On a recent episode of The Dallas Express Podcast, show host Sarah Zubiate Bennett caught up with retired professional hockey player Marty Turco to ask about his life in Dallas after his sports career.
After spending 11 years in the NHL — nine of those with the Dallas Stars — Canadian native Turco is no longer playing professionally, but he is by no means sitting on the sidelines. Since 2015, he has served as the vice president of business with the Dallas Stars franchise, and he currently works full-time as the President and Chair of the Dallas Stars Foundation, the team’s philanthropic organization.
Turco cited his work with the foundation as one of his favorite endeavors because, even though playing professional hockey was fun and exciting, “getting a chance to make a difference in people’s lives” is even better.
“We’re making a bigger impact on the community. And we really are focusing on, you know, the number one thing, we think, is education,” Turco stated. He noted that the foundation raised $2 million for the Saint Phillips School Community Center.
Another work he is proud of is the Dallas Stars Adaptive Sports, which gets veterans, amputees, the blind, and the deaf on the hockey ice.
Aside from his continued affiliation with the Dallas Stars, Turco has been involved in several business ventures of his own. He is the founder and CEO of the Kingsville Brewing Company, located in Kingsville, Ontario, and is the namesake of Turco 35 Brews & Bites at the Love Field Airport.
The airport eatery is part of a Playmaker series of restaurants by a seasoned team of investors and operators whom he credits with the success of the business.
“So, you know, I’ve got a good team and, you know, my team, this is not their first go around. … It’s been a real blessing,” he said.
Nowitzki Restaurant at the Dallas-Fort Worth Airport, named after famed Dallas Mavericks player Dirk Nowitzki, is part of the same hospitality group, and Turco mentioned that a Simone Biles Restaurant was under consideration.
In addition, Turco is an investor in Moxie’s, a Canadian-based restaurant chain with 60 locations across Canada and the U.S., including in Dallas, Texas. The restaurant chain is one of many owned by Dallas Stars owner Tom Gaglardi.
When asked how that investment was going, Turco responded, “It’s been a home run, and they renovated already.” He added that the food is “fantastic.”
Turco said he is a big fan of the Texas economy, its growth, and its vision. What worries him most as a businessman in Dallas is the “natural erosion of what makes North Texas, North Texas.” He added that he always wants to be a part of the solution, not a part of the problem, and noted that it is important to “keep a pulse” on the leadership of the community.
He explained that he enjoys living in Dallas but acknowledged that he never thought he would be living in Dallas for so many years.
“I mean, growing up in northern Ontario, Canada, this was the last place I ever thought I would live in my life.” That all changed, however, when he was drafted by the Dallas Stars.
“From the moment I set foot in Texas, it blew my doors off — the hockey, the culture, the food, the people, living here, the easy way of living,” Turco said.
He also said that he is excited by the new people coming to the area, many of whom are hockey fans.
That’s good for our sport, and it’s good for me, Turco said.
For the full interview with Marty Turco, watch Episode 18 of The Dallas Express Podcast with Sara Zubiate Bennett.
