Mike Modano Announces Retirement!

One of the greatest American born NHL scorers Mike Modano Announced his retirement. Here is the story as posted on NHL.com:


Mike Modano turned to social media to announce his retirement on Tuesday.

Modano, the all-time leading NHL scorer among U.S.-born players, posted the news on his Facebook and Twitter accounts and also announced he will be holding a press conference Friday.

"After a long summer of thinking about my future, I've come to the decision that it's time to retire as a player from the NHL," Modano wrote on his Facebook page, a link to which he also posted to his Twitter account. "There's way too many people to thank here at this time and too much to say, so I have a press conference scheduled for early Friday afternoon. Check back Friday late afternoon for more. What a great ride it's been!"

Modano played 1,499 regular-season NHL games, including 1,459 with the Minnesota/Dallas franchise, and finished his career with 561 goals and 813 assists for 1,374 points. The first pick of the 1988 Entry Draft, he made his NHL debut with the North Stars in 1989 and played 21 seasons. The native of Livonia, Mich., returned home last season to play with the Red Wings, but injuries limited him to only 40 games.

"The greatest American player ever," former teammate Brett Hull told The Hockey News. "I don't think there's one better. He's by far No. 1."

A number of current players took to social media to congratulate Modano on his career.

"Congrats to (Modano) on a great career," tweeted Maple Leafs forward Joffrey Lupul. "One of my favorites growing up. Always enjoyed playing against him, Sakic and Yzerman the most.

"Congrats to mike modano on a great career, did alot of great things for hockey in the US over his career," tweeted Philadelphia Flyers forward James van Riemsdyk.

"Congrats to Mike Modano on a great career!" added Anaheim Ducks forward Bobby Ryan on his Twitter account. "The reason I picked number 9! What an awesome player, thanks for showing young Americans the way!"

Modano won the Stanley Cup with the Stars in 1999. He holds NHL records for the most goals, points, playoff points (145) and games played by a U.S.-born player.

He also holds Minnesota/Dallas franchise records for games played in the regular season, games played in the playoffs (174), goals in the regular season (557), goals in the playoffs (58), assists in the regular season (802), assists in the playoffs (87) and points in both the regular season (1,359) and playoffs (145).

Modano was named to the NHL's All-Rookie team in 1990 and played in eight All-Star Games over his career.



It is safe to make this statement, Modano is the greatest scoring americans of all time, one of the best forwards in the history of USA hockey and without a doubt will be in hall of fame in Toronto!

Big Surprises in NFL Week 1

The 2011 NFL Season kicked off with a big BANG! IT started last thursday with the first game of the year and a battle of the last two Super Bowl Champions in the New Orleans Saints and Green Bay Packers. This was a highs scoring affair as the Packers pulled one out by a 42-35 score. Arron Rogers showed why he has the reigns and making sure quickly that Packers fans forget all about Brett Farve. Of the local football clubs the Giants fall short to the Redskins 28-14. Eli Manning went 18 of 32 for 288 yards. His favorite targert was Hackem Nicks who caught 7 passes for 122 yards. The Giants offense shown good life through the first half but then all of a sudden no showed in the second half and allowed the Skins to walk back into the contest. If this is a sign of things to come in the future weeks for the Giants then it could be a very long season for Big Blue.

As for Gang Green the Jets had a tough go around with Dallas. The Jets took the game 27-24 in a close contest. Mark Sanchez of the Jets went 26 of 44 for 335 yards 2 TDs and a Pick. Looking at this as a Jets fan I'm a bit worried. I was a bit alarmed to find he threw 44 passes and barley completed half of them. I don't know how long he can hold up and get the Jets to the Playoffs. The other question I had from this game was the Jets running game. The Jets only ran the ball 15 times 10 carries by Shawn Greene for 26 Yards and LT had 5 Carries for 16 yards. Again as a Jets fan I'm hoping the running game turns up again or this could be a long season for us Jets Fans. There were a few bright spots for Gang Green. The biggest one on offense was Plaxico Burress. He had a TD Catch and started to show some flashes of his former self before his prison sentence. On Defense the punt unit came up huge blocking a Cowboys punt leading to the Game Tying Touchdown. And of course there was Derrel Revis interception that set up the game winnning field goal. Tony Romo of Dallas came out flying but after he lost his two biggest targets at wide reciever he seemed to shut down. But if your looking at the Jets next week against The jaguars.

