Chris Osgood  

GOALIES...Grab an unfair advantage

Christopher John Osgood was born on November 26th, 1972 in Peace River, Alberta. He is a Canadian by birth. He plays ice hockey as a profession and is a goaltender with the Detroit Red Wings of the National Hockey League. He spent his career with Detroit during the early years. He also played for New York Islanders and the St. Louis Blues till 14 years. He won three matches in the Stanley Cup championship. He was drafted 54th overall by the Red Wings during the 3rd round of the 1991 NHL Entry Draft. During the 1993-1994 seasons he made his first game. Chris became the fourth netminder in the crease beside other players like Tim Cheveldae, Vincent Riendeau, and Peter Ing. After this rookie season of Osgood the team needs a strong goalie. During the summer 1994 the defenceman Steve Chiasson was traded to the Calgary Flames for goaltender Mike Vernon.

Due to the lock out the season of the 1994-1995 started late. Osgood played well as a backup for the goalie Mike Vernon during this season. In the 1995-96 seasons Osgood got more time to play and led NHL with 2.17 GAA and won 39. He completed third in shutouts (5) and became a runner up in the Vezina Trophy. Osgood got selected as the NHL All-Star Game. He scored against Hartford Whalers and became the second goalie to score a goal in the NHL history. Osgood shared his starting goaltender task with Vernon during the next season. When playoffs started all the time went to Vernon and he won the Conn Smythe Trophy. Osgoods name got engraved on the trophy of the Stanley Cup in the end. The Red Wings lost the Philadelphia Flyers in four games. They won their first Stanley Cup in 42 years. Osgood then became a number one goalie since Vernon was traded to the San Jose Sharks. Till summer of 2001 Osgood was the main goalie. He played along with Ken Wregget, and Manny Legacé. After that he was picked up by the New York Islanders. He played as the main goalie for the Blues for 2002-2003 as well as 2003-2004 season.

On August 8th, 2005 Osgood was brought back to Detroit with a two year contract for $800,000 USD. He was asked to play on an assignment for the Grand Rapids Griffins of the American Hockey League. He posted a 2-1 record in three games and was returned to Detroit for working as a goaltending. He signed a contract for $ 1.8 million USD with the Red Wings again. He shared goaltending task with Hasek. Osgood suffered a fracture in his hand. By December end he returned to the game. Osgood played as a backup for Hasek. The year 2007-08 was a return back for Osgood. Both Osgood and Hasek remained to be Detroit’s goaltenders for 2007-08 seasons. Osgood was expected to be the backup goalie. Hasek struggled a lot during the early season and injured himself. Hence the starting role was played by Osgood. He has ranked 1st in the NHL in GAA with 2.09 during the season on April 30th, 2008.

Mental Training for Goalies--2CD Special