Detroit, MI— Detroit Red Wings veteran netminder Chris Osgood announced his retirement on Tuesday, bringing to an end a 17-year career pock-marked with disappointment, but ultimately ending with several notable accomplishments.
The club announced that Osgood will serve the Wings' front office in an as-yet unnamed position dealing with scouting and developing goaltenders.
Osgood went just 5-3-2 with a 2.77 goals-against average and .903 save percentage in 11 games a season ago, limited by persistent groin problems along with sports hernia surgery.
The 38-year-old played 14 of his 17 NHL seasons in Detroit, winning three Stanley Cups (1997-98, 2008), and recording all but 84 of his 401 lifetime wins there. All told, he racked up a 401-216-95 record with a 2.49 GAA and 50 shutouts in 744 regular-season tilts, adding a 74-49 mark with 15 shutouts over 129 playoff games.
A third-round pick by Detroit back in 1991, Osgood made his pro debut during the 1993-94 season, posting an impressive 23-8-5 record with a 2.86 GAA and two shutouts. However, he bore the brunt of criticism for a puck-handling gaffe that led to a Sharks goal during the third period of a shocking Game 7 first-round home playoff loss to upstart San Jose that year.
Alternating the starting duties with Mike Vernon in the mid-to-late 1990s, Osgood again shared criticism for the Presidents' Trophy-winning Wings' 1996 loss in the Western finals against the Avalanche. That season, he led the NHL with 39 wins as the Wings posted 131 points and set a league record with 62 victories.
After working behind Vernon, who won the Conn Smythe Trophy in 1997 as the Wings upset the favored Flyers in four games of the Stanley Cup Finals, Osgood found the spotlight the following season, finishing 33-20-11 with six whitewashes and a 2.21 GAA. He followed up by going 16-6 with a 2.12 GAA in the playoffs as Detroit swept Washington to claim back-to-back Cup titles.
The honeymoon didn't last long, however, and by 2001, after three straight disappointing postseasons, Osgood fell out of favor. When the Wings opted to acquire Dominik Hasek from Buffalo, Osgood was placed on waivers and snatched up by the New York Islanders.
He won 49 games on Long Island in parts of two seasons, and in 2002, led the club to its first playoff appearance since 1994 -- a seven-game conference quarterfinal loss to Toronto.
A brief year-plus stint with the Blues followed from 2003-04, but the Wings decided to take a second chance on him as a free agent in 2005.
Osgood redeemed himself by recording a combined 53 regular-season wins and eight shutouts from 2007-09 as the Wings returned to the Stanley Cup Finals in consecutive seasons. In '08, the embattled crease guardian took over for an injured Hasek and went 14-4 with a league-low 1.55 GAA and three shutouts as the Wings topped the Penguins in six games to win the title. The next year, he went 15-8 but the Pens exacted their revenge with a seven-game triumph.
Limited to 34 appearances over the last two seasons by injuries, the Alberta native nonetheless posted his 400th career victory on December 27 in Denver against old rival Colorado -- becoming one of only 10 netminders in NHL history to reach that plateau.
