Osgood.

[truebladearmy 33]

Think about it. Osgood has 4 Stanley Cup rings.

He has led us to the finals several times. 97, 02, 08, 09. In 08 he stepped in and basically saved our asses, when Hasek wasn't playing at a playoff level.

His playoff stats are among the best in history, in terms of wins, save percentage, and GAA for the playoffs.

Sure, he's a bit streaky, but under pressure Osgood has been, beyond any doubt our best playoff goalie in the last 5 decades. With an all star goalie lineup included Hasek and Cujo.....Osgood has done far more for our team than any other goalie since I started watching hockey. No goalie has more rings in the past 2 decades.

I doubt many Wings fans underestimate Osgood anymore these days. In fact, I'm proud of the fact that after losing to the Pens in game 7.....not a single person with an IQ above 50 pointed the finger at Osgood.

I'm happy to have Osgood back. Right now, come playoff time, there is not a goalie in the world I would rather have in net. You don't get 4 cup rings by being a lucky goalie. He is by far the most underestimated goalie in the league. It's the "Quiet nice guy syndrome" I suppose.

I would more than bet that Osgood will win at least 1 more cup before he is done.

Edited August 29, 2009 by truebladearmy

[b.shanafan14 733]

Osgood has 3 Cup rings: '97, '98, '08. He won it himself in '98, wasn't around in '02, and didn't win the Cup last season, unfortunately.

He is the best WINGS goalie in my mind, but definitely not the best playoff goaltender of our time.

[SDavis35 140]

I doubt many Wings fans underestimate Osgood anymore these days. In fact, I'm proud of the fact that after losing to the Pens in game 7.....not a single person with an IQ above 50 pointed the finger at Osgood.

Although if you think about it, he WAS out of position on that second goal

[Doggy 130]

Think about it. Osgood has 4 Stanley Cup rings.

He has led us to the finals several times. 97, 02, 08, 09. In 08 he stepped in and basically saved our asses, when Hasek wasn't playing at a playoff level.

His playoff stats are among the best in history, in terms of wins, save percentage, and GAA for the playoffs.

Sure, he's a bit streaky, but under pressure Osgood has been, beyond any doubt our best playoff goalie in the last 5 decades. With an all star goalie lineup included Hasek and Cujo.....Osgood has done far more for our team than any other goalie since I started watching hockey. No goalie has more rings in the past 2 decades.

I doubt many Wings fans underestimate Osgood anymore these days. In fact, I'm proud of the fact that after losing to the Pens in game 7.....not a single person with an IQ above 50 pointed the finger at Osgood.

I'm happy to have Osgood back. Right now, come playoff time, there is not a goalie in the world I would rather have in net. You don't get 4 cup rings by being a lucky goalie. He is by far the most underestimated goalie in the league. It's the "Quiet nice guy syndrome" I suppose.

I would more than bet that Osgood will win at least 1 more cup before he is done.

-3 Cup rings.

-We didn't win the Cup a few months ago. Did you forget?

-In 1998 we won the Cup, when he was actually in net.

-In 2002 he didn't play for Detroit.

[cjm502 165]

He is a worthless piece of crap in the regular season, but it IS the playoffs that counts anyways.

[gcom007 1,465]

Tough to call him the best still but he's right up there which still says a lot. Let's see how the next few years go. I still think he's got 3-4 seasons of hockey in him before he starts dropping off. Another Cup or two and solid runs each year would do much to further his argument. I think he'll likely have a strong regular season this year. He really wants to prove himself after last year and while he'll never say it, you can bet with the way this guy is, he wants a Conn Smythe trophy. Expect great things once again come the next post-season.

[Pucks 66]

What a ridiculous thread. Kirk Maltby has 4 rings, so obviously Chris Osgood is riding his coattails

[cjm502 165]

What a ridiculous thread. Kirk Maltby has 4 rings, so obviously Chris Osgood is riding his coattails

He is a clutch player, a team has never won a cup with poor goaltending behind them. Ozzy could put up a .930 save % in the reg season if he wanted, but he gets lazy till the playoffs roll around.

[TheDetroitRedWings 286]

Other than 2008, Osgood blows. He sucked before then, and he's sucked since. The way he looked in '08 will never happen again. I can't wait to move on from Osgood.

[GMRwings1983 8,803]

Ozzie has 3 rings, not 4. Only 2 of those came as a starter.

He's been a great goalie, but he's not the best goalie of his generation, because that would easily be Brodeur. By his generation, I'm talking about goalies that came into the league in the early 90's.

As far as "our era" goes, you also have to put Roy, Hasek and Belfour ahead of him.

