MORRISBURG – After two seasons with the Morrisburg Lions, head coach Ken Turnbull is stepping down from the team. Turnbull, who owns the Morrisburg Canadian Tire, is moving to High River, Alberta to take over a store in that community.
“We thank Ken for all the hours he dedicated to building up our team strengths as a group,” said team co-owner and general manager Kevin Casselman. “Ken has a remarkable way of developing his players to believe what they were capable of being. He demonstrated that not only must players believe in themselves, they must also believe that the coaches believed in them.”
Casselman described Turnbull as being a great coach who is a great teacher, caring, has a passion for the sport, and whose enthusiasm inspired others.
“Our family is much better having had Ken and Lori part of our family, and we wish them all the very best,” Casselman said.
For Turnbull, he said it was difficult to let the players know he was leaving the team.
“These players know that they have my respect,” Turnbull told The Leader. “The sport isn’t just about being a better player, but being better people. I feel we’ve done that.”
He said he was proud to have been part of the Lions organization.
“Kevin and Lois [Casselman] are first class owners,” Turnbull said. “There’s a lot of work that they do with the team that no one ever sees. They do a really good job keeping the team in the community.”
Turnbull said he was disappointed that the work the club did on and off the ice didn’t result in a better record for the two seasons he coached the team.
“We had a lot of injuries which didn’t help at all,” he said adding that he was happy with the young group of players that the team has built up from the 2019-20 season.
Turnbull took the helm of the Jr. C Lions in August 2018 from retiring coach Joe Hummel. In the 2018-19 season, the team finished with a record of six wins, 27 losses and three ties. Last season the team had a record of four wins, 29 losses and one tie.
The team will begin interviewing for Turnbull’s replacement in the coming weeks.
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