Marty Turco

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Position Goaltender
Catches Left
Nickname(s) Turks, Turkey
Height
Weight		 5 ft 11 in (1.80 m)
185 lb (84 kg/13 st 3 lb)
NHL Team Dallas Stars
Nationality Flag of Canada Canada
Born August 13, 1975 (1975-08-13) (age 32),
Sault Ste. Marie, ON, CAN
NHL Draft 124th overall, 1994
Dallas Stars
Pro career 2000 – present

Marty Turco (born August 13, 1975 in Sault Ste. Marie, Ontario) is a professional ice hockey goaltender with the Dallas Stars of the National Hockey League. Because of his puckhandling prowess, Canadian hockey personality Don Cherry named Turco as "the smartest goalie in the NHL."[1]

Contents

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 2 NCAA titles. 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 back up 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 years

In his first year as the starting goaltender, 2002–03, Turco's goals-against average of 1.72 set a modern NHL record thanks to a stingy defense. (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.[citation needed]

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 Marty Turco recorded his first ever playoff shutout against the Vancouver Canucks to tie the series 1–1. After the game, Turco stated "We know we can beat these guys here [Vancouver], or at home, or anywhere."[2] After making such a bold statement, Turco walked into Vancouver and shut out the Canucks.

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 Canuck's 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 23rd, 2007 with a score of 4–1 Vancouver, after Turco allowed Trevor Linden to score the eventual game-winning goal in the 2nd period.



Awards

Records

  • NHL record for Most Shutouts in a Playoff Series (3)(Updated for 2007–2008 Season.

Notables

Turco, along with Brodeur, is widely regarded as one of the best puck-handling goalies in the NHL.

Unlike many top goalies in the NHL, Turco does not play the butterfly style of goaltending. His style relies more on athleticism and acrobatics than on size or positioning, and this has made him a fan favourite in Dallas.

Furthermore, Turco wears a different custom painted helmet for home games and away games. This practice is very rare in hockey.

In his NHL career, Turco remained winless at Joe Louis Arena, home of the Detroit Red Wings, until May 17, 2008. The Dallas Stars defeated the Detroit Red Wings 2-1 in Game 5 of the Western Conference Finals, giving Turco his very first career win at "the Joe". He is currently 1-9-2 in that building.

Personal life

Marty and his wife Kelly have two daughters, Hailey and Katelyn, 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
1999–2000 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 Djurgårdens Sweden 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
NHL CAREER TOTALS 382 207 103 26 16 21,649 775 33 2.15 .913
CCHA CAREER TOTALS 165 127 28 17 - 9333 361 14 2.18 -
IHL CAREER TOTALS 114 47 44 17 - 6526 275 8 2.53 .918
  • Stats as of April 28, 2008

Playoffs

   
Season Team League GP W L T 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 CAREER TOTALS 47 21 26 - 3103 112 4 2.17 .914
IHL CAREER TOTALS 5 2 3 - 300 14 0 2.80 -
  • Stats as of May 20, 2008

International play

External links

Preceded by
Ed Belfour		 Winner of the Crozier Award
2001		 Succeeded by
Jose Theodore
Preceded by
Jose Theodore		 Winner of the Crozier Award
2003		 Succeeded by
Dwayne Roloson