Goalie Curtis Joseph Retires from NHL After 19 Seasons

Curtis Joseph was known throughout his career as an ultra-competitive goalie who never gave up on the puck.

"You might get second-chance opportunities because he'll make the first save and there might be a rebound lying around," said Darren Pang, a St. Louis Blues television analyst and former NHL goalie. "But don't put your hand up prematurely because he'll find a way to battle and he'll find a way to reach out and do whatever it takes to keep that next one out as well."

That never-give-up attitude served Joseph well early on because he grew up playing lower-level youth hockey and was never drafted. The Blues signed him a free agent after one year at the University of Wisconsin.

Tuesday, he announced his retirement from the NHL after 19 seasons and 454 wins, fourth best in league history.

"I never left anything on the table in any season," Joseph said in a news conference in Toronto. "I was always prepared and always worked hard for what I had."

Joseph's win total was more impressive because he didn't always play for defensively strong teams, facing an average of 28.4 shots a game. Pang thinks Joseph and his teams thrived on the high number of shots against.

"After he makes a couple saves, the other team gets overly aggressive," Pang said. "All three forwards are surrounding the net and Curtis Joseph kicks one past them and the next thing you know, you're on a 3-on-2 going the other way."

Joseph played for six NHL teams, but his most memorable stop was with the Toronto Maple Leafs because he grew up in the area and reached the conference finals twice. He left Toronto after four seasons, thinking he had a good chance at a Stanley Cup in Detroit, and also played for the Phoenix Coyotes and Calgary Flames before returning to Toronto last season.

Despite having the nickname Cujo, Joseph was quiet, Pang said. He also was an "extremely brilliant" student of the game.

"He'd always want to know about tendencies or talk about shooters," said Pang, who got to know Joseph in Phoenix. "We had so many great conversations ... about left-handed shots vs. right-handed shots, shooters vs. dekers. ... His analytical skills were extremely good."

That might have helped Joseph in his second-to-last NHL win on March 24 when he replaced an ejected Martin Gerber with 57 seconds left in regulation. He had to face Washington Capitals star Alex Ovechkin with the game on the line in the shootout and stopped him.

Despite the high win total, Joseph might not be a shoo-in for the Hall of Fame. He tied for most losses (352) and never reached the Stanley Cup Finals.

"Hopefully, my teammates will say that I was important and that I gave it everything and I didn't leave anything to chance my whole career," he said. "To be mentioned as Hall-worthy is a great thing."

Pang thinks Joseph should get in: "As (Hall of Fame goalie) Grant Fuhr said, 'Besides Stanley Cups, it's all about wins' and Curtis Joseph won a lot of hockey games."