What if Curtis Joseph re-signed with Toronto and never signs in Detroit?

[Moose Head]

From what I recall, a lot of the wing vets were pushing management to sign Belfour, not Joseph.

 

[jcs0218]

Recently I saw this interview with Curtis Joseph where he says how he regrets leaving the Toronto and signing with Detroit in July 2002.



That got me wondering how would things have turned out for Toronto if that never happened? Obviously the Leafs don't end up signing Ed Belfour, so in the 2003 playoffs do they end up defeating the Flyers and possibly defeat the Senators in the second round?

In the 1999 playoffs the Maple Leafs and Joseph defeated the Flyers in six games so maybe that could have been a factor going into their 2003 series.

Plus at that point in history Joseph was apart of the Maple Leafs teams who eliminated the Senators in 2000, 2001, and 2002.

Curtis Joseph regrets signing with Detroit because he never dreamed that Hasek would comeback a year into the deal he signed.

 

[jcs0218]

If Joseph had re-signed in Toronto do we eventually see Hasek wanting to come back out of retirement after the 2002-03 season, if the Red Wings had signed Belfour? Although I wonder how much of that was seeing Detroit get swept by Anaheim in the first round of the playoffs, even though it wasn't Joseph's fault.

Joseph was made the scape-goat in Detroit for their 2003 sweep against Anaheim, despite the fact that they only scored 6 goals in 4 games against Giguere.

 

[Langdon Alger]

I wish I could remember where I read/heard it, but an unnamed scout said something to the effect that he expected Belfour to age better than CuJo. His observation was that Belfour was the better technical goalie and CuJo was more reliant on his reflexes which were showing signs of decline.

Joseph wasn’t as quick moving from side to side as he got older. When he was at his best, he was damn good though. I think he did better on a team where he faced lots of shots though oddly enough. Maybe that’s partly why it didn’t work out in Detroit.

 

[Bluesguru]

He always struck me as an "in the moment" kind of player. Amped up by the crowd at home, and always seemed to put on his best performances when his team played bad in front of him.

I don't think Cujo staying in Toronto would have really made much of a difference. Those early 2000s Toronto teams were borderline contenders whose one missing piece was not having a true elite #1 defenseman like Blake, Pronger, Lidstrom or Niedermeyer. They needed to get faster and more disciplined, not better goaltending.

That was my perception of him too. Always shined most when he was in the underdog role. But when pressured as the favorite he just wasn’t as good. He choked in his contract year with Keenan and basically lost us that first rd series with Vancouver that year. He went to Detroit in a favorite role but failed. The one year in the Canada Cup he was given the starting job but lost it. But he wins a 1st rd upset of Dallas in Edmonton, stones the 100 point plus Hawk team in another 1st rd upset with the Blues when they swept them. It’s kind of evident when you see the trends.

 

[LeafsNation75]

Joseph wasn’t as quick moving from side to side as he got older. When he was at his best, he was damn good though. I think he did better on a team where he faced lots of shots though oddly enough. Maybe that’s partly why it didn’t work out in Detroit.

From 1998 - 2002 when Joseph first played in Toronto these were his stats in the regular season, so I'm wondering how much it had to do with the amount of shots he faced?

1998-99 Season: 35-24-7, SV% .910, GAA 2.56, shots against 1903, saves 1732.

1999-00 Season: 36-20-7, SV% .915, GAA 2.49, shots against 1854, saves 1696.

2000-01 Season: 33-27-8, SV% .915, GAA 2.39, shots against 1907, saves 1744.

2001-02 Season: 29-17-5, SV% .906, GAA 2.23, shots against 1210, saves 1096.

 

[CokenoPepsi]

It would have made TSN very happy.

Why

 

[Voight]

Manny Legace's career isn't ruined