Curtis Joseph is a goalie that will never be remembered for winning championships. In his great career, CuJo never once went to the Stanley Cup Finals. His greatest team accomplishment is winning the gold medal with Team Canada in the 2002 Olympics. In those Olympics, he was yanked from the first game, and backed-up Martin Brodeur for the remainder of the tournament. He has never won a Vezina trophy.

But what CuJo lacks in trophies and accolades, he makes up for in consistency. After entering the league in 1989, he never finished a season with a save percentage below .902, save for the 2006-2007 season with an abysmal Phoenix Coyotes team. Over the span of his career, he amassed 454 wins, which is fourth all-time behind Brodeur (585 and counting), Patrick Roy (551), and Ed Belfour (484). All three are sure-fire Hall of Famers. CuJo finished his career with a 2.79 GAA and a .906 SV% and 51 shutouts.

CuJo’s career numbers rank ahead of Hall of Famers Johnny Bower, Gerry Cheevers, Tony Esposito, Grant Fuhr, Bill Smith, and Gump Worsely. The difference between CuJo and these acclaimed netminders? Stanley Cups, Vezina trophies, and Calder trophies. CuJo’s only award came in the 1999-2000 season, when he won the King Clancy Memorial Trophy for outstanding humanitarianism.

Curtis Joseph’s career mirrors that of the MLB’s recently retired Mike Mussina. Mussina will always be remembered as an ‘almost got it’ pitcher. He almost won a World Series. He almost pitched a perfect game. He almost won a Cy Young. CuJo has the numbers, but not the accomplishments. To both athlete’s credit, they each had their share of elections to the All-Star Game, with CuJo getting honored three times (1993-1994, 1998-1999, 1999-2000).

CuJo single handedly carried the #8 St. Louis Blues in 1992-1993 to a first round upset of #1 Chicago to a four-game sweep, but the magic ran out against Toronto in the next round. In those playoffs, CuJo posted a 2.27 GAA and a .942 SV% in one of the highest scoring seasons of the 90s. The Blues had no business winning that series, let alone a dominating series sweep. CuJo gave that effort and effectively stole that series from the Cup-starved Blackhawks.

CuJo then led those same Maple Leafs that defeated him in 1992-1993 to the Conference Finals in 1998-1999, but fell short against the Buffalo Sabres, and again in 2001-2002, falling to the Carolina Hurricanes. In each of these seasons, and the myriad other playoff appearances, CuJo proved he was a play-off caliber goaltender, but the pieces around him folded each time.

In five years, Curtis Joseph will be up for election to the Hall of Fame, where his career numbers across 19 NHL seasons, two lockouts, and six teams should be enough to get him elected. However, there exists one gaping hole in his resume: a Stanley Cup. Is this enough to keep him from the promised land?

I sure hope not.