Marty Turco is a Chicago Blackhawk
by Brad Gardner on Aug 2, 2010 10:49 AM CDT
in Dallas Stars News
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PrintA Marty Turco rumor has finally come true, and the goaltenders' summer of apparent frustration and waiting has come to a happy conclusion as the Chicago Blackhawks are forced to walk away from their Stanley Cup winning goaltender and sign the 34 year old UFA to an undisclosed deal.
The only thing we can be sure of is that it's significantly less than the $2.75 million Niemi was awarded by a third party arbitrator. Turco was supposedly offered a deal close to $2 million a season by the Flyers earlier this summer but turned it down. Marty confirmed in text message yesterday that he definitely wasn't going to Philadelphia. Of course by then he probably already knew that Chicago was in the works.
CHICAGO -- The Chicago Blackhawks have signed veteran goaltender Marty Turco to a one-year deal, parting ways with Stanley Cup-winning goalie Antti Niemi.
Niemi was awarded a $2.75 million judgment from an arbitrator on Saturday, and the Blackhawks had 48 hours whether to accept the judgment, trade him or let him become an unrestricted free agent. He now is an unrestricted free agent.
Turco went 22-20 with a 2.7 goals-against average and .913 save percentage and four shutouts for the Dallas Stars.
Niemi was 26-7 with a 2.2 GAA and .912 save percentage. He also had seven shutouts.
Even with both Blackhawks netminders posting more than respectable numbers, fans and media alike were openly critical of the position last year and many were surprised when Chicago did not make a move at the deadline for goaltending help. They responded by winning the Stanley Cup.
Those questions will persist for Marty next season and he will likely be privy to the same skepticism and high standards fans set for him here in Dallas. The difference of course is that his supporting cast will be, excuse me, vastly superior.
Even though he technically departed on July 1st, this really drives it home for us: Marty Turco is no longer a Dallas Star. Say what you will about him, but there's something sad about it.
Good luck, Marty.
Here is some of our previous coverage of Marty Turco's exit from Big D:
What does Marty Turco's Time in Dallas Mean To You?
Marty Turco's Last Game Sits in Shadow of Modano's
Stars Will (Officially) Not Re-Sign Marty Turco
Recap of Turco's career in Dallas (Fanpost by Tyler Bouldin)
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Good Luck Turco
i’ll say I hope Turco does well. His high octane pace should fit in well with the young Hawks. He’ll definately be able to move the puck well and fit in with their fast-moving offense.
TSN.ca/nhl reports:
“Instead, the Blackhawks have reportedly signed veteran netminder Marty Turco to a one-year, $1.3 million contract.”
I wish I could tell him thanks for all the years he gave us. Good luck.
I can't believe Marty Turco is playing for just $1.3 million next season.
Although I don’t want to hear any “See, the Stars should have kept him…he’s much cheaper than Lehtonen.”
That wasn’t going to happen with Dallas. If he stayed here, it would have been for much more than $1.3 and likely more than what they gave Lehtonen.
I also think that Turco needed a change, because his lapses last season weren’t physical — they were mental. He didn’t have a good season, and not everything can be blamed on the defense in front of him.
That being said, no one will root harder for him next season in Chicago than me. I’ll miss him, but I hope him nothing but the best as a Blackhawk.
One of the last Joe Nieuwendyk supporters in Dallas....
Defending Big D - Dallas Stars news & analysis; SB Nation Dallas-Fort Worth
Good luck, Marty.
I’m guessing all he needs is a change of venue, and he’ll be back to his old self again. It’ll be painful to see if it happens that way, but good for him.
Was this really a better situation than the Flyers?
Sure the Blackhawks finished the regular season better but the Flyers now have more depth. I think Chicago is going to feel the pain on their 3rd and 4th lines unless they play the hell out of their top 2 lines (which will then lead to potentially more injuries).
He’s got the weight of the world on his shoulders now following the Cup win led by Niemi. If they don’t repeat I’m sure it will be a combo of blame laid on him and the lack of depth.
I would have picked the Hawks over the Flyers, no question.
Even if it meant less money. But I have no logical reason for it. I just hate the Flyers. :)
Supporting your local ice troll, 24/7/365
And I really wish all the best to Marty.
I’m very sad to see him go but I agree that I think he needed a change.
Supporting your local ice troll, 24/7/365
So he goes from 5+ million to 1.3...
