Manny Legacé Emmanuel Legace , ( born February 4 , 1973 ) is a Canadian professional ice hockey goaltender who is currently playing for the Springfield Falcons of the American Hockey League . He most recently played in the National Hockey League for the Carolina Hurricanes . He has also played in the National Hockey League for the Los Angeles Kings , Detroit Red Wings and the St . Louis Blues . Playing career . Prior to being selected by the Whalers , Legace played in the Ontario Hockey League with the Niagara Falls Thunder . Legace spent the 1993 – 1994 season as a member of the Canadian National Team and played in sixteen games . From there , Legace spent a lengthy apprenticeship in the minor leagues , largely for the American Hockey League ' s Springfield Falcons , between 1994 – 98 . He was a star with Springfield , garnering First Team All - Star honors and the AHL ' s leading goaltender award in 1996 . He also played a brief stint for the ECHL ' s Richmond Renegades in 1996 – 97 and for the IHL ' s Las Vegas Thunder in 1997 – 98 . On July 31 , 1998 , the Carolina Hurricanes traded Legace to the Los Angeles Kings for a conditional draft pick in the 1999 NHL Entry Draft . Although he spent most of the 1999 season with the IHL Long Beach Ice Dogs , Legace got his first NHL start with the Kings . While he played well in limited action for Los Angeles , he signed with Detroit on July 15 , 1999 . However , since the Red Wings had both Chris Osgood and Ken Wregget as veteran goaltenders , Legace was left unprotected on waivers . He was then claimed by the Vancouver Canucks on September 29 , 1999 . Yet almost two weeks later , on October 13 , 1999 , Legace was reacquired by the Red Wings from the waiver wire when the Canucks in turn left him unprotected . While Legace spent most of his time playing for the IHL ' s Manitoba Moose , he did get some action while playing for the Red Wings , posting a perfect 4 – 0 – 0 record . Years in Detroit . In training camp the next season , Legace beat out Wregget to establish himself as the backup goaltender to Chris Osgood . Osgood had a very slow start , and Legace subsequently saw much action . Posting a 24 – 5 – 5 record in 39 games , Legace looked to have assumed the starting role for the team . However , Osgood regained his stride and resumed starting duties in the playoffs . With the 2001 – 02 season , Legace became backup to Dominik Hašek when Osgood was waived and claimed by the New York Islanders . Legace played in 20 games and only saw playoff action to relieve Hašek during a loss to the St . Louis Blues ; the Red Wings won the Stanley Cup that season . The next season , with the retirement of Hašek and the signing of star goaltender Curtis Joseph , Legace saw his workload increase from 20 games to 25 games in the 2002 – 03 season , yet remained the team ' s backup . At the start of the 2003 – 04 season , Hašek made the startling decision to come out of retirement and return to the Red Wings . Curtis Joseph was still being paid $ 8 million a year and , due to his hefty contract , was not likely to be traded or picked up by a team . While Legace was initially going to be the 3rd goalie behind two elite goaltenders , the Red Wings opted to send Joseph to the minors while Legace served as Hašek ' s backup . Hašek , however , was not properly conditioned for a return to the NHL . Minor injuries and inconsistent play from Hašek thrust Legace into the starting role . Injuries to both Hašek and Legace opened the door for the Red Wings to call up Joseph from the minors , along with Joey MacDonald to serve as his backup . When Legace returned from injury , MacDonald was sent back to the minors while Legace and Joseph ended up serving as Detroit ' s goaltending tandem for the remainder of the season , as Hašek opted not to return to the team from injury . An injury to Joseph late in the season found Legace temporarily working with minor - league goaltender Marc Lamothe , but Lamothe was returned to the AHL ' s Grand Rapids Griffins when Joseph returned to the roster . The Red Wings faced the Nashville Predators in the opening round of the 2004 playoffs . While Legace won the first two games , he did not perform up to team expectations and was pulled in the middle of the fourth game in favor of Joseph , who ended up backstopping for the remainder of the series . The Red Wings won the series but lost the next series