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his birthday, officially November 26.
With Osgood off to the best start in his 14 year career, he appears to be enjoying 35 even more so the second time around.
The second time around?
Flashback to September 2001. After the summer acquisition of Dominik Hasek from Buffalo, Osgood's days in the Winged wheel appeared numbered, standing on the outside looking at a team of future hall of famers.
Left unprotected by Detroit in the waiver draft, the New York Islanders were quick in picking up the two time Stanley Cup winner.
After spending his entire NHL career in Detroit, Osgood was sent packing to the struggling Islanders. A new team, city and jersey number, 35, awaited Osgood in Long Island.
After a successful season with the Islanders (32 wins, 2.50 goals-against-average, and .910 save-percentage) that resulted in a playoff birth, Osgood became expendable in the 2002-2003 season as the team struggled to improve from the success of the previous season.
When the trade deadline approached in March 2003, Osgood was sent packing to the St. Louis Blues.
“I went from thinking I might get traded to thinking I was not getting traded to being traded. For the guys who might get traded, it's like a rollercoaster day and you can't do anything about it. It's not a fun day," says Osgood.
Following a short tenure with the Blues, Osgood signed a 1-year deal with Detroit in the summer of 2005.
This season, after taking over for the injured and streaky Hasek, Osgood is off to the best start of his career.
Coming into Tuesday night’s game, Osgood leads the league in goals-against-average (1.66) and ranked in the top 10 in all other major goaltending categories including wins, save-percentage, and shutouts.
Although Osgood has single-handedly kept the Wings in games this season, he owes a great deal of his success to the stellar defense in front of him.
"I’ve played on this team long enough where I’ve had nights when I don’t get very many shots ... I just stay focused on the puck," says Osgood.
On Tuesday after Detroit's pregame skate, it was inevitable that Osgood receive the traditional birthday shaving cream pie.
With the success of Chris Osgood this season, one can only assume that the pie and 35 are truely better the second time around.
(All quotes in this article are accredited to daylife.com)
Mike Morland is a wrtier for LetsGoWings.com, the University Record, and the Michigan Journal. He can be heard every Tuesday from 2:30-4:00pm on WUMD's (www.wumd.org) sports talk show "The Upper Deck." Guest appearances also include 88.3 WCBN-Ann Arbor and 89.3 WHFR-Dearborn.