So looking around the rest of the NFL one of the biggest surprises was the Buffalo Bills who exploded for 41 points as they blasted the Chiefs 41-7. The Buffalo Bills had been what most would call a bad team, I just never knew the Bills had it in them. Another surprise was the Miami Dolphins as they put up a fight against the New England Patriots but the Pats proved to be too much taking the game 38-24.

The two biggest performers from Week 1 for me were both Quarterbacks. First was Cam Newton. The rookie QB for Carolina played a great first game in the NFL throwing for 422 yards breaking the old record held by Payton Manning. Have to admit it was a pretty good opening day for Newton and I have to admit he put up a good fight on the opener. But the big question for him is how he handles next week against the Packers. The other big story was Tom Brady of the Pats who threw for over 500 yards in the monday night win over the Dolphins. I knew the guy was good but come on!

NHL Takes Another HIt as Plan Crash Kills 43

More sad news has struck the National Hockey League today as a plane crash kills members of a KHL team from Russia which included former NHL Talent. Here is the article from nhl.com this afternoon:

Plane crash in Russia involves KHL teamWednesday, 09.07.2011 / 2:07 PM / News
NHL.com
CommentPrintA plane crash near the city of Yaroslavl in Central Russia has claimed the lives of at least 43 people, according to Russia's Emergency Situations Ministry. The majority of victims were members of the Kontinental Hockey League club, Lokomotiv.

Lokomotiv has confirmed that the entire main roster, plus four players from the youth team, was on the plane.

"We have no team anymore," Vladimir N. Malkov, the team spokesman, said in a telephone interview with The New York Times. "All our starting players, and all the service people, they all burned in the crash."


Former NHLers among crash victims
PAVOL DEMITRA teams: OTT, STL, LAK, MIN, VAN
RUSLAN SALEI teams: ANA, FLA, COL, DET
Karel Rachunek teams: Ott, NYR, NJD
Karlis Skrastins teams: NSH, COL, FLA, DAL
Josef Vasicek teams: Car, NYI
Alexander Vasyunov teams: NJD
Brad McCrimmon teams (as coach) NYI, CGY, ATL, DET teams (as PLAYER)
BOS, PHI, CGY, DET, HFD, PHX

Coach Brad McCrimmon, forward Pavol Demitra, defenseman Ruslan Salei, forward Josef Vasicek, defenseman Karel Rachunek, forward Jan Marek, forward Alexander Vasyunov, defenseman Karlis Skrastins and goalie Stefan Liv are among the confirmed fatalities.

The deaths of McCrimmon, Salei, Vasicek, Rachunek, Skrastins and Liv were confirmed by the Russian Emergency Ministry. Demitra's passing was confirmed by his agent, Matt Keator, while the New Jersey Devils confirmed Vasyunov's death.

The crash, one of the worst in the history of sports, occurred at 4 p.m. Moscow time and the weather was sunny and clear, according to reports.

Eight crew members are also among the dead, according to reports. According to Russian aviation officials, two passengers survived the crash, but are in critical condition. According to Sovetsky Sport, one of the survivors is Russian forward Alexander Galimov.

Several hundred mourning fans wearing jerseys and scarves gathered in the evening at the Lokomotiv stadium to pay their respects.

"I knew half the team. I didn't believe it at first … then I felt sick," New York Rangers forward Artem Anisimov said according to Newsday's Steve Zipay.

Anisimov is from Yaroslavl and is a product of the Lokomotiv hockey school. He played for the team in the old Russian Superleague for two seasons, 2005-07.

"This is just awful," said Matt Keator, who was Demitra's agent. "He was such a popular guy with everyone he has ever played with."

Keator was in Russia visiting Demitra just three weeks ago. He spent some time with the Yaroslavl team during his visit.

"I was over there three weeks ago and they were a fun bunch. They seemed to be a great group of guys. Very tight," Keator said.

