Why \"Turks\" Scares Me

[GoalieGuild]

Marty Turco.

Magnificent goaltender. Incredible stick handler. Amazing glove hand. Great quickness, awesome flashy goalie, big heart, small frame. Still a pimp in my book. He\'s CREEEEPY good in the shootouts, especially for someone who starts off every shot facing to the side (he does this in order to \"explode\" off his goal line in order to challenge the shooter faster). He\'s 16-5 in shootouts...and he\'s only been scored on ONCE on a penalty shot. So WHY am I \"scared\" to take Turco this season?

He plays the puck behind the net WAYYYY too much. To me, this has never been more obvious than in the playoffs. Playoff goaltending is all about conserving energy for the third, fourth, fifth, sixth periods. But Turco LOVES to go behind his net to stop the puck, play it up the boards or try and hook up a forward screaming down center ice. So he wastes a TON of energy over a 60-80-100-120 minute game or a 50-60-70 game season.

SURE it helps out his defenseman, but for a goaltender who needs to keep his focus (for Turco is, to me, a streaky goalie), handling the puck an obnoxious amount of times is simply ridiculous and total overkill.

IF HE WERE TO STAY IN FRONT OF THE NET AT LEAST 50% OF THE TIME HE GOES BACK THERE TO SHOW OFF, HE WOULD HAVE EVEN BETTER STATISTICS THAN HE ALREADY HAS.

I\'ll never forget a game on February 11, 2003 against the Carolina Hurricanes when Turco went behind the net for NO REAL REASON whatsoever and tried to pull a fancy backhand play up the boards, slipped and screwed up his ankle. It was like he was racing himself for an iced puck, except he only took one stride and crashed. It wasn\'t a serious injury, but he didn\'t play again until March 23rd. (He was going to break the Stars\' record for the most consecutive wins in a season, but he was replaced by Ron Tugnutt and the Stars won in overtime with less than a second to go.) Sure it was just a normal regular-season game, but you would think with a record like that on the line, he would be a little more conservative, a little more aware.

Ever since that game, I have realized that Turco is plenty good at handling the puck behind the net, so good that he shouldn\'t even go back there unless he absolutely HAS to. If I were his goalie coach, I would be screaming at him half of the game for doing all the flashy stuff he does back there.

SIMPLIFY YOUR GAME, TURCO ... STOP GOING BEHIND THE NET 40 TIMES A GAME AND FOCUS ON THE PUCK IN FRONT OF YOUR NET.

Sheesh...well yeah, that\'s just something for you guys to think about. He\'s stayed extremely healthy since that little slip up, but watch Turco a few times this year and see how many times he goes back there compared to any other moderately decent goalie that can stick handle.

[Shadow]

I dont know. I agree with you that he moves out of his net alot more than he should. Its not like Im a huge Turco fan or anything. But from a fantasy standpoint, he\'s a pretty safe bet.

2000-01 (13-6-1) (1.90 GAA) (.925%) (3 SO)
2001-02 (15-6-2) (2.09 GAA) (.921%) (2 SO)
2002-03 (31-10-10) (1.72 GAA) (.932%) (7 SO)
2003-04 (37-21-13) (1.98 GAA) (.913%) (9 SO)
2005-06 (41-19-5) (2.55 GAA) (.898%) (3 SO)
2006-07 (38-20-5) (2.23 GAA) (.910%) (6 SO)
Career (175-82-36) (2.11 GAA) (.914%) (30 SO)

The stats above are for Turco during his career. You say he\'s a streaky goalie, but his career stats say otherwise. Alot of people have jumped on the Backstrom bandwagon this season, and understandably so. I can see the potential with Backstrom as much as the next guy, but we are talking about a one season performance. At least with Turco, you pretty much know what you are gonna get.

And though I agree he leaves his crease too much, he has been doing that his entire career. Why is that all of a sudden gonna be a problem this season?

