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Rest for Tim Thomas? Bruins sign Marty Turco

Marty Turco

Chicago Blackhawks goalie Marty Turco (30) leaves the ice after losing the shoot-out in the NHL hockey game to his former team the Dallas Stars in Dallas, Friday, Feb. 11, 2011. The Stars won 4-3. (AP Photo/LM Otero)

AP

Boston Bruins GM Peter Chiarelli apparently determined that a well-rested Tim Thomas is a priority for the defending Stanley Cup champions. Chiarelli signed veteran goalie Marty Turco on the same night that word surfaced that Tuukka Rask will miss the next 4-6 weeks with an abdominal/groin injury.

Turco will join the Bruins unless he fails to clear waivers, but either way, he won’t be eligible for postseason play because the deadline for playoff-available waiver claims passed at the trade deadline. It’s clear that Boston decided to add him strictly to give the team an experienced backup for Thomas during the last month of the season.

ESPN’s Pierre LeBrun reports that Turco will receive a pro-rated $600K salary for one year.

There are a few amusing elements to this story, which I’ll rattle off nice and quick:


  • Turco is actually a little younger (36) than Thomas (37).
  • Both players enjoyed distinguished NCAA careers; Turco wow a national championship at Michigan while Thomas enjoyed some great times alongside Martin St. Louis at the University of Vermont. (Oh yeah, Thomas is a Flint, Michigan resident so they can probably discuss their roots in depth if they’d like.)
  • Thomas holds the single-season save percentage record from last season while Turco previously held the lowest goals against average for one season (1.72 in 2002-03, only to be broken by Miikka Kiprusoff in 03-04).
  • If he clears waivers, Turco will play for back-to-back defending Cup champions as he flopped with the Chicago Blackhawks last season.

In other words, it would be awfully cool if the two end up being in the same goalie rotation, but there are a number of candidates who might be interested in a short-term fix in Turco. My guess is that the Ottawa Senators might benefit from the puck-moving veteran with Craig Anderson on the mend, but feel free to speculate about other squads who might snatch him up - or if he’ll go to the Bruins without incident.