And with Uncle Same taking 40-50% of that and another 10% of it going into that NHL escrow account players have to pay into…The Turco’s are in for a little bit of a change in their income.
The only question I have now is...
Will he please donate his gold pads to me?
Also, thanks for the shout-out on that link, Brad!
Good for him in finding a job (especially with a real good team).
But it almost seems like he’s setting himself up to be blamed if they don’t come close to repeating, even if it isn’t his fault. Niemi isn’t very good, but people have this thing about Stanley Cup winning goalies where that even the mediocre ones (like Fleury or Ward from recent history) are held in higher esteem than they maybe deserve. So if Chicago falls short, people will probably look to Turco as the reason; whether he actually was won’t matter. That being said, Turco showed the last couple playoff years that he can handle that pressure with ease.
by Giant Space Ants on Aug 2, 2010 1:57 PM CDT reply actions
Good luck Turco. I hope you win yours.
But it will be interesting to see where Niemi will play.
He used to drive zamboni. Now he has Cup. Too bad that things went down like this.
Niemi's new home in...Dallas?
Read an article on NHL.com that Dallas is one of the possible destinations for Niemi. Setup like some sort of goalie tandem with two Fins.
Heh.
He’d have to settle for one heck of a discount.
One of the last Joe Nieuwendyk supporters in Dallas....
Defending Big D - Dallas Stars news & analysis; SB Nation Dallas-Fort Worth
by Brandon Worley on Aug 2, 2010 2:38 PM CDT up reply actions
He'd have to play for peanuts
The ones with the cajun seasoning on them they sell at the AAC
No way that’s happening.
I don't think it would either.
I just thought it was interesting that Dallas (one of the most cash-restricted teams – if not THE most) was one of the first places mentioned for him to have a home.
Maybe that nice fellow who wrote that article
Doesn’t know about our $$ situation and the internal budget.
(This is why DBD is here.)
Let's use the word IF here...
What if we COULD get Niemi, would you rather have him instead of Lehtonen?
Personally I think any netminder might look like garbage
playing behind this D unit.
So I’m not sure that’s much of an upgrade. Niemi’s more proven in big games, and $2.75 mil would be a better price than Lehtonen, so I might take it just based on that alone.
The extra few hundred thousand could be used to make sure they can afford enough game pucks this year ;)
(or extra for court costs…)
Nah, I really like Lehtonen.
I like what I saw last season, and all indications are he’s going to be as healthy as he’s ever been to start the season. I think he has more talent and potential than Niemi, anyways. I’ll take Lehtonen.
We wont go after Niemi
I don’t think there is a chance we would go after Niemi, even if we had the cash, but then again, I haven’t predicted GM Joe right yet…
But still, I think he’s satisfied in our goal tending at the moment. He pays a nice little price for a young starter this past year in Kari, we’ve signed Raycroft as a candidate for the number 2 spot, and if all that wasn’t enough, he wastes our number 1 pick on a young hot shot goalie. I’m not saying that Campbell is a bad guy, I’m just saying we could’ve used that pick on some much better fits for the team. Oh yeah, and don’t forget Krahn who had a stellar year in the minors.
Here’s my guess: Kari will play out the rest of his contract and, unless he is outstanding every year, I bet we trade or let him go late in his final year. In the mean time we’ll be seeing if Cambell will pan out like Joe hopes. If he does, he will have had 3 years to get used to our system and this level of play so that he would be able to step in and take that number 1 spot.
But who knows…so far I haven’ had much faith in Joe making a sound decision…so maybe we will spend our last bit of money on yet another player that we don’t need.
I never thought I'd get emotional over this, but I'm kind of weepy right now.
I’m going to really miss Marty. It just won’t be the same without him and those baller gold pads, you know?
Here's to all us girls who love hockey...and the men who play it.
by Brad_Richards_Rocks on Aug 2, 2010 6:53 PM CDT reply actions
I feel your pain...in a way.
When Belfour went to Dallas I was a bit miffed, the Stars being the new face of the long hated rival North Stars and all. Maybe that rivalry doesn’t quite resonate quite as loudly here due to the the move from Minnesota to Texas and the amount of time that has passed since then. In any case, the obviously heartfelt and diplomatic comments left here make me feel pretty good about the Hawks signing Turco. Thanks for being gracious…let’s meet up again in the playoffs.
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