Chris Osgood: Most Valuable... Goalie?

Messed up. Listen. I'm ecstatic that my favorite hockey team, the Detroit Red Wings, won their fourth Cup in 11 years. Let me just say that I have been a Wings fan since I was in kindergarten, before they had won their first Cup in 42 years, because my whole mother's side of the family lives in Michigan and are Wings fans. But this is my beef: How did Chris Osgood not get the Conn Smythe trophy as MVP of the Stanley Cup Playoffs?

Henrik Zetterberg got it. Zetterberg was tied for first in the playoffs with 27 points, along with "the Next One", Sidney Crosby of the Penguins. He was tied for first in goals with 13, along with Johan Franzen of the Wings. He was third in assists with 14, 7 behind Crosby's 21.

Osgood was passed over in '98 when he was starter for the Wings in favor of Steve Yzerman for Conn Smythe, which was probably the right call. But consider this: Chris Osgood is 35. He got traded away from the Wings to the New York Islanders and St. Louis Blues, teams that clearly had no shot at Stanley Cups. It looked like Osgood was on the downswing. Heck, when he came back to the Wings, and even this year, he was supposed to be Dominik Hasek's backup. But no, he led the regular season in goals against average with a 2.09 goals-against average. When he got to the playoffs he again did not start as the Wings chose to use Hasek. But after game four, with Hasek having lost the last two games as starter, Osgood got the job and never let go. He went 14-4, with 3 shutouts (T-1st), .930 save percentage (3rd), and a 1.55 GAA (1st), .42 ahead of the second place holder. By comparison, in 2006 the Conn Smythe trophy was given to Cam Ward of the Carolina Hurricanes, who had a 2.14 GAA and .920 save percentage.

I have nothing else to say. I think the numbers speak for themselves.

Song of the day: Hospital Beds by Cold War Kids at YouTube