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Red Wings' Osgood Wants To Be Osgreat – Dec. 6, 1996 – Vol. 50, Issue 13 – Mike Brophy
Don’t be fooled by the boyish good looks or the soft-spoken voice-quite often barely audible, especially when the conversation turns to his ranking among goaltenders in the NHL.
A fire bums inside of Detroit Red Wings’ goalie Chris Osgood. Stoking the flames is his desire to be No. 1. That’s not on his team, because he already is. He wants to be No. 1 in the league.
“I want to win the Stanley Cup more than anything,” said Osgood, 24. “I’ll do anything to win. At the same time, in my mind, I want to be one of the best goalies in the league, if not the very best. Ever since I came into the league, it has been my goal to be the best goalie in the league.”
Osgood won’t reveal how close he feels he is to reaching the summit, although his sterling numbers and continued success suggest it is within sight. Since Osgood joined the Red Wings in 1993-94, only four goalies-Mike Richter of the New York Rangers, Martin Brodeur of the New Jersey Devils, Ed Belfour of the Chicago Blackhawks and Ron Hextall of the Philadelphia Flyers—have recorded more wins than Osgood’s 83. And those goalies were clearly No. 1 on their teams, getting the bulk of playing time while Osgood shared the crease with Mike Vernon.
Wins are wonderful. So are personal statistics. But there’s more to ranking goalies than simply considering their numbers. Osgood’s 39 victories (with just six losses and five ties) last season was tops in the league. He tied with Hextall for best goals-against average at 2.17 and tied with Brodeur for seventh-best save percentage at 91.1.
Patrick Roy, on the other hand, tied for 12th in goals-against and 10th in save percentage, but led the Colorado Avalanche to the Cup-his third. For that, Roy remains the king. And Curtis Joseph of the Edmonton Oilers, who didn’t rank in the top 30 in GAA or SP last season, got the nod for Canada’s entry at the World Cup. Osgood wasn’t among the three goalies on the team.
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Osgood hadn’t been around long enough to receive serious consideration for the post. Experience certainly was a key in selecting Bill Ranford of the Boston Bruins and Brodeur as Joseph’s backups.
Playing for a powerhouse such as the Red Wings is both a blessing and a curse for Osgood. Of course he racks up wins, the Red Wings play a strict defensive system that would benefit any goalie. It’s worth noting, though, while the team had difficulty winning this season. Osgood’s own numbers remained impressive. He led the league in GAA at 1.73 and was third in SP at 93.4. And because the Red Wings have not utilized the defense-oriented left wing lock the way they did the previous two years, Osgood has been left to his own devices more often.
“Since he came into the league, the one thing he has done consistently is find a way to win,” said Detroit assistant GM Ken Holland. “For that, he deserves credit.”
But he doesn’t get the elite status afforded Roy, Richter, Brodeur, Dominik Hasek of the Buffalo Sabres and John Vanbies-brouck of the Florida Panthers. There is a glut of challengers. Osgood, Jim Carey of the Washington Capitals and Nikolai Khabibulin of the Phoenix Coyotes are among the up-and-comers.
Osgood needs his team to have a successful playoff to receive the recognition he deserves. That’s going to be tough because anything short of winning the Cup is considered failure in Detroit.
Meanwhile, Osgood continues to work diligently at his craft, concentrating on positional play. A save he made on Colorado’s Joe Sakic last year, diving back into the net, was picked best play of the year. Osgood said if his game were where he wants it to be, it wouldn’t have been a consideration. “I want to be in the right place at the right time,” he said, “and not have to make the flashy save because I was out of position.”
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