A look at Curtis Joseph's time with the Las Vegas Thunder
Taking a Christmas holiday from the International League was a notion Curtis Joseph never thought he would have to consider.
The erstwhile Edmonton Oilers’ goalie, an NHL Group free agent, was playing with the Las Vegas Thunder of the IHL while awaiting a trade at the NHL level.
On the Thunder’s longest road trip of the season, GM Bob Strumm and coach Chris McSorley approached him about going home for Christmas. They told Joseph he had their approval to go home for two weeks, during which he would miss four games.
Strumm and McSorley knew there was a chance they would never see him in a Thunder uniform again, but they gave him permission to go anyway.
“He has done a lot for this franchise,” Strumm said. “We just felt we owed him that much.”
Joseph, 28, decided to take the offer and after being named the game’s No. 1 star in a victory over the Houston Aeros Dec. 9, he left the team for a vacation.
It wasn’t much of a vacation. Before Las Vegas played another game, Strumm got a call on his cellular phone while watching a practice.
It was Joseph.
“He felt guilty about being away and wanted to get back with the guys,” Strumm said. “If that doesn’t tell you the class guy he is, what does?”
Joseph, who played in the 1994 NHL All-Star Game and remains one of the most popular players in St. Louis Blues’ history, was returning to the minors because he felt guilty about leaving his teammates in the lurch.
He returned with mixed emotions. When he signed with the Thunder Nov. 1, none of Joseph, agent Don Meehan or Strumm envisioned it being more than a temporary arrangement.
Prior to joining the Thunder, Joseph went to Edmonton’s camp for five days as “a show of good faith,” he says, but Meehan and Oilers’ GM Glen Sather were unable to reach a deal and Joseph returned home.
The IHL was an alternative, giving him a chance to stay sharp while Meehan and Sather got things worked out. It turned out to be more of a full-time job than he expected.
“I guess I didn’t realize how difficult this would be,” Joseph said.
When Joseph returned to the Thunder after his short vacation-he missed just three days of practice and no games-he had a hard time believing how complicated his life had become.
“It has been a roller coaster of emotions,” Joseph said. “There have been tremendous highs and lows. Playing for Las Vegas has been a treat. This is a class organization and the guys have been great. I’ve thoroughly enjoyed it.
“At the same time, it has been so hard because we were close to getting something done (in the NHL). I’d have my hopes up and it would crash. That hurt. There were times I thought maybe I should retire.”
Hot rumors more than a month ago had Joseph being traded to the Boston Bruins.
Joseph led the IHL in goals-against average at 1.99 and was second with a 93.0 save percentage. He won nine of 12 games.
He found himself becoming something of a cult hero around the league. In Kansas City, the day after Pokey Reddick’s spectacular work in the Thunder goal led to a Las Vegas victory, the headline in a local paper read, “Thunder Wins Without Joseph.”
Joseph received ovations from fans of opposing teams as loud as any he received at home. In Minnesota, when he earned a shutout, fans in the stands were bowing in admiration.
In addition, he signed hundreds of autographs, not just from fans, but from players who offered up equipment for him to sign.
It gave Joseph a perspective on what he was missing in the NHL.
“When you have something taken away from you, you appreciate it a lot more,” Joseph said. “It’s not that I didn’t appreciate (being in the NHL) in the first place. Being here, I see how badly these guys want to get there and what getting there means to them.”
“The only thing I didn’t care for was the fact a lot of (reporters) wanted me to blast (Blues’ coach-GM) Mike Keenan. But that was it.”
McSorley said Joseph’s impact on the Thunder will be felt long after he leaves.
“There were days I knew Curtis was hurting, that all the rumors and suspense was killing him,” McSorley said.
“But once he put the pads on, you never saw it. It was all business. He never brought his problems to the rink. He showed our guys something I don’t think they’ll forget.”
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