Can Turco Defend What Niemi Won?

It's official: The Blackhawks have decided to part ways with goalie Antti Niemi, leaving his fate in the purgatory-like realm we in the sports world call free agency. It wasn't that the Hawks were suddenly disinterested in the Finnish netminder, but rather due to the steep price of $2.75 million that they would be forced to pay him, set by a neutral third party after Niemi filed for arbitration on July 5th.

The honest truth is that the Hawks have magnificantly downgraded their roster since hoisting Lord Stanley's Cup. For GM Stan Bowman and the Hawks, bursting the salary cap was a recognized but unavoidable problem long before the season ended. The vast majority of cap space was filled by Jonathan Toews, Patrick Kane and Duncan Keith in the form of contract extensions. The Hawks have already waved goodbye to Kris Versteeg, Colin Fraser, Ben Eager, Adam Burish, Dustin Byfuglien, Brent Sopel and Andrew Ladd, so what could adding one more player in Niemi hurt?

Well, maybe the fact that many agreed he was a possible and even somewhat likely candidate to hoist the Conn Smythe Trophy, given to Most Valuable Player in the playoffs. And if you are one of those people, then you probably don't believe the Hawks would've broken their 49 year championship drought without him. But enough with Niemi, because from now on he and the Blackhawks are two different discussions.

So now for the Hawks, they turn to newly-signed veteran goalie Marty Turco to help defend the Cup. Turco has played nine years in the NHL, all of which for Dallas. Last season he posted a 22-20-11 record with a 2.72 goals against average and a .913 save percentage, also squeezing in 4 whitewashes along the way. Lifetime in the NHL, Turco holds a record of 262-154-26-37 with a 2.31 GAA and a .911 SV%.

So sure, Turco has the experience. But seeing as he turns 35 years old next Friday (August 13th), does he still remain with the flexibility he could more easily have bragged about eight or nine years ago?

I'm quite confident that Turco will do many great things while calling the United Center home. But will he provide as big of a jolt that Niemi brought for the defense?

My best educated guess would be...no.

As a die hard fan, I'm tempted to respond with my heart, but I can't help that my head says no. Niemi's numbers from last season are superior in just about every category and, factoring in the age difference, it's hard to believe that Turco can live up to the standard that Niemi set.

But comparisons aside, Turco's veteran experience and leadership should help the Blackhawks in a variety of ways. This of course begins with backup netminder Corey Crawford, who should hugely benefit from taking notes from the sidelines. And with experience often comes knowledge, as Don Cherry, who had an 18 year playing career, said Turco was "The smartest goalie in the NHL."

But this is not October, and the Hawks have not yet begun their voyage to attempt championship repetition. But when the time comes, one thing is for certain...the Hawks are gonna fight like champs.