Jeff Riger's Blog:Is Ozzie Contemplating Retirement?
Now that Chris Osgood has made history, having done what just 9 other goalies in the NHL have ever accomplished, is he thinking about calling it quits? Osgood won his 400th game last week and now he has his eyes set on passing his idol Grant Fuhr who has 403 career victories. In fact there is a great chance that by the time Ozzie finishes playing he could jump up to maybe 7th or 6th place on the all time list. Currently Glenn Hall has 407 wins, followed by Tony Esposito with 423 and in 6th place is Jacques Plante with 437. Ozzie claims all those legends would be great to pass but none more special then Terry Sawchuk who sits in 5th place on the list with 447 wins. If Ozzie could acquire 47 more victories not only would he cement his place in the Hockey Hall of Fame but also would have the most wins ever for a Detroit Red Wings goalie.
So now you have to wonder, how long would it take? There are 43 more games left this season not including play offs. Osgood is the Wings back-up goalie meaning realistically he could get 14 of the remaining games unless he wins the starting job back from Jimmy Howard which would mean he would get a lot more chances. If Osgood were to win 10 of those 14, that would put him at 410 wins where he would then enter the offseason as a free agent. There is a good chance that Detroit would want Ozzie to come back at least one more year considering the Wings minor league prospects are not quite ready to take over yet and he would come at a friendly salary cap hit. If that is the case, Osgood would have at least 30 plus starts in 2011-2012 making it doable for him to pass Sawchuk in 2012-2013.
I asked Osgood if he would consider retiring after this year if Sawchuk's win total seemed insurmountable and he replied that he would have to be within 20 victories after next season to get him to play that third year. Osgood also said he would weigh out every scenario and option after this year, but being able to pass Sawchuk would be a big factor that could keep him between the pipes. Watch the video below for the entire interview!
