Turco ties NCAA record

As the winter-break crowd of 6,495 filed out of Yost Ice Arena on Jan. 3, a boy asked his father, "Can I play goalie next time, dad?"

After hearing the crowd chant "Marty, Marty" and seeing Michigan goalie Marty Turco's teammates mob him in the crease following his 32-save shutout of Ohio State, who wouldn't want to get between the pipes?

The chants and the congratulations belonged to Turco that night as he won his 111th career game to tie the NCAA record.

At the beginning of the season, Turco's win total stood at 94, and with a young team in front of him this year, he had to deal with the fact that he might not get the record. But none of his teammates ever really believed that he wouldn't get it - it was as much their responsibility as his.

MALLORY S.E. FLOYD/Daily Midway through his senior season, Michigan goaltender Marty Turco is poised to break the all-time NCAA record for career victories with his next victory.

Turco is the first to point out that the fun he has playing with the other Wolverines makes tying the record even more special to him.

Some of the fans among those chanting his name may have been the same ones who felt Turco's wins came as a result of the talented teams he has played with the past three seasons, and not due to any outstanding talents the goalie possesses.

Even though the goalie is the only individual who gets credited with a win, nobody thinks that the goalie makes it happen any more or less than the other five skaters do.

"I'm just the name it gets tacked onto," Turco said.

Still, it's nice to be recognized, and no team would ever be able to win a game without the goalie. Turco's teammates are happy for him and all the great things that his record says about the Michigan hockey program, too.

Captain Matt Herr said he has been excited to have "such a great kid" with him the past four years. The senior also added a goal and two assists to help Turco, his roommate, tie the record.

Turco currently shares the record with former Michigan goalie Steve Shields, now with the Buffalo Sabres.

"That's an amazing feat," Herr said of the two standout Wolverines. "To have one is amazing but to have two is just incredible."

Turco's record may not be solely an individual record, but still, it must be nice to consider yourself the best in college hockey, right?

Turco said he will enjoy his record and probably look back on it with fondness, but for right now, he still has more than 20 games to play. Above the stands that Turco faces for two periods in each home game used to hang a banner counting Turco's wins. And although it was gone for the Ohio State series, Turco said he "couldn't help but think about" the record. Michigan head coach Red Berenson also said he didn't want the record to become a distraction for his ace goalie.

"We (didn't) treat this like a big thing," Berenson said. "It's really not ... I expect this just to be a passing thing."

It will be temporary, and Turco is well aware of this. When questioned what he'll do with the stick and the puck from his record-tying game, he replied that he would give his stick to trainer David Brooks, and he hadn't decided what to do yet with the puck.

"To me," Turco said, "the mementos aren't as important as having the memories and the feeling."

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