Chicago walk away from Niemi deal, sign veteran Turco

CHICAGO, Ill – Blackhawk’s GM Stan Bowman made one of his toughest decisions of the summer, as he allowed Stanley Cup winning netminder Antti Niemi to leave the Windy City as a free agent. Bowman opted not to sign the Finnish puck stopper to the $2.75m deal he was awarded at arbitration, instead moving to bring former Dallas Stars goalie Marty Turco on board to back stop the defending champions through the 2010/2011 season.
 
Initial reactions were mainly that of shock. Another piece of the Hawks Cup winning team would be plying their trade in a different uniform next season and for a few the idea of a repeat run to the Finals this coming season seemed about as likely as pigs flying across Illinois.
 
But as the dust settles, the deal appears to make much more sense for the Blackhawks in both the short and perhaps long term.
 
At times last season Niemi was undoubtedly a star performer. He showed flashes of great potential and some performances could simple described as ‘elite’. Niemi took the #1 job from Cristobel Huet and would be entrusted with the job of back stopping one of the favourites for the 2010 Cup through the play-offs.
 
Clearly there is something about Niemi, and he looks set to have a bright future in the game, but despite his sometimes stellar play he did have his off nights and wasn’t always very convincing in the Finals against Philadelphia.
 
You only need to ask Columbus fans about the dangers of putting too much emphasis on the high points a young goalies rookie campaign, so when the time came to make a call Bowman took the decision to cut loose Niemi and opted instead for a much smaller deal to bring veteran Turco to the team.
 
The former Stars man signed a 1 year, $1.3m deal with the Hawks, leaving Texas as one of the franchise’s most successful netminders, leading the club in wins, shutouts and games played amongst other things.
 
While Turco may not have a Cup ring like Niemi, he does have a more tangible record over the past 10 years that he has spent in the NHL. The Saulte Ste. Marie native has six 30+ win seasons, including 41 wins during the 05/06 season, and has shown he is able to handle 60 or more starts in a season. Turco’s ability to handle a workload, combined with his decade’s worth of NHL experience should also play its part in the development of Corey Crawford.
 
One criticism that has been thrown at Turco is that age is catching him and his play is on a downward slide. Whilst his numbers perhaps do suggest the 35 year old has seen his best days, we should all be smart enough to know it’s not just about statistics and it cannot be ignored that he played on a team whose defence was less than stellar for large parts of the past two seasons and has arguable been in a gradual decline since the Stars won the Cup in 1999.
 
To a point it might be argued Turco, like Sean Avery before him, was simple the scapegoat for team failings in Dallas and the acquisition of Kari Lehtonen from Atlanta gave Stars management the easy option, to allow Turco to walk on July 1^st.
 
Whilst news of a new home for the much liked Turco was surprisingly slow, the most significant aspect of his new deal are the numbers involved. For Turco it’s an opportunity to put him self back in the shop window, to show he is still an NHL calibre starter. For Chicago it follows a number of high profile trades to ensure the club will be under the salary cap ceiling at the start of the new season. At $1.3m, Turco saves them both cap space and cold hard cash, something which could be equally valuable after it emerged the team actually made a loss despite its on ice success. With both parties agreeing to just a single year, there is also much greater flexibility for all sides. If one side doesn’t feel it is working, they can simple walk away in 12 months time.
 
Of course if it does work out, the future in Chicago might not be as bleak as some folks would have us believe.
 
Contact the author: rob.mcgregor@prohockeynews.com