Curtis Joseph

At 57 years old, Curtis Joseph has this physical status:

Curtis Shayne "Cujo" Joseph (né Munro; April 29, 1967) is a Canadian ice hockey coach and former professional player.

He last played for the Toronto Maple Leafs of the National Hockey League, drawing on his masks featuring a snarling dog, which also happens to be his name, and was taken from the first two letters of his first and last names.

Joseph played for many franchises throughout his NHL career, from the St. Louis Blues, Edmonton Oilers, and the Toronto Maple Leafs to the playoffs.

He also played for the Detroit Red Wings, Phoenix Coyotes, and Calgary Flames.

He was also a member of Canada's gold medal winning squad at the 2002 Winter Olympics. Joseph retired with the most career wins (454), while Roberto Luongo defeated him in a Stanley Cup-winning campaign, and was the first goaltender to have 30 or more victories in a regular season for five separate clubs.

Early life

Joseph was born on April 29, 1967 to unmarried teenage parents. Wendy Munro, his mother, gave him up to be cared for by Jeanne and Howard Eakins shortly after his birth. She recognized Jeanne from the nursing home where they both worked, and hoped that the Eakinses would have a better life for him. Curtis Nickle, his birth father, was named Curtis Nickle. Jeanne then divorced Howard and married Harold Joseph, but at that point she cut off contact with Wendy Munro and started using Joseph as Curtis' last name. Curtis and his two older stepbrothers, Grant and Victor, were growing up in the Joseph household. He also has three older stepsisters and a stepbrother from his previous marriage. Joseph did not change his surname from Munro to Joseph until he signed with the St. Louis Blues.

Curtis was born in Sharon's East Gwillimbury neighborhood for the bulk of his childhood. He began attending Whitchurch Public School and then Huron Heights Secondary School. Curtis grew up playing hockey for the East Gwillimbury Eagles of the OMHA before heading west to play for Notre Dame College (Wilcox, Saskatchewan). Despite being drafted by the NHL for the Notre Dame Hounds in 1987–88 and he played for the University of Wisconsin–Madison of the NCAA, he was undrafted by the NHL. In 1989, he became a free agent for the Blues. He appeared in 23 games with the Peoria Rivermen in the IHL from 1989 to 1990.

Personal life

Joseph has been married twice and has seven children, including a nephew who is raising with his second wife. Joseph was previously married to Nancy. Before divorcing in 2009, the couple had four children together. In 2012, Joseph married Stephanie Glasson, a former Playboy co-worker. In 2014, the couple gave birth to their daughter. Curtis Joseph also has a step daughter by the use of his second wife.

Cujo's autobiography, Cujo: The Untold Story of My Life Both on and Off the Ice, was published in 2018.

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Playing career

Joseph, nicknamed "Cujo," has played for the St. Louis Blues, Edmonton Oilers, Toronto Maple Leafs, the Toronto Maple Leafs, Detroit Red Wings, Phoenix Coyotes, and the Calgary Flames. Joseph is a three-time NHL All-Star (1994, 1999, 2000), and he has been rewarded with the 1999–2000 King Clancy Memorial Trophy for exemplifying leadership abilities on and off the ice, as well as important humanitarian services to his communities. He was a member of the Olympic Gold Medal winning Canadian men's hockey team in Salt Lake City in 2002.

Joseph began his college experience at the University of Wisconsin. Joseph played for the Badgers for 21 games and was named to the WCHA All Conference Team for his second season. Joseph, despite not having been drafted, was signed by the St. Louis Blues to a free-agent entry-level deal shortly after his freshman season.

Joseph debuted in the NHL in 1989 while playing for the St. Louis Blues. The Blues signed Brendan Shanahan from the New Jersey Devils in the off-season following the 1990-1991 NHL season. Shanahan was a restricted free agent, and therefore the Devils were entitled to compensation. The teams were unable to decide what the compensation was worth; the Blues provided Curtis Joseph, Rod Brind'Amour, and two draft picks; the Devils wanted Scott Stevens. Joseph seemed to be the answer the Devils were aiming for in goal, but the trial was delayed until a judge found Stevens to be credited to the Devils in September 1991.

Joseph was with the Blues until 1995. He had a fruitful season in 1992–93 as he was instrumental in the downfall of the Chicago Blackhawks, the reigning Clarence Campbell Conference regular season champions; the Blues swept them in four games in the first round of the playoffs. In the second round, the Blues then met the Toronto Maple Leafs, and although the Leafs won, the series went to seven games thanks to Joseph's play. He was nominated for the Vezina Trophy this season, finishing third in voting behind champion Ed Belfour and Tom Barrasso. Mike Keenan, the founder of the Edmonton Oilers, decided not to re-sign Joseph after a disappointing first-round appearance in the 1995 playoffs.

The Oilers opened their training camp with two starting goaltenders, assigned incumbent Bill Ranford, and the unsigned Joseph. Joseph did not work out a contract or trade Joseph's rights, leaving Joseph without a team to begin the 1995–96 season. He signed a deal with the Las Vegas Thunder and dominated, reminding the NHL that he deserved to be there. The Oilers entertained trading Joseph to the Boston Bruins, but the Boston Bruins would eventually commit Joseph to a deal and trade Ranford to Boston. Joseph earned two Zane Feldman Trophies (team MVP) and one Most Popular Player award with Edmonton. He led the Oilers to first-round playoff upsets over the Dallas Stars and Colorado Avalanche in 1997 and 1998, respectively, their first playoff series victories since 1992.

