After 17 seasons in the National Hockey League---14 as a member of the Detroit Red Wings---goaltender Chris Osgood announced his retirement on Tuesday afternoon.
During his career Osgood won 401 games and totaled 50 shutouts. He also was a member of three Stanley Cup Championship-winning teams and earned another 74 victories and 15 shutouts in post-season play.
The debate is now heating up as to whether or not Osgood will one day join the greats of the game in the Hockey Hall of Fame.
The interesting thing is, despite all these great numbers and Hall of Fame talk, Osgood was never embraced in fantasy hockey circles. Never was Osgood a sought-after commodity among goalies on draft day, and most often he was a fantasy owner's second goaltender selection, and drafted largely on the fact that he played for talented Red Wings teams that were expected to win a lot of games.
Of course Osgood often split the goaltending chores in Detroit, playing more than 50 games only five times in 13 years out in Hockeytown---though he was the clear No. 1 on Long Island and in St. Louis for a three-year stretch. Splitting the goalie chores, for sure, lessened his fantasy hockey value. But so did his often mediocre goals against averages and save percentages.
Goaltending is so important in fantasy hockey leagues because really there are only four categories for an owner to earn valuable points in: wins, shutouts, save percentage, and goals against average. Playing on strong teams, Osgood would get you wins---though compromised a bit by the fact that he was splitting chores in goal---and his shutout totals were decent, but his middling stats in the other areas often caused his fantasy hockey value to sink.
Of course the real-world bottom line is that the guy was a winner---three rings is not exactly easy to come by in the NHL---and Osgood had much higher value in playoff pools throughout his career then during the regular season. His 2.09 goals against and .915 save percentage in his post-season career were far superior to his regular season numbers. But it leads back to the same question---almost chicken and egg-like.
Was Osgood a top-tier goalie, or was he a by-product of playing for a great team most of his career?
It's the questions that haunted him throughout his career, and certainly lowered his fantasy hockey value, as well.
Now that debate is for the Hall of Fame voters.
Should be interesting.
Send your fantasy hockey questions and comments to jimcerny@gmail.com.