Chicago Blackhawks Fans: It's Time To Stop the Marty Turco Hate

As an avid Chicago Blackhawks fan, who loves to read about the team I love non-stop, I am pretty well-read about what other fans or bloggers think about this year's team.

After reading many blogs and websites, even this one, I've come to the conclusion that Blackhawks fans don't really like Marty Turco. His stats aren't incredible, I'll give them that, but Turco's numbers are not because he has failed to play well in goal.

The players around him have failed to play good hockey.

Tuesday night's game is clear evidence of this. Turco faced an uncanny 43 shots, stopping 40 of them. Eighteen of those shots came in the first period.

Turco was the reason the Blackhawks had any chance of winning this game. He was making absolutely crazy saves all game, especially in the first period.

A goaltender can only take a certain amount of shots before some make it past him. The defense has to show up or a goal will ensue, no matter how good the goaltender is.

This was the case Tuesday night.

It didn't help that the Blackhawks played one of their worst games of the season.

The St. Louis Blues outplayed the Blackhawks in nearly every category. They controlled the puck and disrupted the pass game. It was an embarrassment to watch from a fan's perspective and I can only think it as frustrating for the Blackhawks players.

Losing Jonathan Toews only made the loss feel worse, though that's not why they lost. The Blackhawks played terrible from the start and never got out of it.

Reports just came in regarding Toews. His injury isn't serious and he'll only miss two weeks with an "upper body injury." 

As for Turco, he gets his third straight start on Thursday against the San Jose Sharks. He deserves it. 

He also deserves the support and respect of the Blackhawks fans.