The Czech embassy in Moscow confirmed the deaths of Vasicek, Rachunek and Marek.
Vasicek played for the Carolina Hurricanes during part of his NHL career and McCrimmon played for the Hartford Whalers, which eventually became the Carolina Hurricanes. Carolina GM Jim Rutherford issued a statement on the tragedy.

“We are deeply saddened to learn of today's tragedy in Russia. Josef was a key part of the Hurricanes for six years, helping us achieve some of our greatest successes. More importantly, he was a great teammate on and off the ice, and was respected as a person as well as a player.

"Brad McCrimmon was a member of our team while we were still in Hartford, and was well-liked by all who came in contact with him. His presence in the hockey community will be greatly missed.

"Our thoughts and prayers go to the Vasicek and McCrimmon families, and the loved ones of all of today's victims."

The Lokomotiv roster was full of players with NHL ties.

McCrimmon played in the NHL and most recently served as an assistant coach with the Detroit Red Wings before taking the Yaroslavl job in May. The Russian Times confirmed that McCrimmon also died in the crash.

Defensemen Rachunek, Salei and Skrastins, as well as forwards Demitra and Vasicek all spent a good deal of time in the NHL.

Forward Vasyunov played 18 games with the New Jersey Devils this past season. Devils GM Lou Lamoriello confirmed that Vasyunov died in the crash.

"I can't say enough about him," Lamoriello told reporters Wednesday. "(Vasyunov) wanted to go over (to Russia) and play a lot and come back here. He was so proud to be a Devil."

"Though it occurred thousands of miles away from our home arenas, this tragedy represents a catastrophic loss to the hockey world -- including the NHL family, which lost so many fathers, sons, teammates and friends who at one time excelled in our League. Our deepest condolences go to the families and loved ones of all who perished."

Former NHLers Igor Korolev and Alexander Karpovtsev were listed as assistant coaches for Lokomotiv.

McCrimmon played defense for six NHL teams -- Boston, Philadelphia, Calgary, Detroit, Hartford and Phoenix -- in a 17-year career, appearing in 1,222 regular-season games in the NHL, collecting 81 goals, 322 assists and 1,416 penalty minutes.

He was an assistant coach with the New York Islanders, Calgary Flames, Atlanta Thrashers and the Red Wings. He also served as head coach of the Western Hockey League's Saskatoon Blades.

According to the reports on the crash, the plane, a Yakovlev Yak-42 passenger jet, went down and caught fire shortly immediately after taking to the air, crashing less than 2 kilometers from the airport.

The short- and medium-range Yak-42 has been in service since 1980. This particular plane has been in operation since 1993, according to officials. It was en route to Minsk, Belarus for a Thursday night game against Dynamo Minsk, Yaroslavl's opener to the 2011-12 KHL season.

Former Montreal Canadiens defenseman Brent Sopel, who is now playing in Russia, tweeted shortly after the crash: "In shock. Prayers out to all of the KHL families."

The Russian Emergency Situations Ministry said the plane crashed immediately after taking off from an airport near the city on the Volga River, which is approximately 150 miles northeast of Moscow.

Prime Minister Vladimir Putin has sent his transport minister to the site of the crash.

A game between KHL teams Salavat Yulaev and Atlant in the central Russian city of Ufa was called off midway Wednesday after news of the crash was announced by KHL president head Alexander Medvedev.

"We are working to find an appropriate way to honor this club and begin the healing process from the deep loss so many of us feel today," the league said in a statement Wednesday

Russian Ice Hockey Federation President Vladislav Tretiak also expressed his feelings on the crash.

"We will do our best to ensure that hockey in Yaroslavl does not die, and that it continues to live for the people that were on that plane," he said.

International Ice Hockey Federation president Rene Fasel called the crash "the darkest day in the history of our sport."

"Despite the substantial air travel of professional hockey teams, our sport has been spared from tragic traffic accidents," Fasel said. “But only until now. This is the darkest day in the history of our sport. This is not only a Russian tragedy, the Lokomotiv roster included players and coaches from 10 nations."

