Curtis Joseph loves to talk hockey. And although the temptation to return to the game in an official capacity lingers — he says he spoke with the St. Louis Blues this spring when his alma mater had a vacancy at goaltending coach (it was filled by Jim Corsi). CuJo is a family man, a father of three who enjoys the free time to spend with his three boys and work on his golf game. Before Joseph took to the ice at the Stay in the Play event in Toronto Thursday, we ran a few topics by the goaltending great.
On RFA James Reimer’s future in Toronto: “Coaches have short memories, too. Just like goalies. Trust can be regained. You can make mistakes and get benched, then have some great shifts and get your ice time back. [The Maple Leafs] can bring back Reimer, no question. If you take a step back, you’ve got two very talented guys. The No. 2 guy can come in and play as a No. 1. That’s a great strength. L.A. had that [in Quick and Bernier], and they waited to parlay that until they got a good deal for Bernier. I wouldn’t trade [Reimer] away. He’s a big guy with lots of talent. Sometimes it’s just something that clicks. I wouldn’t give up on him.
“It might be [best for Reimer to get a clean slate with another team]—if he’s going to be a No. 1 somewhere. But who’s to say that? They always say, ‘Go where they want you.’ Because if they really want you, they’ll play you and they’ll believe in you and give you a great chance. But is there somebody that’s willing to trade a second-round pick for him? Maybe not yet. So I would hang on to him.”
On watching his peers become presidents: “It was interesting because Brendan Shanahan got the job with the Leafs right after Trevor [Linden] was hired by the Canucks, so I was thinking, jeez, these are my peers, guys my age who are presidents. I always thought the president of a hockey team would be silver-haired, been in the game forever in the management capacity, but two good choices. These are solid people who are very competitive and know the markets. They’re going to learn as they go, for sure, but they’re going to be eager to make a name for themselves.”
On the Canucks’ goaltending situation: “When they traded away [Roberto] Luongo and Cory Schneider, they’re telling everybody they have great faith in who they have coming up. They have to trust their scouts. They have to trust their track record, everything in the organization. I remember playing against Jonathan Quick when he first came up, and he didn’t look like Jonathan Quick does now. He was just a big guy out there, and I think we lit him up a few times, and I wasn’t intimidated by him. But he played a different style. Look how he turned out to be. So it’s a bit of a crapshoot. It’s hard to measure a man’s heart. In hindsight, they should’ve kept Schneider. I was an older goalie who thought he could play, but who wants their starting goalie to be 35? No disrespect. I was that guy also. But if I’m running an organization, I want a young stud.”
On the better goalie in the 2014 Stanley Cup Final losing the series: “[Henrik] Lundqvist has a bigger role on the Rangers. He has to. They don’t have as good of personnel. So it’s hard for Quick to get that respect. I’ve been in both positions—in Detroit [in the Quick position] and most of my career in the Lundqvist position. There’s always going to be people evaluating you, yeah. But on the inside, you know how valuable you are to your teammates. They say, ‘Hey, Quick, if you don’t play like that, we don’t win, or we can’t take the chances. Glad you’re back there.’ He knows how important he is. Two-time Cup champion. Can’t take that away from him.”
On Jason Spezza or Joe Thornton potentially joining the Blues: “Spezza would play well in St Louis. I really think that. It’s not as much of a microscope as playing in Ontario, and he’s got great skills. L.A. took a chance on Gaborik—worked out. Montreal took a chance on Vanek—worked out. I think Spezza would be a good move for them. That’s what they lack is points. They got great defence. I think it’s a good fit, big time. Any big centreman.
“Joe Thornton to St. Louis? He’s a great passer and big body. He can take the pounding and makes the plays. He’s like Mats Sundin—the quiet superstar who put up all those points every year but not as flash and dash as [Phil] Kessel. Just game in, game out, season in, season out. And then, when he’s not there, you miss him.”
(photo: Stay in the Play)