One of the most beloved former members of the Detroit Red Wings is goaltender Chris Osgood, who has his name on the Stanley Cup three times as a member of the club.
Not only did Osgood back up Conn Smythe Trophy winner Mike Vernon in 1997 despite getting the bulk of starts in the regular season, but Osgood then would lead the Red Wings to the Stanley Cup as a starter ten years apart, both in 1998 and 2008.
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It was on this day in 1999 that Osgood picked up the 150th victory of his NHL career, which at that point had been played exclusively in Detroit. The Red Wings picked up a 2-1 win at Joe Louis Arena over the expansion Nashville Predators thanks to the game-winning tally scored by former Russian Five member Slava Kozlov.
In doing so, he became just the third goaltender in Red Wings history to achieve the feat.
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Red Wings fans well remember the acquisition of Hall of Famer Dominik Hasek (acquired from the Buffalo Sabres for Kozlov) in the legendary summer of 2001, during which they also brought aboard Luc Robitaille and Brett Hull.
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After initially participating in Training Camp and part of the pre-season with the Red Wings, Osgood was exposed on waivers and subsequently claimed by the New York Islanders, whom he would lead not only to the Stanley Cup Playoffs but within a victory of a first round upset of the Toronto Maple Leafs.
Osgood, who would later play a stint with the rival St. Louis Blues, returned to the Red Wings as an unrestricted free-agent in 2005. He’d play the rest of his career with the Red Wings, which included not only winning the Stanley Cup in 2008 and coming within a victory of repeating in 2009, but the 400th victory of his NHL career in December 2010, which fittingly came against the Colorado Avalanche.
It’s one of the more contested debates in hockey circles as to why Osgood, the second winningest goaltender in Red Wings history and who won the Stanley Cup twice as a starter, hasn’t been yet inducted into the Hockey Hall of Fame.
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