"Though it occurred thousands of miles away from our home arenas, this tragedy represents a catastrophic loss to the hockey world -- including the NHL family, which lost so many fathers, sons, teammates and friends who at one time excelled in our League," said NHL Commissioner Gary Bettman. "Our deepest condolences go to the families and loved ones of all who perished."

Lokomotiv Yaroslavl, founded in 1949 as the team of the Railways Ministry, is one of Russia's leading hockey teams and came runner up in the Kontinental Hockey League in 2008 and 2009. In 1997 it took the Russian Superleague title and won back-to-back championships in 2002 and 2003.



This is becoming an alarming trend for the NHL as there have already been a few other players who have passed away since the stanley cup finals. Since the finals, besides the gentleman listed above, the League has lost Wade Belak, who died of unknown causes on August 31st, Rick Rypien, who had committed suacide on August 15th and Derek Boogaard, who on May 13th died of an accidental death due to mixing of drugs and alchol. The hockey world has taken a big hit the last few months and those gentelmen will be missed both on and off the ice.

NFL Preview 2011

Ao after a scary few months during the lockout, we have the game back ready to rock and roll with week one of the 2011 NFL season. So after the lockout ended there was a frenzy to try and get players signed and ready for the start of the season, but we are ready to go. So before we look at the schedule for Week One of the season here are my predictions for the divisions in the NFL. We Start with the AFC East.

So this year the AFC East went through some dramatic changes in both New England and New York. The pats looking to improve from last season add two huge weapons in Albert Haynsworth and Chad Johnson. As if the Patriots weren't a dangerous opponent as is, through those two guys into the mix and I think it might be a done deal. As much as it pains me to say this I give the Patriots the division going 14-2. Giving the pats the most trouble will be the Cowboys Eagles and Jets. Now then as for the Jets they too had some big changes. Shaun Ellis and Braylin Edwards are both gone, but they did replace Edwards with Plaxico Burress. This will be another strong showing for Gang Green this year I see a 13-3 maybe 12-4 season and Wild Card winners for the Jets. As for the rest of the East it was the same old story quiet as usual. Here are my predictions for the AFC East:

1. Patriots
2. Jets (Wild Card)
3. Dolphins
4. Bills

Now moving on to the AFC North there wasn't much noise coming from the division as neither of the 4 teams made any noise. The Ravens still have the one of the top 5 D's in the league and Pittsburgh is well Pittsburgh. here is how I see the standings in the AFC North:

1. Steelers
2. Ravens
3. Browns
4. Bengals

Now for the toughest division in the AFC to judge the AFC South. Under normal circumstances I would have had the Colts a lock to either win the South or get the Wild Card but this year it might not happen. With Payton Manning having neck surgery and more than likley going to miss week 1 the Colts are going with Kerry Collins as their starting QB. Unless Payton Manning can come back 100% healthy sorry but the best I see for Indy is somewhere in the 8-8 to 10-6 range. Here's my predictions for the AFC South:

1. Jaguars
2. Texans
3. Colts
4. Titans

Finally for the AFC West. This looks to be another down year for the AFC West once again proving that teams in the western divisions of both leagues are weak and pathetic. Oakland will have more and more bad years as long as Al Davis continues to own this team so once again the Raiders will be well below .500. The other 3 teams I can see as .500 or maybe better clubs. Kanas City will sit at 8-8 and Denver and San Diego will fight it out for the title. Here is the AFC West:

1. Chargers
2. Broncos
3. Chiefs
4. Raiders

NOw moving over to the NFC East. This much like in the AFC is tough to call. The only teams in this division to make any noise are the Eagles and Giants. Dallas was quiet which was a surprise, and Washington seems to be loosing its grip. The Eagles sign Mike Vick to a long contract worth over $100 Million. They have obvious faith in Vick but can Vick be a good return on the investment and not be just a flash in the pan. Here is how I see the NFC East ending up:

1. Eagles
2. Giants
3. Cowboys
4. Redskins.

NFC North is up next and home to the reining champs the Green Bay Packers. The only team really posing a threat to the Pack in this division is the Bears as they always do. Minnesota will make some noise but will faid out near the end and the Lions well they are just the Lions and are still trying to rebuilt I don't consider them worth much right now just like the Raiders. Here is what I see for the NFC North:

