Blackhawks feel Turco still has what it takes between pipes

Nobody brings up Marty Turco's name anymore in conversations about the NHL's best goalie.

No real surprise there. That's what happens when you start getting up there in years and your numbers have headed south in the most recent of them.

Marty Turco has earned 262 career wins in nine seasons with the Dallas Stars. (Getty Images)

But not so long ago, say back around the time he was named to the Team Canada roster for the Olympic Games at Torino and was among the league's highest-paid netminders, the newest member of the Stanley Cup champion Chicago Blackhawks was part of the discussion. Turco's athleticism and his uncommon puck-handling ability were major reasons a generally low-scoring Dallas Stars team tended to hover around the 100-point mark annually after he became the starter in 2002-03, and it earned him recognition even if his talents helped lift the team past the first round only once.

That was during the 2008 playoffs when Turco and the Stars took the Detroit Red Wings to a sixth game in the Western Conference finals, a run that today is easy to label a last hurrah for the goalie.

Life became tumultuous for the next couple of years in Dallas, both for the organization, which was put up for sale because of the owner's financial hardships, and for Turco, who did not distinguish himself behind a weakened team that failed to make the playoffs in either one.

It was enough for the Stars to seek what was described as a "new direction." And it left the 35-year-old Turco as an unrestricted free agent at a moment when his ability to be an impact goalie was in question. More importantly, it happened when the need for one was being debated around the league.

Funny thing is that the debate has been sparked largely because of where Turco has ended up -- fortuitously some might say because of the unique ability Chicago gives him to silence the naysayers. Call it the natural aftermath of the Blackhawks winning the Stanley Cup with an essentially minimum-wage 26-year-old Finnish rookie goalie named Antti Niemi, by beating the Philadelphia Flyers who had their own playoff run sparked by longtime journeyman Michael Leighton.

Both netminders had their doubters throughout the postseason, but Niemi was arbitration eligible and won a hefty raise the cap-stretched Blackhawks didn't deem him worthy of. Chicago let Niemi walk as a result, turning to Turco, who rejected $6 million over three seasons from the Flyers (they later re-signed Leighton) because Blackhawks GM Stan Bowman contacted him early in the summer and said there was a chance to for him to join the Blackhawks.

"I told them I wasn't going to know anything about Antti for a while and that it could play out all the way to the end of July, which it did," Bowman said. "This is where he wanted to be, and obviously he had hope it would work out."

Obviously.

"That's a feeling I'll never forget because I felt like that was one door that had closed, that call was huge," Turco said. "Even if it didn't sound promising, it was one I welcomed with open arms. Knowing that I'd have a chance to come here with guys who'd be hungry to do it again was worth the wait."

And the pay cut apparently. Turco will make $1.3 million on a one-year deal this season with Chicago, after averaging $5.4 million in the last four with Dallas. His disappointing numbers over the last few seasons ensured he wouldn't be making as much with this one, but Turco said that at this stage of his career, his legacy or the salary isn't his major concern.

"It's not about life after hockey or how I judge my career, it's all about what I can do in the now as a teammate," he said. "I've been fortunate enough to play in a great era of hockey where we made a little bit of money, so probably the decision was easier.

"Not that Philadelphia was a bad situation, but it goes to show how committed I am to playing for the Blackhawks. This is the one team that will help me get a Stanley Cup."

And following the Blackhawks summer of discontent, maybe vice versa.

Chicago will be without seven members of their Game 6 clinching lineup because of money issues, and could very well be dealing with the infamous Stanley Cup hangover after a short summer. But in Turco they are getting a veteran who is a well-regarded teammate, and likely to be very motivated not only to play behind a talented team, but to prove the last couple of seasons were less about him than the circumstances.

At least that's the way one of Turco's idols, fellow Sault Ste. Marie, Ontario native and Hall of Fame goalie Tony Esposito sees it.

"He's healthy and he's not that old, and with the experience, you're to handle the pressure that a team like this will have better," this is his prime, the next three, four or five years," said Esposito, now a Blackhawks ambassador. "This is his prime, the next three, four or five years and he took the one year because he's confident in his ability.

"He knows he can play and play well and knows that will parlay into future years."

And maybe even get him back into the discussion.