[Hiei 192]

Oz has 3. 97 (Vernon was the starter and Conn Smythe Winner) 98 (under some shaky circumstances, Phoenix and Dallas anyone? He certainly stepped it up for Washington though.) Traded out in 2001/02 when Hasek came, went to STL and NYI and practically carried them, back after the lockout, Displaced Hasek in 08 and won it. Last year certainly wasn't his fault. I don't recall soft or red-line goals going by.

Edit:

I must say this though. Good, Bad, or Shaky, #30 will not be worn again in the Motor City. Count on it.

Edited August 29, 2009 by Hiei

[Lovin Jiri Fischer 147]

Osgood has 3 Cup rings: '97, '98, '08. He won it himself in '98, wasn't around in '02, and didn't win the Cup last season, unfortunately.

He is the best WINGS goalie in my mind, but definitely not the best playoff goaltender of our time.

No I think he meant that Osgood took us to the finals those years, which he did in '09.

[b.shanafan14 733]

No I think he meant that Osgood took us to the finals those years, which he did in '09.

But not in '97 or '02...

[thedisappearer 291]

The OP said LEAD TO THE FINALS. That does not mean we won.

[Swayze 81]

Didn't he backstop '95 too?

[b.shanafan14 733]

The OP said LEAD TO THE FINALS. That does not mean we won.

Years Osgood lead the Wings to the Finals: '95, '98, '08, '09

Not in '97 or '02. The OP is confused. Also believes Ozzy has 4 Cup rings.

[King Crane 289]

He is the best WINGS goalie in my mind, but definitely not the best playoff goaltender of our time.

Selke

I think differently on both comments actually, well mostly the latter i guess. Goal tending for the wings has always just been passible, it's our offensive ability and fantastic defenseman who do most of the work. I think while Osgood is pretty terrible goalie during the regular season, however, he is, and has been recognized as, one of THE most level-headed playoff goalies of all-time. Conklin was definitely the star in the regular season, but I don't think the wings would have made it past Anaheim without Ozzie. (See Conklin in the Edmonton Oilers playoff game 2006)

Other than 2008, Osgood blows. He sucked before then, and he's sucked since. The way he looked in '08 will never happen again. I can't wait to move on from Osgood.

See comment above and he was great in the 1998 playoffs (but yah, there was a reason he kept being traded, and I think it was a mistake to let Conklin get away)

--------------------

Edit:

Just as an FYI, there was much talk that had the wings won, and had Osgood been the Smythe Trophy winner, he would have been considered a Hall-Of Fame candidate; after all (had this happened) his resume would have looked like this:

-4 Rings

-1 Smythe

-2 Jennings

-3 NHL All-Star games

-----2 games played (started in 1)

-10th in career wins (currently and he is still playing)

-Led NHL GAA in 2008

-Led NHL Wins in 1996

-Has Scored a goal

Of Course even without the 1 ring and Smythe, it still looks pretty good, but probably not Hall-Of-Fame good (but close)

Edited August 29, 2009 by ZMAN

[gcom007 1,465]

Years Osgood lead the Wings to the Finals: '95, '98, '08, '09

Not in '97 or '02. The OP is confused. Also believes Ozzy has 4 Cup rings.

Not '95 either. He backed up Vernon that year like '97. Vernon went to San Jose after '97 and Osgood was handed the starter spot and won in '98.

'98, '08, '09 he lead the Wings to the Finals. One could even say he carried the Wings to the Finals this last year. We were pretty beat up but Osgood was the best goalie in the playoffs and Conn Smythe-bound if we had've pulled it out.

[gcom007 1,465]

Other than 2008, Osgood blows. He sucked before then, and he's sucked since. The way he looked in '08 will never happen again. I can't wait to move on from Osgood.

So there are still incredibly ignorant people around here. Sad to know.

[gcom007 1,465]

Oz has 3. 97 (Vernon was the starter and Conn Smythe Winner) 98 (under some shaky circumstances, Phoenix and Dallas anyone? He certainly stepped it up for Washington though.) Traded out in 2001/02 when Hasek came, went to STL and NYI and practically carried them, back after the lockout, Displaced Hasek in 08 and won it. Last year certainly wasn't his fault. I don't recall soft or red-line goals going by.

Edit:

I must say this though. Good, Bad, or Shaky, #30 will not be worn again in the Motor City. Count on it.

Thanks for noting this. People suggest that Osgood sucked because he didn't do much when he left, but they're painfully unaware of how bad the teams he went to were and how much better he made them while posting comparable stats (again, playing behind far worse teams than the Wings) and carrying the Islanders to the playoffs. I believe the Islanders were a last place team the year before Osgood came. The guy's been incredibly underrated and under-appreciated his entire career.

