Given that Detroit can claim its 11th Stanley Cup tonight by beating Pittsburgh (fulfilling my prediction of the Wings in five), it's no wonder that Hound Central 3.0 readers voted Detroit's Chris Osgood as a better goalie than Pittsburgh's Marc-Andre Fleury.
And just like this Stanley Cup Final, the poll, the blog's 18th of the season, wasn't as close as it appears. Osgood, who's had himself one whale of a playoffs as his backup (sounds weird, doesn't it?) Dominik Hasek, a future Hall of Famer, watches from the bench, remained in front throughout the poll.
In the interest of full disclosure, I voted for Fleury. At this time, he isn't the best goalie. Down the road, when the Penguins are in the midst of a long run of winning the Cup, I believe Fleury will be a better goalie. Right now, though, it's Osgood.
And, unless Detroit's Johan Franzen gets a hat trick tonight, including the Cup winner, I don't see anyone other than Osgood picking up the Conn Smythe Trophy.
Question: Who's the better goalie?
Wings' Chris Osgood: 13 votes out 23 votes cast (56 percent)
Pens' Marc-Andre Fleury: 10 out of 23 (43 percent)
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3 comments:
I've always thought (and still do) that Osgood is and average goalie who is largely a product of his defense. At times it seemed like he couldn't stop a beach ball in St. Louis and New York. Now he's looking great again with Detroit.
Until this year, I felt the same way about Manny Legace-- average goalie made to look great by an awesome defense in front of him. But this year, Legace was good with an average gefense.
It's weird. A few of us at work have been debating whether or not Osgood is HOF bound. I laughed at the thought originally, but after looking at his stats it looks like he might be just be on his way. He's had winning seasons in New York and St. Louis and his numbers in Detroit are pretty good as well. He never had a stellar season, but has quietly racked up a pretty good career. Another Stanley Cup and a Conn Smythe might just punch the ticket.
I never would have thought it.
Brett
I think of Chris Osgood as a modern-day Gump Worsley, more solid than spectacular, but good enough to make the Hall of Fame.
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