Red-hot Smith stirs goalie controversy in Dallas

	Marty Turco's spotty play in his last four starts has him a lot closer to the bench than between the pipes for the Stars. Jeff Vinnick/Getty Images
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I can't say with certainty what Marty Turco did with his time after the Stars finished practice Thursday morning. But if he's anything like most men in Dallas, he probably enjoyed a fine Thanksgiving dinner, then flopped on the sofa, flipped on the TV and settled in to watch Tony Romo and the Cowboys whip up on the Tampa Bay Buccaneers.

If he did catch the game, it's likely that Turco found a moment to sympathize with deposed quarterback Drew Bledsoe. Both men have spent their time lately wearing ball caps instead of helmets.

Over the last few weeks, Bledsoe's stumbles opened the door for the inexperienced Romo to step in and make it look easy to quarterback the Cowboys.

Meanwhile, Turco's impression of the legendary Hardy Astrom over his last four starts has given backup Mike Smith his chance to shine for the Stars. The rookie -- who'd allowed just four goals in three previous starts -- responded with a pair of strong performances against Colorado and Nashville.

Of course, that's where the similarities end, at least for now. Barring injury to Romo, Bledsoe's spending the rest of the season carrying a clipboard. His career as the Cowboys' starter is finished.

In Turco's case, it's only a matter of time until he steps back between the pipes. But Smith's string of steady efforts is creating something Dallas hasn't seen since Turco's own ascendancy in 2000-01 -- an honest-to-goodness goalie controversy.

It shouldn't come as a surprise that it has taken root so quickly. Turco been one of the team's top performers for five years, and one of the best regular season goalies in the league for nearly as long. His early play this season was the foundation on which Dallas built their record-setting start. His 11 wins and 2.23 goals-against average rank him among the league leaders.

But Dallas fans know there is a regular season Marty and a playoff Marty. And his recent struggles, temporary as they may be, only serve to reinforce the notion that Turco may not be the one to lead the Stars back to the promised land.

It's not just that Turco's been letting in too many goals. That happens to every goalie on occasion. It's not even that they've been getting by him early and often. It's that too many times over the last four starts he's been victimized by the softie, the kind of goal that sucks the life out of his teammates and starts a goalie thinking instead of reacting.

Then in comes Smith. He bent, but didn't break after stepping in to relieve Turco early on, allowing the Stars to stage a 5-4 come-from-behind win over the Avalanche on Monday. He then stopped 17 shots on Wednesday to shut out the Predators -- a team that had won 13 of its last 16.

Like Underdog, Smith's arrived just in time to save the day. And the fans love him for it.

It wasn't that long ago that Turco was that guy. A mid-round pick that worked his way through the system before earning a shot as a backup to a clearly established No. 1 in Ed Belfour.

The 24-year-old Smith has paid his dues as well, with four years in the minors under his belt. But he didn't arrive with the same next-in-line rep as did Turco. In fact, when training camp started, Smith was just one of three guys given a chance to replace Johan Hedberg as Dallas' No. 2.