[Flash Walken]

Originally Posted by Stay Golden

Goes to show you what happens when a goalie has a solid cup contending team every year and a multi Norris trophy winner in front of him.

I've heard him characterized as one of the most mentally tough players the league has seen.

Holland specifically mentioned this goal from 1998 against the Dallas Stars, when Jamie Langenbrunner(notes) scored from center ice:


Osgood's reaction? Pitching a shutout in Game 6 to win the series.

"Do you know how mentally tough you need to be to be in a playoff series and bounce back from an overtime goal at center ice?" asked Holland.
Very few goaltenders do, and that's Holland's point: In an era during which the mental toughness and gutty play of big-ticket goaltenders are blamed for a star-laden team's postseason failings — ask the Vancouver Canucks — Osgood wasn't a liability and, on many occasions, made the save his team needed him to make.

He could have been Evgeni Nabokov(notes). Instead, he's Grant Fuhr.
Osgood cited Fuhr as a goaltending idol. "I always loved the fact that when we were tied or the games were close in the last 10 minutes, I'd shut the door and we'd win the game," he said.

"I knew how I did my job on a great team."

http://sports.yahoo.com/nhl/blog/puc...urn=nhl,wp9390