TOP 100 OILERS: CURTIS JOSEPH (30)
7 years ago
Curtis Joseph provided fans of the Edmonton Oilers with so many magnificent moments during the three seasons he spent here, but if you’re like me, there’s one burned into your brain. It happened April 29, 1997 with the Oilers and the Dallas Stars locked in a 3-3 tie in overtime at old Reunion Arena. That was almost 20 years ago, but you know what happens next. Of course you do.
Darryl Sydor circles Edmonton’s net and tries a wraparound. Joseph hugs the post and the puck goes to Joe Nieuwendyk at the top of the crease. A falling Nieuwendyk shoots at a gaping net but Joseph dives across the crease and somehow keeps it out. Dallas coach Ken Hitchcock looks skyward in disbelief. GM Bob Gainey shakes his head. Moments later, Todd Marchant takes a pass from Doug Weight, races past a stumbling Grant Ledyard and snaps the puck behind Andy Moog. Oilers win the series. It was Cujo’s most magnificent moment of all as an Oiler. The sequence is here.
Curtis Joseph
Goalie — shoots L
Born Apr 29 1967 — Keswick, ONT
Height 5.11 — Weight 188 [180 cm/85 kg]
BY THE NUMBERS
Season | Age | Tm | GP | W | L | T/O | GA | SA | SV | SV% | GAA | SO | MIN |
1989-90 | 22 | 15 | 9 | 5 | 1 | 48 | 435 | 387 | .890 | 3.38 | 0 | 852 | |
1990-91 | 23 | 30 | 16 | 10 | 2 | 89 | 874 | 785 | .898 | 3.12 | 0 | 1710 | |
1991-92 | 24 | 60 | 27 | 20 | 10 | 175 | 1953 | 1778 | .910 | 3.01 | 2 | 3494 | |
1992-93 | 25 | 68 | 29 | 28 | 9 | 196 | 2202 | 2006 | .911 | 3.02 | 1 | 3890 | |
1993-94 | 26 | 71 | 36 | 23 | 11 | 213 | 2382 | 2169 | .911 | 3.10 | 1 | 4127 | |
1994-95 | 27 | 36 | 20 | 10 | 1 | 89 | 904 | 815 | .902 | 2.79 | 1 | 1914 | |
1995-96 | 28 | 34 | 15 | 16 | 2 | 111 | 971 | 860 | .886 | 3.44 | 0 | 1936 | |
1996-97 | 29 | 72 | 32 | 29 | 9 | 200 | 2144 | 1944 | .907 | 2.93 | 6 | 4100 | |
1997-98 | 30 | 71 | 29 | 31 | 9 | 181 | 1901 | 1720 | .905 | 2.63 | 8 | 4132 | |
1998-99 | 31 | 67 | 35 | 24 | 7 | 171 | 1903 | 1732 | .910 | 2.56 | 3 | 4001 | |
1999-00 | 32 | 63 | 36 | 20 | 7 | 158 | 1854 | 1696 | .915 | 2.49 | 4 | 3801 | |
2000-01 | 33 | 68 | 33 | 27 | 8 | 163 | 1907 | 1744 | .915 | 2.39 | 6 | 4100 | |
2001-02 | 34 | 51 | 29 | 17 | 5 | 114 | 1210 | 1096 | .906 | 2.23 | 4 | 3065 | |
2002-03 | 35 | 61 | 34 | 19 | 6 | 148 | 1676 | 1528 | .912 | 2.49 | 5 | 3566 | |
2003-04 | 36 | 31 | 16 | 10 | 3 | 68 | 744 | 676 | .909 | 2.39 | 2 | 1708 | |
2005-06 | 38 | 60 | 32 | 21 | 3 | 166 | 1690 | 1524 | .902 | 2.91 | 4 | 3424 | |
2006-07 | 39 | 55 | 18 | 31 | 2 | 159 | 1481 | 1322 | .893 | 3.19 | 4 | 2993 | |
2007-08 | 40 | 9 | 3 | 2 | 0 | 17 | 181 | 164 | .906 | 2.55 | 0 | 400 | |
2008-09 | 41 | 21 | 5 | 9 | 1 | 50 | 383 | 333 | .869 | 3.57 | 0 | 841 | |
6 yrs | STL | 280 | 137 | 96 | 34 | 810 | 8750 | 7940 | .907 | 3.04 | 5 | 15987 | |
5 yrs | TOR | 270 | 138 | 97 | 28 | 656 | 7257 | 6601 | .910 | 2.49 | 17 | 15808 | |
3 yrs | EDM | 177 | 76 | 76 | 20 | 492 | 5016 | 4524 | .902 | 2.90 | 14 | 10168 | |
2 yrs | DET | 92 | 50 | 29 | 9 | 216 | 2420 | 2204 | .911 | 2.46 | 7 | 5274 | |
2 yrs | PHX | 115 | 50 | 52 | 5 | 325 | 3171 | 2846 | .898 | 3.04 | 8 | 6417 | |
1 yr | CGY | 9 | 3 | 2 | 0 | 17 | 181 | 164 | .906 | 2.55 | 0 | 400 | |
Career | 943 | 454 | 352 | 96 | 2516 | 26795 | 24279 | .906 | 2.79 | 51 | 54054 |
PLAYOFFS
Season | Age | Tm | GP | W | L | T/O | GA | SA | SV | SV% | GAA | SO | MIN |
1989-90 | 22 | 6 | 4 | 1 | 18 | 167 | 149 | .892 | 3.30 | 0 | 327 | ||
1991-92 | 24 | 6 | 2 | 4 | 23 | 217 | 194 | .894 | 3.64 | 0 | 379 | ||
1992-93 | 25 | 11 | 7 | 4 | 27 | 438 | 411 | .938 | 2.27 | 2 | 715 | ||
1993-94 | 26 | 4 | 0 | 4 | 15 | 158 | 143 | .905 | 3.66 | 0 | 246 | ||
1994-95 | 27 | 7 | 3 | 3 | 24 | 178 | 154 | .865 | 3.67 | 0 | 392 | ||
