NHL
Rivalry-
By Jason-
The Red Wings Locker Room-
Last Updated February, 14,2004 With
Dominik Hasek out for the remainder of the season, Curtis Joseph has officially
stolen the spotlight for the Winged Wheels. Hasek announced Tuesday that
his season is over because of a groin injury that has limited the star
goalie to 14 games. "Once I got on the ice last week, it was almost
every day my groin got worse and I knew it's impossible,'' he said. One
of the NHL's greatest goalies, Hasek won two MVP awards and six Vezina
Trophies, given to the league's top goalie, during a nine-year stint in
Buffalo. He also led the Czech Republic to a gold medal in the 1998 Nagano
Olympics. Hasek joined the Red Wings before the 2001-02 season, winning
his first Stanley Cup that season. He retired in 2002, but came back to
Detroit before this season. Last season, with Joseph and Legace, the Red
Wings had one of the best records in the league last season. But they
also lost to Anaheim in the first round of the playoffs. When Hasek retired,
Detroit lured Joseph away from Toronto with a $24 million, three-year
deal to replace Hasek. When Hasek returned and agreed to make $6 million
this season, the Red Wings desperately tried to trade Joseph. But no one
wanted to take Joseph because of the two years and $16 million left on
his contract. "Cuj is going to carry us through the playoffs,'' Legace
said. ``He's still one of the top five goalies in the world, it's not
a big drop at all.''
With Dominik Hasek injured, Red Wings goaltender Curtis Joseph has apparently
been taken off the trading block for a while. The Red Wings have been
trying to trade Joseph ever since Hasek returned from his one-year retirement
last summer. Unable to trade him, the Wings placed Joseph on waivers,
and then sent him to their AHL affiliate, the Grand Rapid Griffins. Detroit
GM Ken Holland met with Joseph Wednesday and told him there was a "very
real responsibility" that the team would keep 3 goalies through the
end of the season, but "nothing is written in stone." Hasek
is to be re-evaluated on January 21st, and at that time, it will be decided
whether he can resume rehabilitation.
January,11 2004
The Detroit Red Wings suffered a loss Saturday, losing to the Boston Bruins
2-1. Joe Thornton score at 2:30 of OT to beat the Wings for the second
time in 4 days. Martin Lapointe also scored for the Bruins, who extended
their unbeaten streak to 3 games. Kirk Maltby scored the only goal for
the Wings, earning his 7th tally on the year, picking up a deflected shot
off Andrew Raycroft from Ray Whitney. Steve Yzerman had an assist for
the Red Wings, moving within 14 of Marcel Dionne for 7th place on the
NHL career list with 1,026. Detroit has lost to every other Original 6
teams, with an 0-1 record against Montreal, NY, and Toronto, 1-0-1 against
Boston, and 3-1-0-1 against Chicago. Andrew Raycroft made 27 saves for
Boston, while Curtis Joseph countered with 33 saves for Detroit while
replacing the injured Dominik Hasek, who has been out since November 3rd
with a groin injury.
With
Dominik Hasek out for the remainder of the season, Curtis Joseph has officially
stolen the spotlight for the Winged Wheels. Hasek announced Tuesday that
his season is over because of a groin injury that has limited the star
goalie to 14 games. "Once I got on the ice last week, it was almost
every day my groin got worse and I knew it's impossible,'' he said. One
of the NHL's greatest goalies, Hasek won two MVP awards and six Vezina
Trophies, given to the league's top goalie, during a nine-year stint in
Buffalo. He also led the Czech Republic to a gold medal in the 1998 Nagano
Olympics. Hasek joined the Red Wings before the 2001-02 season, winning
his first Stanley Cup that season. He retired in 2002, but came back to
Detroit before this season. Last season, with Joseph and Legace, the Red
Wings had one of the best records in the league last season. But they
also lost to Anaheim in the first round of the playoffs. When Hasek retired,
Detroit lured Joseph away from Toronto with a $24 million, three-year
deal to replace Hasek. When Hasek returned and agreed to make $6 million
this season, the Red Wings desperately tried to trade Joseph. But no one
wanted to take Joseph because of the two years and $16 million left on
his contract. "Cuj is going to carry us through the playoffs,'' Legace
said. ``He's still one of the top five goalies in the world, it's not
a big drop at all.''