It's tough to argue that Hasek wasn't a better goalie in 2002 than Osgood as Hasek was really the best goalie of the era. But I think it's also quite reasonable to suggest that Osgood would've just as easily backstopped the 2002 team to the Cup. They didn't need Hasek to win that year. He played great, but I have little doubt that Osgood would've gotten the job done. I say this because the point ultimately is that Osgood wasn't shipped out because he sucked. He was shipped out because Hasek wanted to go to Detroit and we had an opportunity to land him for a reasonably small price (Kozlov, I'm still bitter about losing him though...). Osgood was moved because he was too good to ride the bench behind the greatest goalie of the era. It was an unfortunate circumstance for Osgood really.

And I'm not going to lie, I still wish it had never happened. Sure, we won with Hasek technically twice, I do believe he brought more than a bit of bad karma our way. I don't like that we gave up Kozlov, a guy who always showed up for the playoffs. I don't like what happened in the years after Hasek left with his retiring and unretiring and what it did to the locker room. While it's all just meaningless conjecture that lives in the past, I'm not convinced that we wouldn't have won another Cup or two had they just kept Osgood and Kozlov around.

Osgood has always been good enough to win. He's never been a liability and Kozlov was a great Red Wing and a guy who showed up when it mattered most. Plus skip all the drama in the following years and the whole Manny Legace-era bulls*** and I think you had a strong potential for another couple Cups with that team.

[Dimaline312000 51]

Ozzie is a great goalie and yes he is a great playoff goalie. He's always known to step it up at the right time in the playoffs if we had won the Cup this season I would have said that the Conn Smythe would have had to go to Ozzie, he's a great goalie and I'm sure glad he's on the Wings roster.

[VM1138 1,921]

I think if you look at stats, Osgood is the best performing goalie, right up there with Brodeur and Roy.

Really, throughout his whole career, not just playoffs, he's among the best all-time. Not THE best but he's definitely among the elite.

[GMRwings1983 8,803]

I think if you look at stats, Osgood is the best performing goalie, right up there with Brodeur and Roy.

Really, throughout his whole career, not just playoffs, he's among the best all-time. Not THE best but he's definitely among the elite.

In '86 and '93 Roy won Cups on teams much weaker than what Ozzie has had to play for. I don't think anyone is nearly as good a playoff goalie as Roy. Just look at those 3 Conn Smythe's he won.

Brodeur is slightly overrated, but I'd still rank him ahead of Ozzie too.

[GoWings1905 2,694]

He is a clutch player, a team has never won a cup with poor goaltending behind them. Ozzy could put up a .930 save % in the reg season if he wanted, but he gets lazy till the playoffs roll around.

I assume you are primarily referring to last season when you mention Ozzie being "lazy" during the regular season. I don't really dispute that part of your argument, but the whole team played lazy defense until the playoffs rolled around.

Ozzie was GREAT during the 2008 regular season. He outplayed Hasek and luckily the Red Wings put in the right guy before it was too late in the playoffs.

[RedWings Gone Wild 6]

Thanks for noting this. People suggest that Osgood sucked because he didn't do much when he left, but they're painfully unaware of how bad the teams he went to were and how much better he made them while posting comparable stats (again, playing behind far worse teams than the Wings) and carrying the Islanders to the playoffs. I believe the Islanders were a last place team the year before Osgood came. The guy's been incredibly underrated and under-appreciated his entire career.

Ok, i see a lot of guys doing the ol' revisionist trick to Osgood's non-Wing days... and let's just say he did not do very well in St. Louis or NY.... and Snow, despite sucking Osgood's first year in NY, actually wound up taking his job the second year.

Osgood 02-03 with NY: 2.92 .894% Garth Snow that same season with NY: 2.31, .918..... and Garth Snow sucked.

And the idea that Osgood was on a bad team when he stunk in St. Louis is also incorrect. Tkachuk, Weight, Demitra, Pronger, Drake, Mellanby, Cajanek, Valeri Bure, Cory Stillman, etc etc.... this was a good ol' tough guy grit team most LGW visitors seem to want out of the wings roster... and might I add, this was a roster not far removed from a President's trophy when Osgood arrived.. This team severely underachieved, and while it wasn't all Osgood's fault or anything, he certainly didn't do them any favors.

I like Osgood, but let's not turn his non-Detroit years into him "carrying teams on his back".... because that's just not true.

You want to see a guy carry a team on his back? Revisit Dom in his Buffalo years.