Rookie takes top job as veteran Turco has struggled
Any shred of doubt about who has emerged as the Blackhawks' No. 1 goaltender disappeared when Marty Turco was yanked off the ice in the opening minute of the second period in Monday night's collapse in Colorado.
Turco headed right to the dressing room after coach Joel Quenneville replaced him with Corey Crawford after the veteran had allowed four goals on 10 shots during the Hawks' 7-5 defeat to the Avalanche. Turco re-appeared a short time later wearing a white baseball cap and settled into his spot at the end of the bench.
There is little doubt that's where he will remain indefinitely because the Hawks look like a different team with Crawford in the crease, despite a late-game hiccup when he allowed two Avalanche goals in the span of one minute.
Crawford has appeared in eight of the last 10 games as the goaltending situation has begun to look eerily similar to last season's ? albeit quite a bit earlier ? when relatively unknown Antti Niemi outplayed veteran Cristobal Huet to seize the starting job he relinquished when he left the Hawks for the Sharks as a free agent.
The difference in the situation is Huet lost confidence in himself while Turco exudes it and doesn't even think about goaltending controversies.
"I don't hear it, see it, read it or care to entertain any thought of it," Turco said.
Despite that, Turco will be sitting as Quenneville seems prepared to let Crawford take the reins.
"You're always going forward," Quenneville said. "You're looking at the best opportunity. We'll talk about who's playing as we go along here but certainly (Crawford has) been playing well."
While Crawford clearly has been the better goaltender, the Hawks haven't helped out much defensively in front of Turco, who hasn't won since Nov. 17 at Edmonton.
So much so that blue-liner Brian Campbell said, "I feel bad for Marty. I think every one of us owes him an apology."
Teammates left Turco hung out to dry several times against the Avalanche.
The defensive play wasn't a whole lot better in front of Crawford, but the rookie was able to do what Turco has not: Consistently come up with big saves to bail out his teammates.
"Corey has performed very well over the last six weeks, which is obviously what we wanted," general manager Stan Bowman said. "We had a feeling internally that was what he was all about. We're very excited for Corey that he's showing he can play in the league and we can rely on him."
It's hard to imagine Quenneville turning to Turco any time soon, barring a major downturn in Crawford's play. The Hawks' mediocre start has put every point at a premium and there is no cushion in the Western Conference for them to worry about bruising egos or experiment with the top job.
The Hawks don't play back-to-back games until Jan. 2-3 at Anaheim and Los Angeles and Crawford figures to be the man in the seven games leading up to them ? and beyond.
Any shred of doubt about who has emerged as the Blackhawks' No. 1 goaltender disappeared when Marty Turco was yanked off the ice in the opening minute of the second period in Monday night's collapse in Colorado.
Turco headed right to the dressing room after coach Joel Quenneville replaced him with Corey Crawford after the veteran had allowed four goals on 10 shots during the Hawks' 7-5 defeat to the Avalanche. Turco re-appeared a short time later wearing a white baseball cap and settled into his spot at the end of the bench.
There is little doubt that's where he will remain indefinitely because the Hawks look like a different team with Crawford in the crease, despite a late-game hiccup when he allowed two Avalanche goals in the span of one minute.
Crawford has appeared in eight of the last 10 games as the goaltending situation has begun to look eerily similar to last season's ? albeit quite a bit earlier ? when relatively unknown Antti Niemi outplayed veteran Cristobal Huet to seize the starting job he relinquished when he left the Hawks for the Sharks as a free agent.
The difference in the situation is Huet lost confidence in himself while Turco exudes it and doesn't even think about goaltending controversies.
"I don't hear it, see it, read it or care to entertain any thought of it," Turco said.
Despite that, Turco will be sitting as Quenneville seems prepared to let Crawford take the reins.
"You're always going forward," Quenneville said. "You're looking at the best opportunity. We'll talk about who's playing as we go along here but certainly (Crawford has) been playing well."
While Crawford clearly has been the better goaltender, the Hawks haven't helped out much defensively in front of Turco, who hasn't won since Nov. 17 at Edmonton.
So much so that blue-liner Brian Campbell said, "I feel bad for Marty. I think every one of us owes him an apology."
Teammates left Turco hung out to dry several times against the Avalanche.
The defensive play wasn't a whole lot better in front of Crawford, but the rookie was able to do what Turco has not: Consistently come up with big saves to bail out his teammates.
"Corey has performed very well over the last six weeks, which is obviously what we wanted," general manager Stan Bowman said. "We had a feeling internally that was what he was all about. We're very excited for Corey that he's showing he can play in the league and we can rely on him."
It's hard to imagine Quenneville turning to Turco any time soon, barring a major downturn in Crawford's play. The Hawks' mediocre start has put every point at a premium and there is no cushion in the Western Conference for them to worry about bruising egos or experiment with the top job.
The Hawks don't play back-to-back games until Jan. 2-3 at Anaheim and Los Angeles and Crawford figures to be the man in the seven games leading up to them ? and beyond.
