Marty Turco

Marty Turco
File:Marty-turco-2011.jpg
Born	(1975-08-13) August 13, 1975 Sault Ste. Marie, ON, CAN
Height	5 ft 11 in (180 cm)
Weight	184 lb (83 kg; 13 st 2 lb)
Position	Goaltender
Catches	Left
NHL team Former teams	Chicago Blackhawks Dallas Stars
National team	Canada
NHL draft	124th overall, 1994 Dallas Stars
Playing career	2001–present

Marty Turco (born August 13, 1975) is a Canadian professional ice hockey goaltender who is currently with the Chicago Blackhawks of the National Hockey League. Because of his puckhandling prowess, Canadian hockey personality Don Cherry named Turco: "the smartest goalie in the NHL."

Playing career

Early career

Unlike most Canadians in the NHL, Turco did not play major junior hockey, instead playing for the University of Michigan, with whom he won two NCAA championships.

After playing minor hockey for the S.S. Marie Legion program in his hometown, Turco was undrafted by the Ontario Hockey League. He signed as a 17-year old with the Cambridge Winterhawks Jr.B. team in 1992 and played two seasons with the OHA team before accepting an NCAA scholarship at U. Michigan (CCHA).

He was drafted in the fifth round of the 1994 NHL Entry Draft by the Dallas Stars, and went on to play for Michigan that fall. Turco earned many awards in his four years at Michigan, including Rookie of the Year in 1995, Tournament MVP in 1998, and nominations to the First All-Star team in 1997, the Second All-Star Team in 1998, and the All-Tournament Team in 1996 and 1998. After graduating, Turco went to play for Dallas's IHL affiliate, the Michigan K-Wings. In 1999, he was named IHL Rookie of the Year.

After two years playing for the K-Wings, Turco was given the opportunity to be a backup for Ed Belfour in Dallas. He spent the next two years in Dallas gaining experience as the backup. After the 2001–2002 season, Dallas decided to make Turco the starting goaltender, allowing Belfour to sign with the Toronto Maple Leafs.

Dallas Stars

In his first year as the starting goaltender, 2002–03, Turco's goals-against average of 1.72 set a modern NHL record. (Miikka Kiprusoff broke Turco's record the next season with a 1.69 goals against average.) Turco played in the NHL All-Star Game during the season and was named to the Second All-Star Team following the season, finishing second in Vezina Trophy voting as well (behind Martin Brodeur). His .932 save percentage was also best in the NHL that year. However, he was unable to lead the Stars past the Mighty Ducks of Anaheim in the Western Conference semi-finals.

During the 2003–04 season, Turco continued to give the Stars quality goaltending, again playing (and starting) in the All-Star Game. However, when the Stars played the Colorado Avalanche in the first round of the playoffs, Turco struggled, receiving blame from some for the Stars' losing the series in five games.

In the 2005–06 season, Turco won a career-best 41 games, 8 of them in shootouts. Turco's experience in the 2006 playoffs was similar to the prior season, again losing in five games to the Avalanche.

On April 13, 2007, in the Stars first and only playoff series of the 2006–07 season, Turco recorded his first ever playoff shutout against the Vancouver Canucks to tie the series 1–1. After the game, he stated, "We know we can beat these guys here [Vancouver], or at home, or anywhere."

Turco went on to lose against the Canucks at home in game three, dropping a 2–1 overtime victory, when Taylor Pyatt got a quick one-time shot off a feed from Bryan Smolinski. In game 4, once again the Stars could not put up a win, losing to the Canucks 2–1 off of goals from Mattias Ohlund, then the game winner from Linden. The Stars then went on to win game 5 in the series with 1–0 OT win. Brenden Morrow scored the game's only goal 6:22 into the first OT period, allowing Turco to get his second career playoff shutout. Turco followed this up with his third shutout of the series in a 2–0 win. The series ended on Monday, April 23, 2007 with a score of 4–1 in favor of Vancouver, after Turco allowed Trevor Linden to score the eventual game-winning goal in the 2nd period.

The three shutouts posted by Turco in that series represent a record amount of shutouts in a single playoff series, a mark that has been tied by the New Jersey Devils' goalie Martin Brodeur, the Toronto Maple Leafs' goaltender Jean-Sebastien Giguere, and Philadelphia Flyers' goalie Michael Leighton.

Turco recorded 32 wins in the 2007–08 season, and helped the Stars to playoff wins over the defending Stanley Cup champions Anaheim Ducks and the San Jose Sharks, before losing in six games to the Detroit Red Wings in the Western Conference Finals.

On January 15, 2009, Turco recorded his 421st game for the Dallas Stars becoming the franchise's all-time leader in games played by a netminder, surpassing Cesare Maniago's near 33-year old record of 420. He would also pass Maniago later that month in total minutes played, on January 29 while also winning his first regular-season game at Joe Louis Arena in 11 tries against the Detroit Red Wings. Again on February 9 he broke yet another of Maniago's records by starting in his 24th consecutive game in goal. Ultimately, the Stars failed to qualify for the postseason. On April 13, 2010, it was reported that Turco would not be resigned by Dallas, ending his nine years with the Stars.

Chicago Blackhawks

On August 2, 2010, Turco signed a one-year contract as a free agent with the reigning Stanley Cup champions, the Chicago Blackhawks, replacing Antti Niemi as their starting goaltender. The Blackhawks had previously swept San Jose in the Western Conference Finals in the playoffs. His first win with Chicago came on October 15, a 5–2 victory over the Columbus Blue Jackets. Later in the season, he was benched by the team, and replaced by Corey Crawford as the starting goaltender.

Awards

• Named NHL "First Star of the Week" for October 4 to October 15, 2006.
• Roger Crozier Saving Grace Award – 2001, 2003

Records

League records

• Most shutouts in a playoff series (3, 2007; tied with Martin Brodeur, J.S. Giguere, and Michael Leighton)

Franchise records

Dallas Stars

• most wins
• most shutouts
• most games played
• most minutes played by a goaltender
• most consecutive games played by a goaltender
• most assists by a goalie

Personal life

Turco and his wife have two daughters, Hailey (born early 2002) and Katelyn (born May 2004), and one son, Finley (born August 2008) with the family residing in Highland Park, Texas. He also owns a home in his home town of Sault Ste. Marie, Ontario, where he spends much of his summer.

Career statistics

Regular season

Season	Team	League		GP	W	L	T	OTL	MIN	GA	SO	GAA	SV%
1994–95	Michigan	CCHA		37	27	7	1	—	2063	95	1	2.76	—
1995–96	Michigan	CCHA		42	34	7	1	—	2335	84	5	2.16	—
1996–97	Michigan	CCHA		41	33	4	4	—	2296	87	4	2.27	.893
1997–98	Michigan	CCHA		45	33	10	1	—	2639	95	4	2.16	.887
1998–99	Michigan K-Wings	IHL		54	24	17	10	—	3127	136	1	2.61	.899
1999–00	Michigan K-Wings	IHL		60	23	27	7	—	3399	139	7	2.45	.901
2000–01	Dallas Stars	NHL		26	13	6	1	—	1266	40	3	1.90	.925
2001–02	Dallas Stars	NHL		31	15	6	2	—	1519	53	2	2.09	.921
2002–03	Dallas Stars	NHL		55	31	10	10	—	3203	92	7	1.72	.932
2003–04	Dallas Stars	NHL		73	37	21	13	—	4359	144	9	1.98	.913
2004–05	Djurgården	SEL		6	—	—	—	—	356	12	1	2.02	.932
2005–06	Dallas Stars	NHL		68	41	19	—	5	3910	166	3	2.55	.898
2006–07	Dallas Stars	NHL		67	38	20	—	5	3763	140	6	2.23	.910
2007–08	Dallas Stars	NHL		62	32	21	—	6	3628	140	3	2.31	.909
2008–09	Dallas Stars	NHL		74	33	31	—	10	4327	203	3	2.81	.898
2009–10	Dallas Stars	NHL		53	22	20	—	11	3088	140	4	2.72	.913
NHL totals				509	262	154	26	37	29,064	1118	40	2.31	.911
CCHA totals				165	127	28	17	—	9333	361	14	2.18	—
IHL totals				114	47	44	17	—	6526	275	8	2.53	.918

Playoffs

Season	Team	League		GP	W	L	MIN	GA	SO	GAA	SV%
1998–99	Michigan K-Wings	IHL		5	2	3	300	14	0	2.80	—
2002–03	Dallas Stars	NHL		12	6	6	798	25	0	1.87	.919
2003–04	Dallas Stars	NHL		5	1	4	325	18	0	3.32	.849
2005–06	Dallas Stars	NHL		5	1	4	319	18	0	3.38	.868
2006–07	Dallas Stars	NHL		7	3	4	509	11	3	1.30	.952
2007–08	Dallas Stars	NHL		18	10	8	1152	40	1	2.08	.922
NHL totals				47	21	26	3103	112	4	2.17	.914
IHL totals				5	2	3	300	14	0	2.80	—

International play

• Played for Team Canada at the 2006 Winter Olympics.

External links

• Marty Turco player profile at TSN.ca
• Marty Turco player profile at NHL.com
• Marty Turco career statistics at The Internet Hockey Database