Chris Osgood

Position	Goaltender
Catches	Left
Nickname(s)	Ozzie The Wizard of Oz
Height Weight	5 ft 10 in (1.78 m) 176 lb (80 kg/12.6 st)
NHL Team F. Teams	Detroit Red Wings St. Louis Blues New York Islanders
Nationality	Canada
Born	November 26 1972 (1972-11-26) (age 35), Peace River, AB, CA
Pro Career	1991 – present

Chris Osgood (born November 26, 1972 in Peace River, Alberta, Canada) is a professional ice hockey player. Osgood is currently a goaltender for the Detroit Red Wings of the National Hockey League working in a tandem with Dominik Hasek. He is in his second tour of duty with the club after having spent the first part of his career with Detroit, and then playing for the New York Islanders and the St. Louis Blues during his 14-year NHL career before returning to Detroit in 2005.

Playing career

While his 1992-1993 season was spent with Adirondack, he broke through as a Detroit Red Wing in the 1993-1994 season, backstopping along side a carousel of goaltenders for that season, including Tim Cheveldae, Vincent Riendeau, and Peter Ing. The glut of goaltenders forced the Wings to make a move at the trading deadline. Cheveldae, the team's primary starter and former all-star, was traded to the Winnipeg Jets along with Dallas Drake in exchange for veteran goaltender Bob Essensa and Sergei Bautin. Essensa did not have a strong showing in a 13-game stint at the end of the regular season, and Osgood was named the primary netminder for the playoffs. The #1 seeded Red Wings would eventually fall to the #8 seeded San Jose Sharks in a best of seven series, with Osgood not having a particularly strong series. After Osgood's rookie season, management felt that the team needed a strong veteran goaltender with Stanley Cup playoff experience. In the summer of 1994, the Red Wings traded popular defenceman Steve Chiasson to the Calgary Flames for goaltender Mike Vernon, who had previously backstopped the Flames to a Stanley Cup title in 1989.

Detroit success

While the 1994-1995 season started late due to a lockout, Osgood found himself backing up Mike Vernon for the season. The Wings reached the 1995 Stanley Cup Finals that season, where they were swept in four games by the underdog New Jersey Devils. Osgood received significantly more playing time for the 1995-1996 season, and he led the NHL with a 2.17 GAA and 39 wins. He also finished third in shutouts (5) and was a Vezina Trophy runner-up to Jim Carey. Osgood and Vernon shared the William M. Jennings Trophy as the goaltending tandem allowing the fewest goals in the league. For his efforts Osgood was selected to the NHL All-Star Game and was also named to the post-season NHL All-Star Second Team. Osgood even added a goal to his fantastic season, becoming the second goaltender in NHL history (Ron Hextall was the first) to shoot the puck into an empty net in a game against the Hartford Whalers. Another premature playoff exit soon followed, as the top-seeded Red Wings lost in the Western Conference Finals to the Colorado Avalanche. The next season Osgood and Vernon shared starting goaltender duties in the regular season, but when the playoffs started, virtually all the playing time went to Vernon, who ended up winning the Conn Smythe Trophy. In the end, Osgood had his name engraved on the Stanley Cup as the Red Wings swept the Philadelphia Flyers in four games to win their first Stanley Cup in 42 years. After the Cup win in 1997, Vernon was traded to the San Jose Sharks, which made Osgood Detroit's number-one goaltender, with Kevin Hodson and Norm Maracle backing him up for the 1997-1998 season. Again, the Red Wings were able to advance to the Stanley Cup finals and defeat the Washington Capitals (in another four game sweep) to win back-to-back Stanley Cup championships. Osgood remained the primary goaltender for Detroit until the summer of 2001, working alongside Bill Ranford, Ken Wregget, and Manny Legacé.

Islander years

In the summer of 2001, the Red Wings acquired goaltender Dominik Hašek, a six-time Vezina Trophy winner, from the Buffalo Sabres. After numerous attempts to trade Osgood, the Red Wings left him unprotected in the waiver draft and he was acquired by the New York Islanders on September 28, 2001. Osgood worked alongside Garth Snow for the 2001-2002 season, and both Snow and Rick DiPietro for the 2002-2003 season. Osgood was traded to the St. Louis Blues on March 11, 2003, along with a third round pick in the 2003 NHL draft for Justin Papineau and a second round pick in the 2003 draft.

Stint in St. Louis

For the remainder of the 2002-2003 season and the entire 2003-2004 season, Osgood remained the primary goaltender for the Blues. Although Osgood posted winning records for both seasons, the Blues did not advance past the playoff quarterfinals. Osgood's contract was not renewed by the Blues before the expiration of the Collective bargaining Agreement.

Back in Hockeytown

On August 8, 2005, Detroit brought Osgood back with a one-year, $900,000 USD contract. He was initially set to compete for the starting job with Manny Legace, but suffered a groin tear and did not play when the season started. Osgood was assigned to play for the Grand Rapids Griffins of the American Hockey League on a conditioning assignment. After posting a 2-1 record in three games, Osgood returned to Detroit to work in a goaltending tandem with Legacé again.

Osgood and the Wings perform a drill in practice before a game against the Los Angeles Kings on March 9, 2007.

Osgood also worked with rookie goaltenders Jimmy Howard and Joey MacDonald while Legacé recovered from knee injuries in late 2005. During the 2005-06 Stanley Cup Playoffs, Osgood injured his groin preparing for Game 4 of the Conference Quarterfinals against the Edmonton Oilers. Osgood missed the remainder of the series, and the Red Wings post-season was over after 6 games against the Oilers. On July 1, 2006, Osgood re-signed with the Red Wings. His contract was for $1.8 million USD over two years. He then shared goaltending duties with Hasek, who also returned for another stint with the Red Wings. Though Hašek was expected to get slightly more playing time than Osgood throughout the regular season, it was expected that the goaltending tandem would have shared most of the playing time, with MacDonald expected to be their backup. However, Osgood suffered a fractured hand in practice, placing him on the injured reserve while MacDonald stepped up as the number 2 goaltender in Osgood's absence. Osgood returned to playing by the end of December. Due to Osgood's injuries and the aging Hašek's ability to remain healthy throughout the season, Osgood ended up assuming the backup role for Hašek as opposed to sharing playing time. Osgood and Hašek remained Detroit's goaltending tandem for the 2007-08 season. While Osgood was expected to be the backup goaltender, Hašek struggled at the beginning of the season and subsequently became injured. Osgood assumed the starting role while Hašek was injured and put up superior numbers. As of 11 December 2007, Osgood leads the NHL in GAA with 1.57 GAA and has an astonishing 14-1-1 record with a 92.8% save percentage. With Hašek healthy and getting back into his stride, Detroit is going to alternate goaltenders instead of designating either goaltender as the backup. While Osgood is a rather popular athlete in Detroit, he is also popular with New York Islanders fans. As of 2006, Osgood's New York Islanders "t-shirt jerseys" remain popular, although Osgood hasn't suited up for them since being traded in 2003.

- Chris on being back with the Wings, after his St. Louis years. Chris and his wife, Jenna, have two daughters. Chris is 16th all-time in wins by an NHL goaltender.

Awards & achievements

• Member of the Stanley Cup Champion Detroit Red Wings - 1997, 1998
• William M. Jennings Trophy (shared with Mike Vernon) - 1996
• Played in NHL All-Star Game - 1996, 1997, 1998

Career statistics

External links

• Chris Osgood's career stats at The Internet Hockey Database
• Chris Osgood's NHL player profile
• Chris Osgood at TSN.ca