Curtis Joseph hangs up his skates and mask
He went undrafted yet wound up an NHL legend for six teams over a 19-year career. On Tuesday, Curtis Joseph announced his retirement saying he "didn't leave anything on the table." The only thing CuJo left on the ice over the years was a lot of frustrated would-be scorers who were turned back by the goaltender who leaves the game No. 4 on the wins list behind names like Brodeur, Roy and Belfour.
It’s not too often that a professional athlete gets to play at the top level of his sport for almost 20 years. But Curtis Joseph is no ordinary athlete.
He officially hung up his skates on Tuesday at the age of 42 after a stellar career. Joseph was one of the best goaltenders in league history, yet he’s a fringe Hall of Fame candidate in the eyes of many because he played for so many mediocre teams and never won the Stanley Cup. As if the Toronto Maple Leafs were his fault.
Speaking of the Leafs, the last-place team in the Northeast Division just went to the minors to get their top-line center. Toronto is the first stop on our weekly tour of the hockey betting landscape.
Tyler Bozak Presents
Phil Kessel was supposed to lead the Maple Leafs (15-23-9, -25.59 units) into the playoffs after being acquired from the Boston Bruins. But Kessel has scored just one goal since December 18, and Toronto is 3-7-2 during that span.
So the search is on for a suitable linemate to feed Kessel the puck. Our latest contestant: Tyler Bozak, an undrafted center from Regina, Saskatchewan who spent two years at the University of Denver. Bozak was playing for Toronto’s AHL farm team, the Toronto Marlies, before getting the call on Monday.
Bozak had a brief cup of coffee with the Maple Leafs back in October, putting up an assist in his only game, and he replicated that feat on Tuesday against the Carolina Hurricanes (+130) in a 4-2 loss at the Air Canada Centre.
The Leafs have shown a lot of faith in Bozak after his excellent performance at training camp; they have little choice, as centers Wayne Primeau (knee) and Mikhail Grabovski (wrist) were lost to injury last week and aren’t due back until February.
Jimmy 4x4
The Detroit Red Wings (23-16-6, -8.46 units) are still out of playoff position in the Western Conference, but they’re almost back in the mix thanks to the work of goaltender Jimmy Howard. He’s made the last nine starts in a row for the Wings, going 5-3-1 to move Detroit into ninth place in the West, one point behind the Los Angeles Kings.
Howard (.928 save percentage) could win the Hart Trophy in his first full season if he keeps this up. He’s definitely been Detroit’s most valuable player since taking the No. 1 job from veteran Chris Osgood (.901 SV%), who has taken the ice just once since December 14.
The Wings have the 'under' at 21-7-2 since making the change to Howard, yet the total has remained virtually unchanged at 5½ goals. Detroit is in an epic scoring slump at 2-for-45 on the power play this past month.
And the Oscar Goes to… Michael Leighton
The Philadelphia Flyers (23-19-3, -8.60 units) have also crawled their way back into playoff consideration in the East after making a goaltending switch – although their new No. 1 isn’t a highly touted prospect like Howard.
The Flyers gave journeyman Michael Leighton his 10th consecutive start on Tuesday, and he earned his eighth victory in a 6-3 final over the Dallas Stars (+159). Leighton is a very unlikely success story in his second career go-around with the Flyers, having posted an .848 save percentage in seven appearances with Carolina earlier this year before being put on waivers. Nonetheless, here are the SV% stats for all three Philly netminders:
Michael Leighton .928
Ray Emery .901
Brian Boucher .896
Leighton has a .900 career save percentage and is unlikely to keep up his torrid pace, but Flyers supporters will take what they can get right now. Even more impressive is that seven of Leighton’s 10 starts were on the road.
Philadelphia continues its odyssey Thursday night with a stop in Toronto (7:00 p.m. ET, TSN in Canada); Leighton and the Flyers (-175) took this matchup 6-2 last week at the Wachovia Center in their first meeting this season.
