Revenge of the Unwanted Goalies

A few short weeks ago, they were among the sad sacks of the NHL. Curtis Joseph and Brian Boucher endured the big-league player's ultimate indignity: placed on waivers and claimed by no one.

Any team could have had Brian Boucher at the beginning of this season, when the Phoenix Coyotes exposed him in the waiver draft. The Coyotes, after all, had good old Sean Burke and good young Zac Bierk to look after the netminding.

Boucher went unclaimed, and Phoenix was stuck with the bum.

But soon, Burke was looking more old than good, and Zac pulled up with a hip flexor injury. Enter Boucher, who last night became the first goalie in 55 years to record four consecutive shutouts.

Making the feat more impressive is that three of those shutouts have come on the road, with the Coyotes outshot in all three games. Boucher is also undefeated in his last eight starts.

Perhaps someone mentioned to him that the starting job for Team USA in next fall's World Cup is still up for grabs.

Meanwhile, with Dominik Hasek back on the job and Manny Legace playing a cheap and effective supporting role, Joseph was a man of no purpose in Detroit. Twice, the Red Wings dangled him on the waiver wire, hoping a rival would relieve them of an $8-million-per-year distraction. Twice, Joseph was sent to the minor leagues just so he could get a little exercise.

What a difference a groin makes. Hasek's persistent troubles in that area have limited him to 14 games in the first half of the season. And when Legace suffered a minor leg injury last month, Joseph briefly emerged as the only option. He hasn't looked back, starting 12 of the last 15 games and playing well in most of them.

"Hasek, who played well before the injury, has nothing to gripe about," writes Bob Wojnowski in the Detroit News. "He created this discomfort by ending his retirement. The longer he aches, the tougher it is to trust him. If he’s bothered by Joseph’s presence, Hasek should learn the phrase Joseph had to learn: Deal with it."