Sweet Home Alberta - Joseph Signs With Calgary
Not 2 weeks ago I wrote about Curtis Joseph's triumph for Canada at the Spengler Cup. ST aptly pointed out in the comments section that his appearance at the Spengler was mostly about making a bid for a return to the NHL, and it seems that bid has ended in fruition.
Pretty much every sports news outlet is reporting Curtis Joseph has signed with the Calgary Flames (his second Alberta stint), and IF that is true I have a few brief thoughts.
This post could have been titled 'World's Most Obvious Signing.' Mike Keenan loves his veterans and there is no more veteran goalie available than Joseph. A friend of mine living in Belleville joined me in laughing about the Leafs this morning (about 9:30 Calgary time) - 'You hear Toronto might pick up Joseph?'
'Nah,' I countered, 'Keenan has that shit locked up.'
In actuality, it's not a bad move. I have felt for some time (multiple seasons) that Kiprusoff is overworked - if I had my way he'd play 65 or so games per year. But Calgary hasn't had a goaltender in the backup position that has been good enough to steal games for quite some time, and watching the Flames defence, I believe that's often what they need.
Obviously Keenan did not have enough confidence in Curtis Mcelhinney or Matt Keetley to play them the 15 or so games and take some heat off of Kipper. Obviously, in Joseph he does have the confidence, or at the very least, the cost ($650,000 over the rest of the year) is worth the potential reward. I would have to agree.
Potentially the best part of this deal is the fact Joseph is clearly willing to take a lesser role to rejoin the bigs. Reports pegged Cujo as choosing between the Rangers and the Flames, which to me says something; I'm willing to play behind a workhorse goalie in exchange for a chance to win something. The attitude of the backup goaltender undeniably plays a part in the attitude of the starter (is Kipper missing his buddie Jamie?) and having a cheerleader in Joseph could be a good thing. Plus it may give Kipper some confidence knowing that there's another man behind him.
Of course, maybe he'll just perceive the coaches as not having enough confidence in him. I predict that's not the case though.
Pretty much every sports news outlet is reporting Curtis Joseph has signed with the Calgary Flames (his second Alberta stint), and IF that is true I have a few brief thoughts.
This post could have been titled 'World's Most Obvious Signing.' Mike Keenan loves his veterans and there is no more veteran goalie available than Joseph. A friend of mine living in Belleville joined me in laughing about the Leafs this morning (about 9:30 Calgary time) - 'You hear Toronto might pick up Joseph?'
'Nah,' I countered, 'Keenan has that shit locked up.'
In actuality, it's not a bad move. I have felt for some time (multiple seasons) that Kiprusoff is overworked - if I had my way he'd play 65 or so games per year. But Calgary hasn't had a goaltender in the backup position that has been good enough to steal games for quite some time, and watching the Flames defence, I believe that's often what they need.
Obviously Keenan did not have enough confidence in Curtis Mcelhinney or Matt Keetley to play them the 15 or so games and take some heat off of Kipper. Obviously, in Joseph he does have the confidence, or at the very least, the cost ($650,000 over the rest of the year) is worth the potential reward. I would have to agree.
Potentially the best part of this deal is the fact Joseph is clearly willing to take a lesser role to rejoin the bigs. Reports pegged Cujo as choosing between the Rangers and the Flames, which to me says something; I'm willing to play behind a workhorse goalie in exchange for a chance to win something. The attitude of the backup goaltender undeniably plays a part in the attitude of the starter (is Kipper missing his buddie Jamie?) and having a cheerleader in Joseph could be a good thing. Plus it may give Kipper some confidence knowing that there's another man behind him.
Of course, maybe he'll just perceive the coaches as not having enough confidence in him. I predict that's not the case though.
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The San Jose Sharks and the Calgary Flames are said to be the two most interested teams in acquiring Joseph’s services.
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