Felger & Mazz: Neely Hopeful, Not Postive, Turco Can Help
With the news that Tuukka Rask will be out for four to six weeks with a groin/abdominal injury, the Bruins had to take a risk on veteran goaltender Marty Turco.
It was a risky move because other teams with a worse record than Boston can claim Turco off waivers, but where the Bruins are taking the biggest chance is that they don't really know how Turco can play.
Bruins president Cam Neely explained Tuesday on Felger and Massarotti.
"We did some research on how he played there [in Austria] but there wasn't too many options for us to get ourselves a goalie that could play at the NHL level, at least for a few games to give Tim [Thomas] a break," Neely said on the show.
Neely said that had Anton Khudobin been healthy, it would have been Khudobin assuming the role of Thomas' backup, but with him still two or three weeks away from being able to play, the Bruins needed to act.
Turco, 36, has played in four games in an Austrian league this season, posting a .928 save percentage and 2.88 goals-against average. Last year with the Blackhawks, he had a 3.02 GAA and .897 save percentage.
Neely said expectations for Turco are somewhat low, with the hope that he'll be able to fill in often enough to prevent Thomas from getting overworked.
"We gotta see what Marty Turco can do … We're certainly gonna see what Marty can do for us, and we'll see how that goes," Neely said. "In a perfect world, we can use Marty more than not and we can give Tim a break."
Neely also discussed the team's short-term goals, its short-term issues and its long-term outlook for the season.
Listen to Neely on Felger and Mazz below:
