Marty Turco: Do Chicago Blackhawks Have a Problem in the Net?

Did anyone see the Blackhawks play the Edmonton Oilers on Friday the 29th?  Did anyone see how fast the Oilers scored towards the end of the first period?  They completely pushed those pucks past goalie Marty Turco with seeming ease.  In the end, the Oilers won the game 7-4 and Blackhawks fans were left to scratch their heads.  

How could the Oilers score so many points in such a short amount of time in that first period?  What can Chicago do to fix their problems in the net and win more games?

Turco was pulled out of the game against the Oilers due to the problems that he was having in goal.  It’s not unusual for that to happen and something like that happens in almost every sport (i.e. pulling a pitcher that’s having a bad game or taking out a quarterback that can’t complete a pass). 

Pulling Turco had two purposes.  

For one, it helped to get him out the net where he was getting bombarded and couldn’t stop much of anything that the Oilers were throwing at him.  Putting someone new in the net did help the Blackhawks out at least a little bit but they still lost the game.

The other purpose that this it helps send a message to Turco that he can and will be replaced if the coaching staff feels that it’s necessary to do so.  They do have Corey Crawford and while he may not be the ideal replacement, Turco needs to know that if he falters, he will be replaced.  

Before coming to Chicago, it was said that Turco would have problems communicating with his defensemen, thus making things difficult on his team’s end of the ice.  This communication is important because it helps the goal understand where defensemen will be and allows the goalie to know where those defensemen are and what areas the goalie has to pay particular attention to protect (against goals).

Another issue that Turco has does try to do too much at times and doesn’t necessarily rely on his teammates to help him out at times.  This has happened a couple times during this season already and was seen in their game against the Oilers (the one in question).

Yet another issue that Turco has had in the past has been his desire to want to be a little overaggressive at times, and this has hurt him in the net as well (as it would hurt any goalie).  Sometimes being overly aggressive in the net isn’t a good thing and this has clearly hurt Turco at times in the past an in the present.  He has also been guilty of getting himself too high in the crease.  

One thing that Turco seems to have a lot of is ego and pride.  He’s the kind of guy that hates to lose (as all athletes do) and will sometimes overstep his bounds in order to win a game.

While Turco is the best option for the Blackhawks in goal right now and fans seem to really like the fact that he’s in the net.  Do the Blackhawks like the fact that he’s there?

Statistically speaking, Turco has been having a good season.  Through the Blackhawks November 2 game with the New York Rangers, Turco has 92% saves average with an average goals allowed per game of 2.63.  These numbers aren’t bad and you certainly wouldn’t think that he had the kinds of problems that he had in the net against the Oilers the other night.

Turco will remain the starter but needs to play with much more consistency.  Perhaps it may have something to do with being overaggressive or possible being new to the Blackhawks and not being used to the players or the way that they play.

It doesn’t matter what his problem is, he needs to get better and help the Blackhawks win some games.