#124 - Chris Osgood

Chris Osgood (Murillo Pyramid Rank = #124)

Adjusted Stats

1993-1994   Det     40 GP, 22-8-5, .700 win%, 2153 min, 97 GA, 2.71 GAA
1994-1995   Det     32 GP, 24-9-0, .727 win%, 1857 min, 72 GA, 2.33 GAA
1995-1996   Det     50 GP, 39-6-5, .830 win%, 2933 min, 104 GA, 2.12 GAA
1996-1997   Det*   47 GP, 23-13-9, .611 win%, 2769 min, 112 GA, 2.42 GAA
1997-1998   Det*   64 GP, 33-20-11, .602 win%, 3807 min, 163 GA, 2.57 GAA
1998-1999   Det     63 GP, 34-25-4, .571 win%, 3691 min, 174 GA, 2.83 GAA
1999-2000   Det     53 GP, 30-14-8, .654 win%, 3148 min, 141 GA, 2.69 GAA
2000-2001   Det     52 GP, 25-19-4, .563 win%, 2834 min, 142 GA, 3.00 GAA
2001-2002   NYI    66 GP, 32-25-6, .556 win%, 3743 min, 183 GA, 2.93 GAA
2002-2003   NYI/Stl  46 GP, 21-17-6, .545 win%, 2525 min, 144 GA, 3.41 GAA
2003-2004   Stl       67 GP, 31-25-8, .547 win%, 3861 min, 172 GA, 2.68 GAA
2005-2006   Det      32 GP, 20-6-5, .726 win%, 1846 min, 86 GA, 2.81 GAA
2006-2007   Det      21 GP, 11-3-6, .700 win%, 1161 min, 49 GA, 2.54 GAA
2007-2008   Det*    43 GP, 27-9-4, .725 win%, 2409 min, 95 GA, 2.37 GAA
2008-2009   Det      46 GP, 26-9-8, .698 win%, 2663 min, 148 GA, 3.33 GAA
2009-2010   Det      23 GP, 7-9-4, .450 win%, 1252 min, 69 GA, 3.31 GAA
2010-2011   Det      11 GP, 5-3-2, .600 win%, 629 min, 33 GA, 3.11 GAA

Adjusted Playoff Stats

1993-1994   Det      6 GP, 3-2, .600 win%, 307 min, 12 GA, 2.30 GAA
1994-1995   Det      2 GP, 0-0, --- win%, 68 min, 2 GA, 1.56 GAA
1995-1996   Det      15 GP, 8-7, .533 win%, 936 min, 32 GA, 2.02 GAA
1996-1997   Det*    2 GP, 0-0, --- win%, 47 min, 2 GA, 2.68 GAA
1997-1998   Det*    22 GP, 16-6, .727 win%, 1361 min, 53 GA, 2.35 GAA
1998-1999   Det      6 GP, 4-2, .667 win%, 358 min, 15 GA, 2.58 GAA
1999-2000   Det      9 GP, 5-4, .556 win%, 547 min, 22 GA, 2.38 GAA
2000-2001   Det      6 GP, 2-4, .333 win%, 365 min, 18 GA, 2.89 GAA
2001-2002   NYI     7 GP, 3-4, .429 win%, 392 min, 20 GA, 3.09 GAA
2002-2003   Stl        7 GP, 3-4, .429 win%, 417 min, 20 GA, 2.92 GAA
2003-2004   Stl        5 GP, 1-4, .200 win%, 287 min, 15 GA, 3.20 GAA
2007-2008   Det*     19 GP, 14-4, .778 win%, 1160 min, 31 GA, 1.63 GAA
2008-2009   Det       23 GP, 15-8, .652 win%, 1406 min, 48 GA, 2.06 GAA

Career - 756 GP, 410-220-95, .631 win%, 43281 min, 1984 GA, 2.75 GAA
Career-Highs - 67 GP (03-04); 39 wins (95-96); .830 win% (95-96), 3861 min (03-04); 2.12 GAA (95-96)
Avg. (17 seasons) - 44 GP, 24-13-6, .631 win%, 2546 min, 117 GA, 2.75 GAA
Peak Avg. (95-03) - 55 GP, 30-17-7, .617 win%, 3181 min, 145 GA, 2.74 GAA, 2 Cups

