Call from the Blackhawks all Turco needed to hear
When last season ended and Marty Turco knew he would be testing the waters as a free agent, Chicago was his clear-cut No. 1 destination.
And then the Blackhawks went and won the Stanley Cup.
No way the Hawks would be getting rid of Antti Niemi, their Stanley Cup-winning goalie, Turco thought.
A phone call from his agent in July changed everything for Turco, who put his life on hold right then and there. The Hawks were going to have trouble re-signing Niemi to a cap-friendly number and general manager Stan Bowman phoned Turco's agent to gauge interest on that end.
"That's a feeling I'll never forget because I felt like that was one door that had closed," Turco said Tuesday when he was formally introduced as the Hawks' new No. 1 goalie. "That call was huge even if it didn't sound that promising. You don't expect the Stanley Cup champions to make as many changes and as grand as they have.
"Just the thought of these guys having that parade and coming back hungry and ready to do it again was all I could think about. To know that opportunity was still out there was well worth the wait."
Turco's wait ended when Niemi won $2.75 million in arbitration and the Hawks were forced to walk away from it because it didn't fit into their budget.
On Aug. 2, the same day the Hawks announced they were cutting ties with Niemi, they signed Turco to a one-year, $1.3 million deal - less money than he was offered elsewhere.
"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."
The Hawks offered everything the 35-year-old Turco was looking for: first and foremost the chance win the Stanley Cup as a No. 1 goalie. He also saw great teammates, a great captain in Jonathan Toews, an organization concerned only with winning, and a first-class city that's mad for its hockey.
It's also where his idol, Tony Esposito, played. Turco grew up in the same town as Tony and Phil Esposito, Sault Ste. Marie, Ontario, and always has worn No. 35 in honor of Tony-O.
Esposito has followed Turco's career and he believes the Hawks are getting a top-end goalie still in the prime of his career.
"This is his prime, the next three, four or five years," said Esposito, now a Hawks ambassador. "He's at his peak now these next few years. You've got the experience and you're able to handle the pressure better.
"When I knew they had an opportunity to get him, I knew that it would be good for this team. He's a guy that's been around. He's healthy and not that old. He can play for another several years, and with this defense we've got he'll do really well."
Not only is Turco a great puck handler, he's one of the most athletic and acrobatic goaltenders in the NHL.
Esposito made a few circus-like saves of his own during his Hall of Fame career with the Hawks.
"He stops the puck. Hey, you can't be textbook all the time," Esposito said. "You've got to stop the puck any way you can and that's what he seems to do."