Detroit Red Wings: Is Chris Osgood a Hall of Famer?
By Mike Rizzo
Is Chris Osgood an Hall of Famer? That is a hotly debated issue in not just NHL circles but also among Detroit Red Wings fans. Yahoo’s Greg Wyshynski thinks Osgood ultimately gets in. Also, ESPN did an article and they think heck yes Chris Osgood is an Hall of Famer.
Ozzie played with the Red Wings from 1993-2001. He was then moved to the New York Islanders when Dominik Hasek was acquired by the Wings.
Osgood then went to the St Louis Blues before coming back to the Wings in 2005 and finishing his career in Detroit in 2011. The arguments people say about NOT being a Hall of Famer are: He had arguably the greatest defenseman in NHL history, Nicklas Lidstrom, playing in front of him; and the Wings always tried to replace Osgood whether it was with Mike Vernon, Dominik Hasek or Bill Ranford.
Other arguments against Osgood being a Hall of Famer is he never won any major awards and that he was never in the category of a Dominik Hasek, Martin Brodeur or Patrick Roy.
The pros for Osgood is he won three cups and was a starter for two of them. Also, he won 400 games and his career playoff goals against average was 2.094 which is 15th all time and better then Hall of Famers Patrick Roy, Jacques Plante and Ed Belfour.
My opinion is yes, Chris Osgood is without a doubt a Hall of Famer. Chris Osgood won 401 games which is good for 11th alltime. That is more then Hall of Famer Dominik Hasek who has 389 wins. Chris Osgood, as I stated, also won three cups and was a starter for two of them.
It is my belief that if Mike Babcock didn’t put Osgood in against Nashville in 2008, the Wings don’t beat Nashville and get knocked out of the first round. Babcock put Osgood in as starter late in game 4 and he was the starter the rest of the way as the Wings won the cup.
Is 400 wins and three Stanley Cups enough for Osgood to be in the Hall of Fame? Or do you think he was just a good goalie? Please vote in the poll below.
Feel free to use the comments section below to tell us about your answer to the poll question.
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