Hello, My Name Is Marty
Q&A With Marty Turco
IE: Didn’t the Stars have a relationship with Pantera?
Marty Turco: Yeah [chuckling]. Oh, yeah. [The Dallas Stars] still come out to [“Puck Off”] – they made up a Dallas Stars song. Pantera were around for the ’99 run, played with the boys. Been up to the house a couple times, played in the sound room. Listening, jamming to metal – pretty cool, though you couldn’t hear yourself.
IE: There were stories that the Stanley Cup got dented in somebody’s pool.
MT: I heard that same story, that it was [Pantera drummer] Vinnie Paul’s pool. A Crown Royal-shaped pool, no less. Who doesn’t have that?
IE: You’re from Sault Ste. Marie and you played in Dallas – can you elucidate the relationship between country music and Canadians?
MT: Yeah, I can! A lot of half-buried Americans, we’ll call ’em. It’s a Southern thing in the U.S., but it’s also northern. Calgary’s the cowtown. It’s a small little Texas up in that world: you’ve got oil, cattle, country music . . . it’s crazy. A lot of rodeo guys go up in the summer time.
IE: Do Southern accents creep in up there?
MT: I’m not from that part of Canada, but you certainly get that country twang. It’s its own thing. The women don’t have it, but the people chomping on straw do. It’s endearing. You feel a lot more welcome.
IE: Musically, how inclined are you?
MT: I was blessed with a talent, but not musically. I wish I was. I bought the family a baby grand piano with digital add-ons that teach you to play. So I got my kids learning; they’re like sponges. I’m an old rock that doesn’t learn anything.
IE: What are the worst songs to hear after surrendering a goal?
MT: When they try to make you feel better, that it’s O.K. But it’s not: we just let in a goal. I’m gonna get over it, but don’t tell me to get over it. Songs like, “Don’t Worry, Be Happy”: Don’t tell me to be happy. I’ve got 18,000 people pissed off at me. Or “Roxanne” – anything with a red light.
Marty Turco plays goaltender for the Chicago Blackhawks. Q&A by Steve Forstneger
