coaches and more resources to encourage those relationships.”

The No. 3 overall pick by the Phoenix Coyotes at the 2007 NHL draft finished with 425 points (168 goals, 257 assists) in 776 games with four teams, including parts of seven seasons with the Ottawa Senators and two more with the Edmonton Oilers. He added 32 points (18 goals, 14 assists) in 69 playoff contests.

After hanging up his skates, Turris finished a business degree from the University of Wisconsin.

He followed that up with time as a consultant for the BCHL’s Burnaby Express and a six-month internship with the Vancouver Canucks. He was recently named general manager of the North Shore Winter Club — his former stomping ground, and where current NHL stars Connor Bedard and Macklin Celebrini used to roam the halls — in North Vancouver, B.C.

“I just can’t sit still,” said Turris, who has three children with wife Julie. “I constantly want to be working at something or towards a goal.”

It’s a path he hopes one day leads back to the NHL.

“I’m trying to accrue experiences in every aspect,” he said. “So when I have an opportunity, I’ll be more well-seasoned.”

Turris took a shootout attempt at the end of one session this week, beating goaltender Carter George on a move off his right skate before firing inside the post to loud cheers and raised arms.

One thing Turris isn’t able to teach his charges, however, is handling the emotions of a shootout when thousands of eyes — and millions more on TV — are trained on your every movement.

“They’ve been in a ton of high-pressure situations,” he said. “It’s just working through it. You find out who can and can’t at some point.”

Turris certainly could.

This report by The Canadian Press was first published Dec. 19, 2025.

Joshua Clipperton, The Canadian Press