Osgood in the HoF?

Is Chris Osgood a Hall of Famer? You might not think so on first thought, but his career numbers give a good argument. The last goaltender to be inducted into the Hall of Fame was Patrick Roy. He and Marty Brodeur are the two best goalies to have ever played, so it’s pointless to compare Ozzie’s numbers with him. The previous netminder prior to Roy was Grant Fuhr.

Currently, Osgood has 363 regular season victories, a career 2.43 GAA and a .907 save percentage. He now has three Stanley Cups, 59 career playoff wins and a 2.11 GAA in the playoffs with a .914 save percentage. He’s been an All-Star and has won the Jennings Trophy for the lowest GAA in a season.

The basis for comparison is Fuhr, who has 403 career regular season wins and a 3.38 GAA. He picked up another 92 playoff wins and a 2.93 GAA to go along with five Stanley Cups. Throw in a Vezina and a Jennings Trophy and Grant Fuhr definitely had a Hall of Fame career.

So, Ozzie hasn’t matched those numbers yet. But this isn’t the end of his career either. Last January, he signed a three-year contract extension with the Red Wings. Barring injury, that will get him easily past 400 career wins and possibly close to 450 if he averages 29 wins per season over the next three years. And with most of Detroit’s best players still in the prime of their careers and no major salary cap concerns for the near future, there is zero reason to believe Ozzie’s regular season and postseason victory totals won’t continue to increase. So, when it’s all said and done, Chris Osgood might finish his career with 450 regular season wins, another 75 in the postseason, a career GAA of 2.50 and at least three Stanley Cups.

To me, that says Hockey Hall of Fame.

What do you think?