Best NHL Backup? Chris Osgood, With His 337 Wins And Stanley Cup

In the cramped, sterile environment, the visitors whooped it up, sweaty with puffed lips and without a care in the world. Their season could have ended right then and there, and that probably would have been OK with them. Over in the expansive, more luxurious home dressing room, a 21-year-old goaltender sat in front of his locker, uniform still on. He was also sweaty, but it wasn't his lips that were puffy. It was his eyes. Puffy and red, stinging with real tears. Chris Osgood anguished, the weight of an entire hockey nation on his shoulders, as he tried to describe the feeling after the third-year San Jose Sharks stole Game 7 from the mighty Red Wings in the 1994 playoffs, first round. For it was Osgood's gaffe, a bad clearing attempt, that was converted into the series-winning goal with about six minutes remaining. Osgood wept, yet the weight he felt was largely self-acquired. Even the fuming Red Wings fans, who in '94 were getting used to playoff disappointme...