Blackhawks backup goalie Marty Turco has a sense of humor, but he doesn't have a gambling problem. It appears that Monday night, Turco and Robert Walter, a Montreal Canadien fan and season ticket holder, made a friendly little wager that got blown about of proportion. As reported on Chicago Breaking Sports, Walter, who was sitting near the Blackhawks' bench, engaged Turco in some friendly banter during breaks in the game. After the Canadiens scored the first goal of the game, Walter bet Turco that the Blackhawks wouldn't score at all during the game. Turco took him up on the $5 bet. However something got lost in the translation of what occurred.
↵ ↵The real story is that when the Blackhawks scored, Walter handed Turco a $5 bill, on which he had written "Habs Rule." When the Canadiens won the game, Turco handed back the $5 bill, but had crossed out "Habs" and had written in "Turco Rules." After the game, Walter called a local radio sports talk show to tell his story. What he claimed he said was that he was handed back a "wadded up" $5 bill. But as the story got around, it was said that Turco gave Walter "wads" of money.
↵ ↵So who's right? Does Turco have a gambling problem? We say no. Turco was just being a good guy, like all our Blackhawks guys are, and like so many other stories, this one got out of hand.
↵ ↵The next time we're at a Blackhawks game and sitting near the bench, we'll see if we can engage Turco in a friendly wager. Our bet? If we get Turco to talk to us, how many people will comment on our story? You tell us!