1996-97 | 29 | 12 | 5 | 7 | 36 | 405 | 369 | .911 | 2.82 | 2 | 767 | ||
1997-98 | 30 | 12 | 5 | 7 | 23 | 319 | 296 | .928 | 1.93 | 3 | 716 | ||
1998-99 | 31 | 17 | 9 | 8 | 41 | 440 | 399 | .907 | 2.43 | 1 | 1011 | ||
1999-00 | 32 | 12 | 6 | 6 | 25 | 369 | 344 | .932 | 2.06 | 1 | 729 | ||
2000-01 | 33 | 11 | 7 | 4 | 24 | 329 | 305 | .927 | 2.10 | 3 | 685 | ||
2001-02 | 34 | 20 | 10 | 10 | 48 | 557 | 509 | .914 | 2.30 | 3 | 1253 | ||
2002-03 | 35 | 4 | 0 | 4 | 10 | 120 | 110 | .917 | 2.08 | 0 | 289 | ||
2003-04 | 36 | 9 | 4 | 4 | 12 | 197 | 185 | .939 | 1.39 | 1 | 518 | ||
2007-08 | 40 | 2 | 1 | 0 | 1 | 33 | 32 | .970 | 0.76 | 0 | 79 | ||
Career | 133 | 63 | 66 | 327 | 3927 | 3600 | .917 | 2.42 | 16 | 8106 |
NOTABLE
To say Joseph, who arrived as the successor to Bill Ranford via the Las Vegas Thunder of the IHL after being acquired from the St. Louis Blues, had a flair for the dramatic is to understate. Joseph’s tenure in Edmonton, like his career, was dotted with memorable performances and stretches of brilliance. Joseph made 38 saves that night in Dallas. While the Oilers had emptied the tank to beat the Stars and fell to the Colorado Avalanche in five games in the second round, Cujo finished that post-season with a .911 save-percentage.
Joseph was even better, if not quite as dramatic, in the 1998 playoffs as the Oilers came back from a 3-1 series deficit against Colorado in the first round to win the series in seven games. Joseph backstopped the Oilers to a 3-1 win in Game 5, then closed it out with back-to-back shutouts, 2-0 and 4-0. In each of those final three games, Joseph matched his jersey number with 31 saves. Even though the Oilers lost in five games to Dallas in the second round, Joseph finished the post-season at .928.
The other bit of Joseph magic that sticks with me is the 52 saves he made in a scoreless tie against the Detroit Red Wings at Joe Louis Arena back on Dec. 10, 1996. It was the first scoreless tie in franchise history, a span of 1,369 games at the time. How good was Joseph? Let Igor Larionov tell it: “Brilliant game. Best I have ever seen anybody play.” For context, Larionov played with a guy named Vladislav Tretiak back home.
THE STORY
The 1998 post-season was Cujo’s swan song as a member of the Oilers as he’d later sign as an unrestricted free agent with the Toronto Maple Leafs for the kind of money the Oilers simply weren’t able to pay – he got a four-year deal worth $24.375 million to tend the twine in Hogtown. He’d made $2.3 million in each of his previous seasons in Edmonton.
Some Oiler fans, weary of seeing the team operated on a shoestring budget as player after player was sent out in the name of the bottom line, soured a bit on Joseph. “He sold out.” That’s an understandable reaction on one hand, but it’s hardly accurate. That’s the business end of hockey. Joseph enjoyed his time in Edmonton. He was a tremendous citizen here and was involved in the community and with several charities, including Cujo’s Cloud Nine, a set-up that allowed sick kids to watch Oiler games from a luxury suite.
Joseph’s flair for the dramatic didn’t leave him when he left Edmonton, quite the contrary. In his first game back here with the Maple Leafs, Oct. 13, 1998, Joseph made 28 saves to beat the Oilers 3-2. In another trip back, he blanked the Oilers 2-0 with 33 saves. When he was named first star of the game, Oiler fans gave him an ovation – just as they had many times before when he wore Edmonton silks.
This series will look at the top 100 Edmonton Oilers from the NHL era 1979-80 to 2014-15, starting with 100 and working up.
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