against the Calgary Flames . Legace briefly played in Russia during the 2004 – 05 NHL lockout , but eventually sat the rest of the season out , preferring to be close to his family in the States . Legace was the NHLPA Representative for the Detroit Red Wings until 2005 , when the role was assumed by Nicklas Lidström . Legace has since become a vocal critic of both the league and the players ' union , especially in regard to how both sides handled the 2004 – 05 NHL lockout . For the 2005 – 06 season , Chris Osgood was re - signed by the Red Wings to compete with Legace for the starting job . However , due to Osgood ' s injuries and general lack of conditioning , Legace was awarded the starting goaltender role for the Detroit Red Wings . By October 2005 with the Red Wings defeating the Chicago Blackhawks 5 – 2 , Legace set the record for the most wins by a goaltender in the month of October ( 10 – 1 – 0 ) . Unfortunately , Legace ' s regular season success did not follow him into the postseason , as the 8th seeded Edmonton Oilers stunned hockey observers everywhere by eliminating Detroit in the opening round of the playoffs . St . Louis Blues . Prior to Detroit ' s elimination from the 2006 playoffs , Legace indicated to the media that if Detroit failed to win the opening round of the playoffs , he would not be returning to the team . The Red Wings fell to the Edmonton Oilers in six games . On June 10 , 2006 , Red Wings general manager Ken Holland announced that Legace would not be offered a contract , thus making him a free agent . Legace signed a one - year contract with Wings ' division - rivals , the St . Louis Blues on August 8 , 2006 . In his first season with the Blues Legace played in 45 games , posting a 23 – 15 – 5 record . His season was cut short due to a mid - season concussion and season - ending knee surgery , but his play was solid enough to earn him a two - year contract extension with the Blues on February 24 , 2007 . Legace enjoyed success with St . Louis in the 2008 season , and was named to the 2008 NHL All - Star Game . Despite Legace ' s numbers , the Blues failed to qualify for the playoffs for the third consecutive season . In the 2009 season , Legace shared starting duties with Chris Mason to begin the season . After failing to repeat his previous season efforts the Blues placed Legace on waivers on February 6 , 2009 . Legace was then demoted to the team ' s AHL affiliate Peoria Rivermen for the remainder of the season and helped the Rivermen reach the playoffs . Manny admitted later that he had some serious beef with Blues management . Atlanta Thrashers . On September 1 , 2009 , Legace accepted a training camp invitation from the Atlanta Thrashers . He later signed a deal to try - out for the Thrashers . On September 28 , Legace was released by Atlanta . However , he was signed to a professional tryout by the Chicago Wolves , who are the Thrashers ' AHL affiliate . Carolina Hurricanes . On November 9 , 2009 , Legace signed a one year contract with the Carolina Hurricanes . The two way deal will pay Legace $ 500 , 000 to play in the NHL level and $ 105 , 000 to play at the AHL level . His first game with the Carolina Hurricanes was on November 11 , 2009 , against the Los Angeles Kings , where they fell 5 - 2 in Raleigh at the RBC Center . New York Islanders . On September 26 , 2010 , Legace was invited to the Islander ' s training camp on a try - out basis along with Jed Ortmeyer , Dean McAmmond , Anders Eriksson , Krys Kolanos and Joel Martin . He was released by the Islanders on October 3 , 2010 . < br > < / br > Iserlohn Roosters . Since October 2010 Manny Legace plays for the Iserlohn Roosters in the Deutsche Eishockey Liga ( DEL ) in Germany . He signed a contract until the end of the season . Vancouver Canucks . On September 2 , 2011 Manny Legace was invited to the Vancouver Canucks training camp on a tryout . Legace was released by the Canucks on September 23 , 2011 . San Antonio Rampage . On September 30 , 2011 Manny Legace signed a Professional Tryout contact ( PTO ) with the San Antonio Rampage of the American Hockey League , the minor league affiliate of the Florida Panthers of the National Hockey League . On October 20 , 2011 he signed a Professional Tryout contact ( PTO ) with the Springfield Falcons , the minor league affiliate of the Columbus Blue Jackets . Legace played for the Falcons in the mid - 1990s .