He went undrafted yet wound up an NHL legend for six teams over a 19-year career. On Tuesday, Curtis Joseph announced his retirement saying he "didn't leave anything on the table." The only thing CuJo left on the ice over the years was a lot of frustrated would-be scorers who were turned back by the goaltender who leaves the game No. 4 on the wins list behind names like Brodeur, Roy and Belfour.
It’s not too often that a professional athlete gets to play at the top level of his sport for almost 20 years. But Curtis Joseph is no ordinary athlete.
He officially hung up his skates on Tuesday at the age of 42 after a stellar career. Joseph was one of the best goaltenders in league history, yet he’s a fringe Hall of Fame candidate in the eyes of many because he played for so many mediocre teams and never won the Stanley Cup. As if the Toronto Maple Leafs were his fault.
Speaking of the Leafs, the last-place team in the Northeast Division just went to the minors to get their top-line center. Toronto is the first stop on our weekly tour of the hockey betting landscape.
Tyler Bozak Presents
Phil Kessel was supposed to lead the Maple Leafs (15-23-9, -25.59 units) into the playoffs after being acquired from the Boston Bruins. But Kessel has scored just one goal since December 18, and Toronto is 3-7-2 during that span.
So the search is on for a suitable linemate to feed Kessel the puck. Our latest contestant: Tyler Bozak, an undrafted center from Regina, Saskatchewan who spent two years at the University of Denver. Bozak was playing for Toronto’s AHL farm team, the Toronto Marlies, before getting the call on Monday.
Bozak had a brief cup of coffee with the Maple Leafs back in October, putting up an assist in his only game, and he replicated that feat on Tuesday against the Carolina Hurricanes (+130) in a 4-2 loss at the Air Canada Centre.
The Leafs have shown a lot of faith in Bozak after his excellent performance at training camp; they have little choice, as centers Wayne Primeau (knee) and Mikhail Grabovski (wrist) were lost to injury last week and aren’t due back until February.
Jimmy 4x4
The Detroit Red Wings (23-16-6, -8.46 units) are still out of playoff position in the Western Conference, but they’re almost back in the mix thanks to the work of goaltender Jimmy Howard. He’s made the last nine starts in a row for the Wings, going 5-3-1 to move Detroit into ninth place in the West, one point behind the Los Angeles Kings.
Howard (.928 save percentage) could win the Hart Trophy in his first full season if he keeps this up. He’s definitely been Detroit’s most valuable player since taking the No. 1 job from veteran Chris Osgood (.901 SV%), who has taken the ice just once since December 14.
The Wings have the 'under' at 21-7-2 since making the change to Howard, yet the total has remained virtually unchanged at 5½ goals. Detroit is in an epic scoring slump at 2-for-45 on the power play this past month.
And the Oscar Goes to… Michael Leighton
The Philadelphia Flyers (23-19-3, -8.60 units) have also crawled their way back into playoff consideration in the East after making a goaltending switch – although their new No. 1 isn’t a highly touted prospect like Howard.
The Flyers gave journeyman Michael Leighton his 10th consecutive start on Tuesday, and he earned his eighth victory in a 6-3 final over the Dallas Stars (+159). Leighton is a very unlikely success story in his second career go-around with the Flyers, having posted an .848 save percentage in seven appearances with Carolina earlier this year before being put on waivers. Nonetheless, here are the SV% stats for all three Philly netminders:
Michael Leighton .928
Ray Emery .901
Brian Boucher .896
Leighton has a .900 career save percentage and is unlikely to keep up his torrid pace, but Flyers supporters will take what they can get right now. Even more impressive is that seven of Leighton’s 10 starts were on the road.
Philadelphia continues its odyssey Thursday night with a stop in Toronto (7:00 p.m. ET, TSN in Canada); Leighton and the Flyers (-175) took this matchup 6-2 last week at the Wachovia Center in their first meeting this season.