Mark Spector

Mark Spector is a columnist for sportsnet.ca

With Curtis Joseph set to retire on Tuesday, let’s start the conversation: Does Cujo make the Hall?

He sits fourth all-time in regular season victories (454), but he never won a Stanley Cup. He won an Olympic gold medal in 2002, but was on the bench behind Martin Brodeur.

He finishes his career tied for the most losses with Gump Worsley at 352, a badge of courage, not a sign of weakness. And was it his fault that he did his best work over the years for teams that were not good enough to take that goaltending and turn it into a meaningful Cup run?

Joseph was, undoubtedly, one of the finer men we’ve ever had the honour of getting to know over the years. A truly good guy and a fine, fine netminder.

So, yes, Cujo is a Hall of Famer. On longevity and body of work, it’s not really a tough call at all.

Lost Causes

We thought it would be interesting watching the Toronto Maple Leafs this season. You know — intriguing to watch the building process from the ground up.

Just past the halfway mark however, and it’s anything but intriguing. The Leafs — and we’ll throw the Edmonton Oilers into this conversation — are just plain boring. Neither team is proficient enough to hold the attention of anyone but an ardent fan; neither has the goaltending, or that blue-chip prospect, that holds your attention; neither one has a prayer of making the playoffs. Between them they’ve lost 20 of their past 25 games.

At least folks in Edmonton can look forward to being in the Taylor Hall derby. We can’t imagine how disappointing it must be for a Leafs fan knowing that Boston has Toronto’s No. 1 pick next June.

Swinging coach

How about Butch Harmon, Tiger Woods’ former swing coach, talking to the British papers? He thinks Tiger should man up and hold a press conference.

"Where the hell is he? We could find Osama bin Laden easier than we can find Tiger Woods. How long can you spend on a yacht in the middle of the ocean?" Harmon asked. "If he wants to rekindle the image of who he is, the best way to do it (is) to do the press conference, because then he looks human.

"He is going to look ridiculous really, with the questions that are going to be asked. But the average person would appreciate that side of him because they've never seen that."

Looking inwards

Somehow, after what the Ottawa Senators have gone through with Ray Emery, and then Dan Heatley, the Ottawa Senators dressing room is eternally fragile.

The Sens lost their fourth in a row Sunday at Carolina, and despite a pretty bad spate of injuries, nerves are getting frayed. Ottawa held a "players only" meeting after Sunday’s game, a few days after a 5-2 loss in Washington where goalie Pascal Leclaire snapped when asked about a weak goal.

"There were 40 other shots (in the game). F---, I’m going to make mistakes ... now it seems that every time I give up a goal, it’s scrutinized," he said. "And it’s always the story of the game. If you (media) guys want to keep doing that ... I know I make mistakes. I made a mistake on the third goal, but at the same time I thought I did some good stuff."

You’re not in Columbus anymore, kid. People in Ottawa know a weak goal when they see one, and if you want to take the paycheque as an NHL goalie, you’d better learn how to take a little heat when you lose.

And you’ll get a lot more respect if you take the blame yourself, without spreading it around.

"It’s 5-2, we’ve got to play smarter defensively, especially against a team like that," he said. "We gave them too many scoring chances."

Final fallout

The last three Canadian clubs to play in the Stanley Cup Final were, in order, Calgary (’04), Edmonton (’06) and Ottawa (’07). None of them have won a playoff round since.

In each of those cities, it was a blanket assumption that their appearance in the Cup final was a prelude of great things to come for each franchise. Edmonton has absolutely cratered, failing to make the playoffs since, and Ottawa’s points total has declined each and every season.

Only Calgary has been a consistent playoff team, yet the Flames have gone out in the first round for four straight years.

Wish we had the answer for how that can happen in three good hockey markets.

False advertising

When the Eric Tillman situation first broke a year and a half ago, those close to Tillman were assured that the truth — when it finally emerged — would make Tillman seem a lot less creepy than he seemed at the time.

Well, the truth finally came out. And he’s still creepy.

And what kind of CFL karma is this anyway? Regina and Winnipeg — the two most hard-core Canadian Football League towns — both end up with different versions of the same problem.

Ex-Bombers coach Mike Kelly gets caught duking it out with his former girlfriend, while former Riders GM Tillman gets inappropriate with a 16-year-old babysitter.

What did the league’s best fans do to deserve this?