Playoff Career - 129 GP, 74-49, .602 win%, 7651 min, 290 GA, 2.27 GAA
Playoff-Highs - 16 wins (97-98); .778 win% (07-08); 1.63 GAA (07-08)

Accolades - 2 Jennings Trophies
All-Star Teams - 1-time 2nd-team
3-time Stanley Cup Champion

Chris Osgood never quite got the respect he deserved, and it's likely he never will. He was the backstop for a Detroit Red Wings team that had such top-to-bottom organizational excellence and such a sound defensive system that it seemed inevitable that they would be one of the best teams in the league even if their goaltending was average. When the Red Wings won a Stanley Cup or 60 games in the regular season, it was in spite of Osgood. When they lost early in the first or second round, it was his fault. For a goaltender lucky enough to be in one of the best situations in hockey, Osgood also was in one of the unluckiest in terms of getting individual accolades.

Like the man right behind him on the Pyramid (Mike Vernon), there's no way I would make a case for Osgood being one of the twenty best goaltenders to ever play the game, even though he's one of only sixteen goaltenders to make my hall-of-fame list. It would be a difficult argument trying to prove that Osgood was a better goaltender than Roberto Luongo, Mike Richter, Curtis Joseph, Henrik Lundqvist, Miikka Kiprusoff, and probably about another seven or eight goalies who have passed through the league in the last twenty or so years. But Osgood has had one of the best careers, by virtue of playing for Detroit.

Osgood and Vernon's careers have been like the hockey equivalent of Andy Pettitte's in baseball. In fact, the similarities are eerie between Osgood and Pettitte. Both were recognized as runner-up for the best at their position early in their careers, in the mid-1990s (in Pettitte's case, it was as Cy Young runner-up to Pat Hentgen...in Osgood's case, it was as Vezina runner-up in 1996 to, get this, Jim Carey). Both then won championships but didn't earn much respect because of the view that "anyone could win a boatload of games on the Yankees/Red Wings". Both went to other teams and proved that they weren't solely dependent on playing for excellent squads (it's forgotten that Osgood took a doormat Islander team to the playoffs, then had an excellent first full year with the St. Louis Blues). And then both returned to their original teams and eventually started earning fan respect with playoff performances that defied their age.

Look, Billy Smith is ranked a good fifty spots higher than Osgood, and his regular-season numbers are just as underwhelming. One of the main reasons Osgood may be underrated is that although he is associated with the Red Wings' Stanley Cup wins, he was only the main goaltender for two, while Mike Vernon was the Cup winner (and Conn Smythe winner) in 1997 and Dominik Hasek was the go-to goalie in 2002. The feeling is that, since the Red Wings could win Cups with any goaltender, the fact that Osgood won two is somewhat less impressive. Whereas Fuhr and Smith are immediately identified with their teams, Osgood wasn't always "the man" for the Red Wings.

But the thing is, in every year that the Red Wings have won the Cup, their goaltending has been excellent, whether it's Vernon, Osgood or Hasek. That's why I think Osgood finally started getting his due in the back-to-back runs the Red Wings made in 2008 and 2009. In 2008, when the Wings won the Cup, Osgood took over for an enigmatic Dominik Hasek and had a sparkling 1.63 adjusted-GAA and .930 save percentage in the playoffs. The following season, he had a dreadful 3.33 adjusted-GAA in the regular season, but won 15 games and had a .926 save percentage in the playoffs as the Red Wings came within one win of yet another Cup. Osgood clearly showed that, like Fuhr and Smith, he didn't need to be at his best for a great team in the middle of January, but was perfectly capable of stepping up when needed in the postseason.

With over 400 wins now and two Stanley Cups, it will be hard to keep Osgood out of the hall-of-fame. Many won't want him there, and will point to the fact that he was almost never considered one of the league's top five (or even top ten) goaltenders from season to season. I point to his 74-49 career playoff record and his postseason save percentage, which is eleven points higher than his regular season mark and getting into the area of a Martin Brodeur. Did Osgood benefit from playing for an excellent team? Yes. But it's fair to say that he helped them more than a little when the chips were down.