By: Neil Simmons | Follow me on Twitter: @NSimmz
Hundreds of National Hockey League players have donned the Boston Bruins iconic “Spoked B” throughout the team’s one-hundred-year history. A select few had the opportunity to spend over a decade, or even their entire careers, in the black and gold. Most Bruins alumni were only in Boston for a few seasons and many more for just a handful of games, whether they were deadline acquisitions, free-agent signings, or emergency call-ups.
Marty Turco was a rare circumstance for the B’s to bring in a veteran straight off the couch after the trade deadline. His Bruins tenure was brief but memorable in several ways before he rode off into the sunset at season’s end.
Turco was drafted in the fifth-round of the 1994 NHL Draft by the Dallas Stars and attended the University of Michigan, where he had one of the most outstanding goaltending careers in team history. As a four-year starter for the Wolverines, Turco won an NCAA record 127 games, advanced to four Frozen Fours, and won two National Championships, the latter coming in overtime in Boston against Boston College.
After another strong season as the understudy, and as Belfour’s performance declined, Turco took over the starting role for the ‘02-’03 season and never looked back. Turco won 31 games and finished the regular season with the lowest Goals Against Average in NHL history (1.72), backstopping the Stars to the best record in the West. Turco started 73 games for Dallas the following year, establishing himself as a reliable workhorse in net, notching 37 wins and recording a career-high nine shutouts.
Turco played at least 62 games in the first four years following the lockout-canceled season, backstopping Dallas to the Stanley Cup playoffs in each of the first three. Despite their regular-season success, Dallas struggled to perform to expectations in the playoffs. The playoff struggles were not entirely Turco’s fault, particularly in 2007 when Dallas lost in seven games in the first round despite Turco recording a microscopic 1.30 Goals Against, .952 Save % and THREE shutouts.
The Stars broke through in 2008, making their first conference final since 2000, a year before Turco’s debut. Dallas upended the reigning Stanley Cup champion Anaheim Ducks in six games, then delivered the same result in an upset against the heavily favored San Jose Sharks. Their surprising playoff run ended abruptly against the eventual champion Detroit Red Wings, ending the finest playoff run of Turco’s career.
2008 would prove to be Turco’s last postseason appearance. Owing to the massive workload he had shouldered the past few seasons, his numbers declined drastically in 2009, and Dallas failed to qualify for the playoffs. After another missed postseason in 2010, the Stars elected to rebuild, and Turco was not re-signed, ending his tenure with the organization after nine seasons. A single season with the Chicago Blackhawks saw Turco post career-worst numbers and was eventually supplanted in net by Corey Crawford.
Initially intent on retiring, Turco signed a short-term deal with Austrian club Red Bull Salzburg in December 2011. His deal included a clause to release him if an NHL team came calling, and the Boston Bruins would end up calling that March. The Bruins needed goaltending depth for the stretch run after both Tuukka Rask and Providence starter Anton Khudobin had gone down with an injury.
Because Turco was signed post-trade deadline, he would be ineligible for postseason play. That was not a problem for the Bruins, as Tim Thomas was the undisputed starter, and Rask was set to be healthy by the first round. Turco started four games for Boston to give Thomas a few nights off and won two. His numbers were less than stellar (3.68 GAA / .855 Sv %), but he produced a few highlight moments, including a windmill save against Pittsburgh in his debut.
At the end of his Boston cameo, Turco declined the invitation to stay with the team through the playoffs and opted to retire fully. Since retirement, Turco has been a studio analyst for NHL Network.
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