The AHL’s website has posted a profile of Grand Rapids Griffins forward Turner Elson, posted by Griffinshockey.com’s Mark Newman:
In a quarter of a century of Griffins hockey, fewer than three dozen players have spent at least parts of five seasons in Grand Rapids.
If you reduce the ranks to those who have logged five seasons of at least 20 games and who came to the organization as undrafted free agents ― players who were discovered without the pedigree of being a prized prospect of any NHL team ― you can count those players on less than two hands.
Turner Elson is one of those rare examples.
Now in his fifth year with the Griffins, Elson joins Brian Lashoff, Dominik Shine, Joe Hicketts, Colin Campbell, Francis Pare, Joey MacDonald and Dave Van Drunen as the only players to claim that distinction. His longevity speaks to his value to the organization.
“He’s a hockey player ― he loves the game of hockey,” said Griffins head coach Ben Simon. “He’s a versatile guy that you can use on the wing, at center, on the power play or the penalty kill. He can play different styles. Whatever you need, he’ll do. He doesn’t ask questions. He doesn’t ask why. He just works and he works hard.
“He’s one of those guys you know what you’re going to get because he competes. And he cares. He cares if the team wins or loses, which is not to say that the other guys don’t care, but he’s a soldier. He’s the kind of guy you go into a foxhole with.”
Continued (at length)