1. Packers
2. Bears
3. Vikings
4. Lions

NFC South is up next. This may be the most even division of all in the NFL. No teams making REAL noise. I give the division to the Saints based on the fact that they have been a solid team for the last little while and most of the core is still in tact from the suprebowl team so the Saints take it. Atlanta will pose the biggest threat. This is a ball club that is starting to make a solid upswing. easy 12 wins for them this year. Here is the NFC South:

1. Saints
2. Falcons
3. Bucs
4. Panthers

Finally the weak NFC West. Arizona and Seattle are going to be the dominant forces as they always are and San Fran and St Louis are average at best. This is the easiest division to predict. So here is the NFC West:

1. Cardnials
2. Seahawks
3. 49ers
4. Rams

So there are my divisional predictions. Check back next week for a Week 1 recap!

By The Numbers: Greatest Players From 00 To 99

NOw then I've been waiting a while to post this so here we go. This list is from a book of the same name produced by Hockey Night In Canada! NOw what I will be doing here is I will be writing the list itself then writing my opinion on the list. So here we go the best by the numbers from 00 to 99.

00-John Davidson
0- Neil Sheehy
1- Terry Sawchuk
2- Doug Harvey
3- Scott Stevens
4- Booby Orr
5- Denis Potvin
6- Ace Bailey
7- Howie Morenz
8- Cam Neely
9- Gordie Howe
10- Guy Lafleur
11- Mark Messier
12- Dickie Moore
13- Mats Sundin
14- Dave Keon
15- Milt Schmidt
16- Henri Richard
17- Jari Kurri
18- Denis Savard
19- Steve Yzerman
20- Luc Robitaille
21- Stan Mikita
22- Mike Bossy
23- Bob Gainey
24- Chris Chelios
25- Jacques Lemaire
26- Peter Stastny
27- Frank Mahovlich
28- Steve Larmer
29- Ken Dryden
30- Martin Brodeur
31- Grant Fuhr
32- Dale Hunter
33- Patrick Roy
34- John Vanbiesbrouck
35- Tony Esopsito
36- Glenn Anderson
37- Olie Kolzig
38- Dave Andreychuk
39- Dominik Hasek
40- Henrik Zetterberg
41- Stu Barnes
42- Sergi Markov
43- Martin Biron
44- Chris PRonger
45- Brendan Morrow
46- Martin St. Louis
47- Viktor Kozlov
48- Danny Briere
49- Brian Savage
50- Trevor Letowski
51- Brian Campbell
52- Adam Foote
53- Nikolai Khabibulin
54- Hannu Toivonen
55- Larry Murphy
56- Sergi Zubov
57- Steve Heinze
58- Bill Berg
59- Tom FItzgerald
60- Jose Theodore
61- Rick Nash
62- Olli Jokinen
63- Mike Ribeiro
64- Darrin Shannon
65- Mark Napier
66- Mario Lemieux
67- Robert Svehla
68- Jaromir Jagr
69- Mel Angelstad
70- Oleg Tverdovsky
71- Evgeni Malkin
72- Mattheu Schneider
73- MIchael Ryder
74- Paul Coffey
75- Hal Gill
76- Dustin Penner
77- Ray Bourque
78- Pavol Demitra
79- Alexei Yashin
80- Nik Antropov
81- Miroslav Satan
82- Martin Straka
83- Ales Hemsky
84- Guillaume Latendresse
85- Petr Kilma
86- Jonathan Ferland
87- Sidney Crosby
88- Eric Lindros
89- Alexander Mogilny
90- Joe Juneau
91- Sergei Fedorov
92- Rick Tocchet
93- Doug Gilmour
94- Ryan Smyth
95- Danny Markov
96- Tomas Holmstrom
97- Jeremy Roenick
98- Brian Lawton
99- Wayne Gretzky



Now of the numbers listed above there are few that are no doubters such as 66, 68 87, 71, 99 and such. There are a few that could bring about strong debate. That is what I will do now. Of the listed I do not disagree with anything. It's the list of the other guys at the numbers that are up for debate now. The first number up for debate is #10. Guy Lafleur won at that number and that is good. BUt They had the Russian Rocket Pavel Bure listed at #8 on this list and I disagree I think Bure should be 7. Now George Armstrong is listed at 3 on this and he should be lowered to 8 and have everybody else pushed upwared by one spot . Another number for debate is #8. Neely won at 8 a good call. What annoyed me was that Ovechkin was at 10 on this list whereas I feel he should have been easily 5 on the list.