Joseph signed as a free agent with the Toronto Maple Leafs in 1997-98. He had three seasons of 30+ wins in the NHL, and as a finalist for the Lester B. Pearson Award in 1999 and 2000, and the King Clancy Memorial Trophy in 2000. Joseph was a key contributor to the Leafs' success in the Eastern Conference Finals in 1999 and 2002. He was the deciding factor in the Leafs' 2–1 victory over Game One of the series against the New Jersey Devils in 2000.

Joseph left after the 2001–02 season to join the Detroit Red Wings because GM Pat Quinn was unable to give him a four-year deal (he gave him three years). Some commentators wondered that Quinn's friendship with Joseph was frosty because Joseph was benched Joseph in the Salt Lake City Olympics after the first game, but Joseph denied it, saying he had a bad first game against Sweden (losing 5–2) and that Martin Brodeur played superbly for the remainder of the tournament, earning him his spot as the starter. Joseph's deportation to Detroit was highly publicized and unpopular in Toronto.

In 2002, the Detroit Red Wings won the Stanley Cup and the 2002-03 season largely unchanged. To replace the recently retired Dominik Haek, Detroit brought in coach Dave Lewis to replace the injured Scotty Bowman and Joseph with a three-year, $24 million deal. Joseph began to fail, but he recovered in the latter half of the 2002–03 season to backstop his team to the division championship. Detroit was shocked in the first round of the playoffs in 2003 by the eventual conference champions, the Mighty Ducks of Anaheim, in a four-game sweep. Since being outplayed by eventual Conn Smythe Trophy winner Jean-Sébastien Giarraté, Detroit fans and media alike expressed their dissatisfaction with Joseph.

Dominik Haek, a retired former footballer, declared his intention to come out of retirement during the 2003 off-season. Ken Holland, the general manager of Havoc, signed him to a deal with the intention of trading Joseph, but Joseph's lengthy deal and off-season surgery made him immovable. Detroit was forced to begin the 2003–04 season with two starting goaltenders earning US$8 million per year. Joseph returned to the Red Wings lineup after a stint in the minors, though Haek was dealing with a groin injury. The Red Wings' scheme was to lure him to other clubs before Havy returned to the lineup. Haek called it quits for the season in February, which has also solidified Joseph's spot on the Red Wings roster.

Detroit finished first in the league overall, and with Manny Legace as their starting goalie, the team advanced to the first round of the playoffs. Legace struggled in games 3 and 4 after great play in the first two games. Joseph took the reins in game 5 and delivered, winning two straight and assisting Detroit in defeating the Nashville Predators in six games. The Calgary Flames, the eventual Western Conference champions, defeated the Red Wings in the second round of the playoffs in six games. Joseph was the top goaltender in the 2004 playoffs according to statistics.

Several franchises, including the Pittsburgh Penguins and Phoenix Coyotes, were keen on signing Joseph in the summer of 2005. Joseph signed a one-year contract with Phoenix after being called on by Wayne Gretzky, the new Phoenix coach. He won his 400th NHL game on October 28, 2005. He won his 424th career game on March 28, 2006, taking him sixth on the NHL's all-time list, passing Tony Esposito. Joseph returned to Phoenix for another season on a one-year contract in the summer of 2006. Curtis made the first goaltender to win for five different clubs (St. Louis, Edmonton, Detroit, and Phoenix) while with him; Joseph later won at least 50 regular season games with each of those teams.

Joseph had expressed interest in rejoining the Toronto Maple Leafs, indicating that he would be fine with a back-up job and a reduced salary. The Ottawa Senators had already expressed an interest in buying Joseph if they could unload Martin Gerber and his large contract in September 2007.

Joseph signed a one-year, US$1.5 million deal with the Calgary Flames on January 14, 2008. Joseph defeated the Phoenix Coyotes in 3–1 victory over his former team, Terry Sawchuk, for fourth place in all-time NHL wins, with 448. Joseph was activated by Miikka Kiprusoff less than four minutes into Game #3 of the San Jose Sharks' first round series of the 2008 playoffs, beginning on April 13, 2008. After falling behind 3–0, Joseph backstopped the Flames to a come-from-behind 4–3 victory. With this victory, he became the first goaltender to win a post-season game as a member of five franchises: St.Louis, Edmonton, Toronto, Detroit, and Calgary.

Joseph returned to the Toronto Maple Leafs on July 1, 2008, after completing a one-year, $700,000.000 contract. Joseph appeared in the majority of the season, but he was only active in 21 games. He won his 450th career victory over the Atlanta Thrashers on December 30, 2008, and he defeated Gump Worsley for his second straight loss, tied for the most goals by a goaltender. Martin Brodeur set a new record and then finished with 397 losses, Joseph's 352 losses were also surpassed by Roberto Luongo who later posted 392 losses.

Joseph announced his retirement in Toronto on January 12, 2010. He will reach his high point in 454 regular season victories, his fifth in all time. He has won 63 games in a row without winning a Stanley Cup.

Joseph served as a goaltending consultant with the Carolina Hurricanes of the NHL from 2016 to 2017.

Joseph played for the Canada men's national ice hockey team, including the 1996 World Cup of Hockey, the 2002 Winter Olympics, and the 2007 Spengler Cup. On December 31, 2007, Joseph helped the team win the Spengler Cup championship.

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Awards and honours

• Selected to three NHL All-Star Games: 1994, 1999 and 2000
• Winner of the 2000 King Clancy Memorial Trophy
• Inducted into St.Louis Sports Hall of Fame, 2015