SMARTY MARTY

He re-wrote the record book while at Michigan.

He has extensively edited the Stars list of goaltender bests with his excellence.

And now Marty Turco is about to author a series of children's books featuring a central character named "Smarty Marty"

How appropriate this news is considering that Turco has been the spokesman for the Stars' very successful "Stick With Reading" program the past few years.

The stories will be drawn from life lessons Turco has picked up along the way and will be relayed in a kid-friendly manner through little goalie "Marty" and his hockey buddies.

St.Louis Blues assistant coach Brad Shaw's wife Mary has a similar series of kids books called "Brady Brady", and they've been very successful.

Turco's foray into publishing is still in the preliminary stages as they've yet to finalize an artist to visually bring these stories to life and they continue to hone the stories/messages themselves. (So "The Edge" will keep you posted.)

Oh, and no word as of this posting, whether a witty and precocious broadcaster named "Lil' Razorboy" will be included in the cast of characters.

(He could teach kids how NOT to put their foot in their little mouths)