The list for #19 may have been the closest one here. Here is what the list looked like for #19
1. Steve Yzerman
2. Joe Sakic
3. Larry Robinson
4. Brian trottier
5. Jean Ratelle
6. Rick MacLeash
7. Butch Goering
8. Paul Henderson
9. Joe Thorton
10. Brad Richards

Now two things about this list. Firs is I would have switched Joe Thorton up to the 7 spot and dropped Butch Goering down to 9 but again that is just me. The other thing I want to bring up is that this may have been the closest race on the whole list. It could have gone eitehr way between Yzerman and Sakic but the reason I feel it went to Stevie Y is because he put up better numbers for longer than Super Joe but both guys are locks for Toronto.

IF anybody wants to get more in-depth with this list go to your local bookstore and look up the book BY THE NUMBERS FROM 00 TO 99. That is the full list and details of the list I just presented. Enjoy it!

Jim Thome Joins 600 HR Club

Monday night Slugger Jim Thome recorded his 600th career home run in the seventh inning against the Detroit Tigers. Thome 600th home run came on his 8,167th at-bat, which is the second fastest in Major League history. Babe Ruth reached 600 home runs in 6,920 at-bats. Thome also became the first big-leaguer to his numbers 599 and 600 in consecutive at-bats. He became the 8th player to reach this mark. And not only was he the 8th man to reach 600 but he is 8th all-time on the home run list behind Sammy Sosa, Alex Rodriguez, Ken Griffey Jr, Willie Mays, Babe Ruth, Hank Aaron and Barry Bonds, and Thome is only the 4th lefty every to hit 600.

Of the guys ahead of him on the Home Run list, 3 of them are already in the Baseball hall of fame, Mays Aaron and Ruth. Of the remaining 5 guys, Thome included, I can only really see 2 of them getting into the hall of fame clean, Jim himself and Ken Griffey Jr. What I mean by that is, Griffey and Thome are both hall of famers there is no debate on this topic. The debate here is to whether or not Sosa, Bonds, or A-Rod get in. The reason I say that is again due to the steroid allegations. Of those three guys though the one I feel with the best chance to get in is A-Rod because he had a very very good career before the steroids accusations hit him. As for Jim Thome he deserves every bit of the recognition he got and for that I tip my hat to him for hitting #600!

Chris Osgood Announces Retirnment. Hall of Famer?

The announcement came down this afternoon. Chris Osgood has retired from the NHL. Here is the story courtesy of nhl.com:

While acknowledging how difficult a decision it was and how it weighed on him, three-time Stanley Cup-winning goaltender Chris Osgood announced Tuesday on a conference call that he is retiring.

Osgood, 38, leaves the NHL with 401 career victories, including 317 as a Detroit Red Wing. Only Hall of Famer Terry Sawchuk won more games with the Red Wings (352) than Osgood, who won the Stanley Cup twice as a starter (1998, 2008) and once as a backup (1997). He played 14 of his 17 seasons with the Red Wings, splitting three others between the New York Islanders and St. Louis Blues.

Detroit General Manager Ken Holland announced on the same conference call that Osgood is staying with the organization as a goalie consultant and will help mentor the Wings' goaltending prospects, including 2008 first-round pick Thomas McCollum. Holland also said he will be signing another goalie to back up Jimmy Howard by the end of the week.

"I wrestled with it every day," Osgood said of the decision to retire, which he finally made Saturday night after sitting down with Holland in Vernon, B.C., where they both have summer lake houses. "It was on my mind and made it difficult for me to even operate some days because it was taking a toll. I thought it would be easier, but it's been very difficult for the last few months here deciding what I should do. Now I'm looking forward. I can move on and I'm excited about what I'm going to do with the organization."