[mclarenf1]

turco\'s is one of the more consistent goalies so i don\'t think theres anything to be scared of. the plus on this guy is that hes no longer in the same ranks as a luongo so he can slip in the drafting and allow you to draft players before goalies. i appreciate where you\'re coming from, and the only time that fear should have kicked in would have been when that new goal line rule came in since he had to change his game a little, now that hes accustomed to it i don\'t think theres any fear.

ontop of that if its just a season pool theres nothing really to worry about, turco just does badly in the playoffs =p. another good thing about turco is that he plays on a defensive dallas team, with the addition of norstrom they gain a shutdown defensive which will take some workload off turco

[smoothfun]

not sure what to think , turco is a top 10 goalie , my fair is that he has a strong salary compared to smith who\'s showed he has the potential to be #1.as far as playoffs go , turco proved he can handle the playoffs with his performance against van,or should i say luongo , durring last seasons series.if dallas could have provided some offense that series would have been theirs easyily.

[Dobber]

His stats are helped by his team\'s coaching style. He\'s a great blue-chip pickup right now in pools, but if he is ever traded, abandon ship! See Roman Turek for details...B)

[GoalieGuild]

I put Turco under the microscope and really nit-picked the hell out of his game, using one memory to prove a point that he stickhandles too much and is prone to possibly losing focus in games. I have to do this because he\'s MOST DEFINITELY one of the best goalies in the league and there\'s hardly anything else to criticize in his game.

Personally, I think Turco is my 2nd favorite goalie to watch. He\'s the best skater, best puck handler (he just does it too much), and most revolutionary with his position and the way he makes saves. He pulls moves that other goalies would totally bail and freak out on. He has guts and he has a really high level of confidence...I love it all!

But the point of my post was simply to bring you a little tiny slice of insight on Turco\'s game because of the number of questions surrounding him and the competition that he WILL face this season from Mike Smith. Hell, as long as Turco stays away from the Avalanche in the playoffs, he\'ll win a series very quickly.

I just get scared when I see Turco go behind the net in a situation that does not warrant it. Every commentator calls him a \"6th defenseman\" but sometimes I wish he would just be nothing but a goalie for 60 minutes.

Hmm I think it\'s just me - I\'m being paranoid!!! :blink: heh

[Alex McDonald, Age 11]

But who is your #1 favorite goalie to watch?

[GoalieGuild]

If I told you ... I would have to slice, dice and serve on rice.

Sorry but that is something you would have to find out

Let\'s just say it\'s most likely the LAST goaltender you would ever expect it to be. But he is my childhood hero and he is my idol and that will never change. Oh I\'ll give you a hint ... he\'s still a current goalie.

[Duff]

TheHockeyGuild wrote:

If I told you ... I would have to slice, dice and serve on rice.

Sorry but that is something you would have to find out

Let\'s just say it\'s most likely the LAST goaltender you would ever expect it to be. But he is my childhood hero and he is my idol and that will never change. Oh I\'ll give you a hint ... he\'s still a current goalie.

Hasek ? or maybe Ozzi...:dry:

[The Comish]

TheHockeyGuild wrote:

If I told you ... I would have to slice, dice and serve on rice.

Yutaka Fukufuji? I heard he\'s got ninja like relexes.

Olaf Kolzig or Cujo are my top two guesses

[smoothfun]

kolzig and joseph are good guesses , i was leaning towards kolzig, but could it be theodore or cloutier?

[mclarenf1]

theodore would have been my guess if you had him as your idol, since theodore did win an award while clouts didn\'t. i\'ll never forget clouts for that goal he let in against detroit in the playoffs. lidstrom from half court!

[GoalieGuild]

This is bull shit.

I\'m pissssseddd.

That\'s all I\'m gonna say.

ITS NOT THEODORE AHAHAHAHAH.

Psh and it\'s not Yutaka Fukufuji either.

No more guesses psh we are getting off-topic.

Maybe I\'ll reveal the answer one day or maybe when I get my own forum up??

NO MORE GUESSES :evil:

[gdon]

TheHockeyGuild wrote:

Let\'s just say it\'s most likely the LAST goaltender you would ever expect it to be. But he is my childhood hero and he is my idol and that will never change. Oh I\'ll give you a hint ... he\'s still a current goalie.

Up until you said he was still playing and knowing you\'re from Colorado, I was thinking Hardy Astrom. :laugh: