It wasn't the lust for gold but the lure of silver that brought goalie Curtis Joseph to the Stanley Cup champion Detroit Red Wings.
The 35-year-old netminder left Toronto yesterday, signing as a free agent with the Wings in a three-year deal for less money than the Leafs offered their playoff hero to stay in Toronto. The Leafs then promptly signed 37-year-old free agent Ed Belfour to a three-year pact, to plug the gap in goal.
"I guess the bottom line . . . at 22 years old, when I came into the league, if you told me when I was 35 and I hadn't won a Stanley Cup, and you are able to go where the odds may be 3 to 1 or 2 to 1, I'll take it," said Joseph, who fought back tears at a farewell news conference, surrounded by his wife and four children.
Joseph will get $24-million (all figures U.S.) over three years in Detroit, which targeted him to replace retired star Dominik Hasek. A Stanley Cup season would bring $1-million bonus, and a Joseph can get a fourth contract year if his playoff performances are solid. The New York Rangers had also called Joseph's agent, Don Meehan, to bid for the goalie's services. Rangers general manager Glen Sather told Meehan he wanted "to be aggressive in free-agent market and change the nature of the team."
Toronto's final offer at Sunday night's 11:59 p.m. deadline to re-sign Joseph was an escalating three-year deal worth $25.5-million -- $8-million, $8.5-million and $9-million. Joseph gave Toronto head coach and general manager Pat Quinn his final rejection at 1 a.m. yesterday morning.
"The offer [would have]made him the highest-paid goaltender in the history of the National Hockey League. We can't do much more than that," said Bill Watters, assistant to the Leafs president Ken Dryden.
"I think, based on our actions in the last 48 hours, we saw this coming," Watters told The Canadian Press. "As much as we didn't want to think it was going to be that way, it became readily apparent to us that it would happen."
Joseph's bottom line wasn't money. It was the chance to get his name on hockey's grail before before his career ends. Meehan said Detroit general manager Ken Holland was quickest to call after the deadline had passed for the Leafs to re-sign Joseph. Meehan said the Wings impressed his client "with their particular philosophy in acquiring new players. There's a commitment of ownership to continuously get better."
Leafs management has promised over the past four years to build a champion -- something Dryden did again yesterday. But the Red Wings are already there and even Dryden said they go into the 2002-3 season as Stanley Cup favourites.
At news conferences in Toronto and Detroit, Joseph emphasized that.
"I'm excited about the Red Wings organization," Joseph said. "Obviously we all saw what transpired not too long ago. Everybody knows Detroit's a great team, they're used to winning, and the future is now . . .
"Around the league, everyone knows what the Ilitches [Wings owner Mike Ilitch and his family]are all about. They win. Every year they want to win."
A year ago, the Leafs were close to signing Joseph, and he said he "couldn't have seen myself playing anywhere else." But talks broke down over the length of the deal. At the Olympics in Salt Lake City, Quinn made Joseph his starting goalie, then took away that job after a loss, never giving Joseph the chance to redeem himself in what was eventually a successful gold-medal hunt. The situation may not have been directly related to his employment as a Leaf, but Quinn and Joseph were reminded of it constantly. Meehan said Quinn and the goalie had put the Olympics incident aside, and described negotiations as "most professional," but "difficult and complex."
Joseph said he leaves Toronto with no animosity toward the Leafs, praising teammates and fans. With his voice quavering, he said: "My last wish is . . . if we don't win the Cup in Detroit, I hope Toronto wins."
He called Detroit a unique opportunity. "Everybody who plays there says the future is now," Joseph said. "That was enticing."
Toronto's has tried hard for two top-rung players this off-season and has failed both times. In addition to Joseph's rejection, the Leafs went fishing for free-agent centre Bobby Holik, offering $41.25-million over five years. That offer came up short when the Rangers stepped up with $45-million.
"[Holik]is a great player, and no question he would strengthen the Maple Leafs down the middle," Joseph said. It might have moved Joseph closer to his dream of winning a Stanley Cup in his hometown, but it didn't happen. Asked if that circumstance affected his decision to leave, Joseph said "It may have."
Red Wings' Norris Trophy-winning defenceman Nicklas Lidstrom, another Meehan client, calls Joseph "similar to Dom [Hasek]in the way he can make that save when you think the other team can score. His reactions are so fast, especially on the shots in close. I think he's really capable of playing good with a good team."
Joseph broke his hand last season but had a record of 29-17-5 with a career-best 2.23 goals-against average. He had a 2.30 GAA and a .914 save percentage in 20 playoff games, pulling the Leafs through two seven-game series before they were eliminated in the Eastern Conference final by the Carolina Hurricanes.
Joseph, who also has played with the St. Louis Blues and Edmonton Oilers, is 346-260-81 during his 13-year NHL career.
Belfour's three-year deal could be worth more than $21-million to the former Dallas Star, Chicago Blackhawk and San Jose Shark. The deal is to pay him $6.5-million in the first year, $7-million in the second and up to $8-million in the third, based upon his performance in the first two years.
Quinn said from Vancouver that he went for "the goaltender we felt could play at the high levels we've experienced in the past while." Though Belfour has had some run-ins with the law, Quinn said he believed all that was behind him and that he was impressed with Belfour's willingness to serve as Team Canada's No. 3 goalie at the Olympics.