Osgood reportedly told Holland in May that he was hoping to return for one more season, but the Wings were concerned about going into the 2011-12 season with a No. 2 goalie who was coming off season-ending sports hernia surgery in January.

"I could have told Kenny I was 100 percent ready to go," Osgood said. "I have been working out since I came back from surgery, but I couldn't guarantee I wouldn't get hurt again. Part of my decision is I didn't want to put them (the Red Wings) in a situation where come December I can't play anymore. That wouldn't look good for me or the team."

Osgood did admit that had he not picked up his 400th career win last season, he would be returning for an 18th NHL season.

"I wouldn't have (retired). I definitely wouldn't have," Osgood said. "I was going to play until I got it regardless and do whatever it takes to get to 400. That sounds selfish, but that would have been my decision."

Osgood called winning No. 400 in Denver on Dec. 27, 2010 one of the best memories of his career because he saw how hard his teammates were working to get him the win that night. Osgood said that memory made it easier for him to retire.

"It was a late arrival in Denver and we played the previous night (in Minnesota). The guys were exhausted and they played their hearts out," Osgood said of the 4-3 overtime win in which he stopped 46 shots, matching his career high. "I could tell how hard the guys were working and they would do anything for me. As a player it doesn't get any better than that. That game was one of the reasons I decided to retire. Beyond winning the Cup again, I can't do anything better than that game, playing with my teammates and feeling that connection and closeness in competition. It doesn't get any better than that."

Now that Osgood officially has retired, the debate over whether he's a Hall of Famer is raging.

Holland said he believes Osgood belongs in the Hall and Osgood also said he thinks he deserves to make it once he's eligible, in 2014.

Red Wings coach Mike Babcock also told NHL.com that Osgood should be a Hall of Famer simply because he hit the 400-win plateau and can call himself a champion.

"I think when you've won 400 games and you've won three Cups, you're in," Babcock said. "Heck, I think if you've won 400 games and you've won one Cup you're in. Winning the Cup is impossible."

Osgood's 401 career victories rank 10th all-time in the NHL, two behind Hall of Famer Grant Fuhr. He appeared in 744 games in 17 seasons and posted a .905 save percentage, 2.49 goals-against average and 50 shutouts. Osgood was better in the postseason, with a 74-49 record, .909 save percentage, 2.49 GAA and 15 shutouts in 129 games. He's fourth all-time in playoff shutouts.

"It means a lot to me," Osgood said of making the Hall of Fame. "Obviously I would be kidding myself to say it doesn't mean a lot to me, because it does. I know what I've had to do to get to where I've been and I feel I do deserve to be there. I think over the majority of time in the playoffs I did that. For me, it's more my playoff stats that are more important than anything else. It would mean the world to me to get into the Hall of Fame. Hopefully one day it happens."

Osgood won 16 games and posted a .918 save percentage to lead the Red Wings to the Stanley Cup in 1998. A decade later, he replaced an ineffective Dominik Hasek early in the 2008 playoffs and won 14 games to lead Detroit to the 11th Stanley Cup championship in franchise history.

Along with playing 565 games as a Red Wing, Osgood also suited up for 103 for the Islanders and another 76 for the Blues from 2001-04. He returned to Detroit in 2005 after the work stoppage, altered his style to become more of a butterfly goalie and flourished for several more seasons.

"Any time you're in the top 10 of anything that's been around almost a hundred years (like the NHL), it's pretty special," Holland said. "People would say that Chris played on a good team and use that as a reason why anybody could accomplish what he's accomplished, and my response is most of the guys that are on that list also played on good teams. If it was so easy, everybody would be doing it. It's not easy to win 400 games. He's won two Stanley Cups (as a starter). He has 50 regular-season shutouts. I think Chris thrived in dealing with the pressure of playing on a good team, on a team with high expectations year in and year out."


Now this brings about the question is Chris Osgood a Hall of Famer. I say yes but there is a kicker to this it's very long odds. It really all depends on who he is in the running against in a given year of nomination.