The Flames have finally managed to put a leash on their dog.
Curtis Joseph, affectionately known as Cujo; a clever little hip hop grab of his two names to mirror a classic Stephen King novel, is back within the Flames fold and should provide an interesting element to the Flames final 40% of their schedule.
Five and a half years ago Joseph was a Flame for about 12 hours, an astute little acquisition by Craig Button to upgrade draft picks and create an asset out of the NHL’s old free agency laws, but the man never saw the ice. The dog was corralled, but he somehow slipped through the fence.
This time this the pooch is chained in the yard and will be chasing mailmen in Calgary colours for the remainder of this season and the playoffs, all for the sum of a prorated $1.5 million contract.
The Flames had been trying to teach a young pup new tricks all fall, but it became clear through his lack of activity that the other Curtis, McElhinney, wasn’t ready for NHL action of any meaningful variety.
Joseph played some decent hockey in Phoenix, and was at his best in Europe with the Spengler Cup Canadian club that won gold, putting his name back in the headlines and into a bidding war that saw him choose Calgary and their potential playoff chances.
So what does this do to the Flames?
Number one it gives them a backup goaltender that should provide the team with a better than average chance of winning, something they haven’t seen in Calgary in some time.
Joseph shouldn’t be a number one goaltender in the NHL at the age of 40, but who’s to say the old canine can’t stand on his head with a start or two a month and God forbid if Miikka Kiprusoff goes down to injury.
He can be good, and that alone should provide the team with a little internal competition something that has to be good for Kiprusoff as he continues to find his game.
Much has been made of Kiprusoff’s demeanor and the fact that they may upset the apple cart by shaking him up with a roster challenge, but you can put that aside.
He’s a professional. He’s paid to be one of the best goaltenders on the planet; if a 40 year old back up shakes him to the core than the Flames have themselves more problems then a roster plug can fix.
Remember, Kiprusoff weaseled his way into the Flames fold in the fall of 2003, taking advantage of injuries to Roman Turek and Jamie McLennan. When both stoppers returned the Flames traded McLennan to the Rangers leaving the competent Turek to back him up the rest of the way. He didn’t seem to have too much inner turmoil in that situation.
There are very few hockey discussions that polarize fans more than the play of the number one goaltender. One camp seems to blame the goalie for everything from death to taxes, while the other seems to find a mistake further up the ice and remove all blame from their wealthy shoulders.
I lean to the former, and especially so when said goaltender is paid to be one of the best. A great number goaltender has to stop 100% of the easy ones, 95% of the tough ones, and a good share of the near impossible ones. We see it nightly from Roberto Luongo in Vancouver, from Martin Brodeur in Jersey, and we saw it up close in the Islanders Rick Depietro the other night.
Kiprusoff has done exactly that for four seasons in Calgary but has run into some inconsistency so far this season.
Maybe a well timed push is all he needs.
