OT: Official - Hawks Sign Turco
Former Michigan goalie Marty Turco was just signed by the Chicago Blackhawks. There was a thread on the speculation a bit ago, now it's official
http://sports.espn.go.com/chicago/nhl/news/story?id=5430163
Details not released in the story, but yeah... that happened
(original thread here: http://mgoblog.com/mgoboard/ot-marty-turco-rumor)
August 2nd, 2010 at 11:27 AM ^
Brilliant. Turco still hasn't figured out how to beat the Wings.
August 2nd, 2010 at 11:56 AM ^
That's 1 more win than Jimmy Howard has vs Chicago at Joe Louis Arena.
Wings should be fine no matter who Chicago has in net.
August 2nd, 2010 at 12:13 PM ^
Flipping your flipside...
Turco 6 wins in 23 games against the Wings overall.
Howard 2 wins and 1 OTL in 4 against Chicago.
August 2nd, 2010 at 11:49 AM ^
August 2nd, 2010 at 12:01 PM ^
Were, not are. The responsible party (Tallon) is gone. The Bowmans have done about as good a job as could be expected in trying to clean up the mess. Nothing they can do about the Campbell contract, what's done is done, they just have to deal with it (Huet's contract is likely to be buried in the minors, there's virtually no way they can get under the cap minus the penalties and have Huet on the roster without having to dump key players).
It blows, but now we can easily identify bandwagon jumpers -- they're the ones claiming the Hawks are being cheap, fire sale, yadda yadda yadda. As if the Hawks actually had a choice in the matter at this point. The check had to come due eventually for Tallon's crazy signings, and that time is now.
This is an excellent analysis, and I'll add another point to it. The only real downside to this move is that they were forced to move Niemi for no return. Chicago was going to have to make a really hard decision in a year two between Niemi and Crawford, and personally I think they made the better decision. Niemi will always be over-valued because he won the Cup this past year, but Crawford is the better long term prospect. The only thing that better cap management would have done with regard to Niemi is to delay the inevitable decision and potentially delay Crawford's growth. By letting Niemi go and signing Turco to a one year deal the Blackhawks will go into this season giving Crawford a wide open chance to gain valuable experience without the pressure of a goaltending controversy. While this move is certainly indicative of the past poor cap management in Chicago, there is a lot more upside to this deal than anyone has mentioned here. Getting no return for Niemi sucks, but Niemi is never going to be anything more than a tandem goaltender, whereas Crawford has legitimate workhorse potential.
August 2nd, 2010 at 12:09 PM ^
You can add Hossa to that list. His play dipped a little bit last season.
August 2nd, 2010 at 12:03 PM ^
a Red Wing, we do everything right.
August 2nd, 2010 at 12:55 PM ^
While the Blackhawks may make Turco a better player than last year, Turco doesn't necessarily make Chicago a better team than last year -- especially considering that $1.3 hit barely allows them to fill their six remaining roster spots at league minimum salaries. Even then, they'll still be tight against the cap. Chicago will need a surprise rookie or two this season and avoid injury.
Goaltending is no longer the most important position in the NHL. As a goalie myself this pains me, but it's true. I'd say the last time a goalie actually won the cup was 2003 Brouder? or Hasek's last cup? The wings have been ahead of the curve on this one and havent paid for goaltending in a while, but having the best goalie no longer wins you the 16 games you need to win the cup.
Montreal had the best playoff goalie this year and he got traded. Sure, it still matters in tournaments (olympics with Ryan Miller for example) but it no longer matters for the Cup. The most important position has become having 4 top defensemen who can play the puck well. It's just the new NHL (NFL parallel - you used to win with a running game and defense, now you need an elite QB, the one exception last year was the jets, you either need an elite QB or to be the best at everything else)
Marc-Andre Fleury isn't a consistent goalie, but I'd say he was one of the best if not the best goalies in the playoffs the year they won the cup. Also, the reason Philly fell apart this past spring had a lot to do with poor goaltending. Heck, when Detroit won the cup last, Osgood played out of his mind. Goalies are still pretty important in my opinion.
They're pretty important but they're not the end-all be-all anymore. I think there are plenty of goalies who can win you a game, maybe even a series, but not the Cup.
You need a good goalie to win the cup - for sure, but you dont need an Elite OMG Goalie like you once did (think the 90's with Hasek, Belfour, Roy)