TORONTO (Mar. 25) — During consecutive Ruby Tuesdays, two of the oldest cliche-sayings have applied to the grizzled veteran wearing No. 31 for the Maple Leafs… a) good things happen to those who wait, and b) good things happen to good people. Curtis Joseph easily fits into both categories. He is unfailingly patient, and undeniably one of the nicest guys to ever don a jersey in the National Hockey League.
Exactly one week after the lone highlight of his last hurrah with the Leafs, Cujo one-upped himself. What he did against the Washington Capitals this Tuesday night was more spectacular than his better-than-average performance in Tampa last Tuesday. Some might agree it has to be seen to be believed. Joseph entered the match with 57 seconds left in regulation time, after starting goalie Martin Gerber got tossed for throwing a tantrum at the officials. Gerber — as mild-mannered as they come — lost his cool when Brooks Laich of the Capitals shot HIM into the net to tie the score in the final minute. The fact the puck was underneath Gerber was all that mattered to referee Mike Leggo, who emphatically signalled a goal from his position behind the cage. Gerber reacted like a caged animal — firing the puck at the side-boards after bumping the referee while arguing his point. He was history.
In came the soon-to-be 42-year-old Joseph, with a look of bemused astonishment on his face. What a situation to be thrown cold into… the final minute of a tie game with the league’s leading goal-scorer wearing an opposition jersey. Had this occurred anytime before the end of January, Cujo would have whiffed on a slow roller and the Capitals would have won the game before extra time was necessary. But, not on this night. And, not at this climactic point of an otherwise forgetful swan-song in blue and white. Instead, Curtis Joseph spent 15 frantic minutes turning back the clock.
Suddenly, he was the 26-year-old St. Louis Blues phenom that almost stole a playoff series from the Pat Burns/Doug Gilmour Maple Leafs in 1993. He became the guy that made more than 60 saves in the legendary opener of that series at Maple Leaf Gardens — 40 of them difficult chances. Only difference is there was no Gilmour on this night to spoil the party in overtime with a zig-zag, out-of-his-mind series of moves from behind the net. In Gilmour’s place — almost 16 years later — was one Alexander Ovechkin, the game’s most dangerous stick. Somehow, this version of Cujo figuratively swatted aside Ovechkin as if he were an annoying gnat. He darted left-to-right in his crease to thwart one of Ovechkin’s patented bombs from the top of the circle in the dying seconds of regulation. He confidently blocked a half-dozen prime scoring opportunities in the five-minute extra session. Then — as if part of a script — he stared down Ovechkin with the game on the line in the final act of the shootout.
So psyched out was Alex The Great by that point that he almost stumbled over Cujo after fanning on a half-shot attempt. He reminded me of a thoroughly perplexed Brendan Shanahan staggering in on Dominic Hasek in the shootout that ended Canada’s hopes at the 1998 Winter Olympics in Nagano, Japan. Hasek so completely be-deviled the Canadian side that Shanahan had no clue what he was doing on the decisive play. Such was the effect Joseph had on Ovechkin in this game at the Air Canada Centre.
When the veteran puck-stopper entered the Leafs' dressing room after bowing as the game's first star, he was spontaneously accorded a chant of "Cujo! Cujo! Cujo!" from his ecstatic teammates.
Somewhat lost in Joseph's mind-blowing effort was a terrific moment for Leafs’ rookie Phil Oreskovic, who opened the scoring with a 59-foot screen shot from the blueline — his first goal and point in the bigs. When Joseph made his NHL debut with the Blues, against Edmonton, on Jan. 2, 1990, Oreskovic was a teething toddler, 24 days shy of his third birthday. He was six years old the night Gilmour ruined Joseph’s epic performance in the ‘93 playoffs.
For the Leafs, it was another step forward in their favorite part of the season — garbage time. We’ve seen this late magic before; remember the unheralded Jean-Sebastien Aubin going 9-0-2 down the stretch in 2005-06? Though the Leafs — as if on cue — are motoring uncontested toward their usual ninth or tenth-place roosting in the Eastern Conference, there is talk again that this is not a mirage. That the young players on the hockey club are gaining valuable steam and will carry over their momentum into the following season.
One of these years, it’s going to happen that way.
If it begins to happen in October of 2009, the Leafs’ record playoff drought will be in serious jeopardy.
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