Curtis Joseph Chases All-Time Loss Record
March 28, 2009 by Tyler
Filed under Hockey Columns, NHL Players
With Martin Gerber’s referee shoving episode earning him a 3-game suspension, Curtis Joseph found himself looking at three straight starts.
Interestingly enough that may be just enough starts to break an NHL record this season.
Collecting his 351st career loss on Friday night, Curtis Joseph moved within one loss of Gump Worsley’s career loss record for goaltenders.
While the all-time record for losses by an NHL goaltender is not an enviable position to be in, Joseph also ranks 4th all-time in wins with 453 NHL victories.
Considering the length of Joseph’s career, it is obvious that the losses are the bi-product of a long career backstopping a host of mediocre teams rather than poor performance.
The Year of The Goalie
In a year when Martin Brodeur has set the record for most career wins, and has been hailed by many as the best goaltender in history, there is one category other than career losses where Joseph leads Brodeur. Joseph (26,707) has had more shots against him than Brodeur (24,842). in fact, Patrick Roy (28,353) is the only goaltender in history with more shots against than Joseph.
In his 19 seasons, Joseph has made nearly 54,000 saves, allowed more than 2500 goals against and has a career goals against average (GAA) of 2.79. Joseph was an NHL All-Star on two occasions in 1994 and 2000
Joseph’s worst full season came in 2006-2007 when he held the fort for a very poor Phoenix Coyotes team, and finished the season with 321 losses and a 3.19 GAA.
With those statistics and without winning a Stanley Cup, does Joseph deserve a shot at the Hall of Fame?
Kyle on Sat, 28th Mar 2009 1:02 pm
Hey Tyler,
To me, Joseph also benefitted from spending a lot of time in a market like Toronto, where his stature of a goalie was probably inflated a little.
Certainly he’s been a good, sometimes excellent goalie but I really don’t think he’s done enough to get in to the hall of fame. Sure he’s 4th all time in wins, but Dino Ciccarelli is in a similar position in goals, and he’s not close to the hall.
As I’ve said in the past, the Hall of Fame should be reserved for the best of the best, not “one of the best of the very good”.
Of course, if he somehow backstops a team to the cup before the end this could change (and I don’t mean as a backup). But for now, he should not get in to the hall.
Amy on Sat, 28th Mar 2009 4:26 pm
Great point here… “Considering the length of Joseph’s career, it is obvious that the losses are the bi-product of a long career backstopping a host of mediocre teams rather than poor performance.”
The unfortunate part of being a goaltender is that losses (especially when piled up this much) tend to be put/blamed on the guy between the pipes. Weeks/months/years from now, no one will remember if the D was breaking down in front of the net or if the offense looked like they were out for a walk in the park or if special teams were just not that special – they’ll see a LOSS and say “oh who was in goal?”
I think the fact that Joseph has had such a long career is fantastic – it’s a shame that his stats don’t necessarily reflect his capabilities.
Tyler on Sat, 28th Mar 2009 4:44 pm
@Amy, I think you hit the nail on the head when you say “It’s a shame his stats don’t reflect his capabilities”. However, in sports we often live and die by statistics. Stats have been the holy grail of evaluating one’s career achievements and, right or wrong, by virtue of logging statistics we utilize them to compare and evaluate performance.
Amy on Sat, 28th Mar 2009 9:40 pm
@Tyler,
Don’t get me wrong, I know all too well the ups and downs of statistics and no one (fans/players/commentators) should use those numbers to make excuses for someone’s performace. Many great players get undeservedly burned by statistics – but a lot of the truly great ones use that as motivation to be a better athlete and try to leave the bad stats in the dust. Unfortunately for some, like Joseph, there’s sometimes a vicious cycle of playing for organizations that never truly give a guy the chance to stand out. And hey, SOMEONE has to have the most losses, right?
Goalie News Sunday March 29, 2009 | News | Hockey Goalie Resource by Goaltenders for Goaltenders on Sun, 29th Mar 2009 1:39 am
[...] Curtis Joseph Chases All-Time Loss Record [...]
Burgundy on Sun, 5th Apr 2009 3:04 am
To add to both of your points, there are players who are in the Hall of Fame who’s largely from being on great teams. So yes, the fact a very solid goalie played on a lot of not-so-good temas will prevent CuJo from getting into the HOF.
Then again, I agree Kyle. Best of good isn’t good enough.
Hall of Fame question for all: Does Pavel Bure belong in the Hall of Fame?
Capital injuries Leafs us wondering… « Stayclassy.net on Tue, 7th Apr 2009 12:39 am
[...] What do you do if you can’t make the Stanley Cup playoffs, year after year? If your last playoff game was against Jeremy Roenick… when he was still a Flyer? Or if your last deep playoff run was with a goalie – Curtis Joseph – who left and then came back and is one loss away from being the record holder for the most losses ever? [...]
rochette on Mon, 2nd Nov 2009 3:25 am
Mr. Joseph has made a great career and a household name for himself.
Briefly, in 1988, he might have been a student of mine in the English Department at the University of Wisconsin-Madison.
He sat out the season, there in Composition 101.
And, I too was on the bench.
An over-aged TA in English.
Joseph had his chance to make a very, very big difference, but instead he went on to make no big deal money.
Shucks!
But I honestly hope he is happy,
Dr. Susan M. Rochette-Crawley, PH.D.
Dr. Susan M. Rochette, PH.D.
(in English)