Curtis Joseph Curtis Shayne Joseph ( born Curtis Munro on April 29 , 1967 ) is a retired Canadian professional goaltender . Joseph is immediately recognizable on the ice for his masks featuring a snarling dog , drawing inspiration from the Stephen King novel " Cujo " , which also happened to be his nickname , derived from the first two letters of his first and last names . Throughout his NHL career Joseph has played for a number of franchises , rising to prominence during playoff series with the Edmonton Oilers , and later with the Toronto Maple Leafs . He was also a member of Canada ' s gold medal winning team at the 2002 Winter Olympics . He has also played for the St . Louis Blues , Detroit Red Wings , Phoenix Coyotes and Calgary Flames . Early life . Joseph was born to unmarried teenage parents . Five days after his birth , his mother , Wendy Munro , gave him up for adoption to Jeanne Joseph , a nurse who had befriended her during her hospital stay , and her husband Harold Joseph . Jeanne and her husband decided to name the baby Curtis after his birth father Curtis Nickle . Curtis grew up with an older stepbrother Grant and a stepbrother Victor ; he also has three older stepsisters and a step brother from a previous marriage . The family was of mixed race with Harold and Victor being black . It was not until he signed with the St . Louis Blues that Joseph legally changed his name from Curtis Shayne Munro to Curtis Shayne Joseph . Joseph initially attended Whitchurch Highlands Public School until the family relocated to the Keswick area . Although Joseph led his high school team , Notre Dame College Hounds ( at Wilcox , Saskatchewan ) to the Centennial Cup and then played for the University of Wisconsin - Madison of the NCAA , he went undrafted by the NHL . He signed as a free agent with the Blues in 1989 . In 1989 – 90 season he played 23 games with the Peoria Rivermen in the IHL . Playing career . Joseph is nicknamed " Cujo " and has worn the number 31 for the St . Louis Blues , Edmonton Oilers , Toronto Maple Leafs , Detroit Red Wings , Phoenix Coyotes and the Calgary Flames . Joseph is a three time NHL All - Star ( 1994 , 1999 , 2000 ) , and he was awarded the 1999 – 00 King Clancy Memorial Trophy for exemplifying leadership qualities on and off the ice and making noteworthy humanitarian contributions to his community . Perhaps his greatest achievement came in Salt Lake City 2002 , where he was a member of the 2002 Olympics Gold Medal winning Canadian men ' s hockey team . University of Wisconsin . Curtis Joseph began his college play at the University of Wisconsin . While playing for the Badgers , Joseph won 21 games and was voted to the WCHA All Conference Team . Shortly after his first season , Joseph left for the NHL . NHL beginnings . Joseph broke into the NHL in 1989 , he played for the St . Louis Blues . In the offseason following the 1990 – 91 NHL season , the Blues signed Brendan Shanahan from the New Jersey Devils . Shanahan was a restricted free agent , and thus the Devils were entitled to compensation . The teams could not agree on what the compensation was ; the Blues offered Curtis Joseph , Rod Brind ' Amour , and two draft picks , while the Devils wanted Scott Stevens . Joseph seemed to be the answer the Devils were looking for in goal , however the case went to arbitration , and a judge ruled that Stevens was to be awarded to the Devils in September 1991 . Joseph would remain with the Blues until 1995 . The 1992 – 93 NHL season was his most successful season as he played a key role in the upset of the Chicago Blackhawks , the reigning Clarence Campbell Conference regular season champions , sweeping them in four games in the first round of the playoffs . The Blues then faced the Toronto Maple Leafs in a second - round series that went seven games , thanks in large part to Joseph . The Leafs eventually prevailed . Because of his efforts , he was nominated as a finalist for the Vezina Trophy that season . He finished third in voting behind winner Ed Belfour and Tom Barrasso . In 1995 , he was traded ( with Mike Grier ) to the Edmonton Oilers for a first - round pick in the 1996 entry draft ( eventually Marty Reasoner ) and a first - round pick in the 1997 entry draft . With Edmonton , Joseph won two Zane Feldman Trophies ( team MVP ) and one Most Popular Player award . He backstopped the Oilers to first round playoff upsets of the Dallas Stars and Colorado Avalanche in 1997 and 1998 , respectively , their first playoff series wins since 1992 . Toronto Maple Leafs . Following the 97 ' - 98 ' season , Joseph signed as a free agent with the Toronto Maple Leafs , a move which made him unpopular in Edmonton . However , it was with the Leafs that Joseph became a superstar and he was consistently one of the most popular players of both his team ( since Wendel Clark and Doug Gilmour ) and in the league . While with the Leafs , he had three consecutive seasons of 30 + wins , he was twice runner - up for the Vezina Trophy in 1999 and 2000 , a finalist for the Lester B . Pearson Award in 1999 , and won the King Clancy Memorial Trophy in 2000 . Joseph played a key role in the Leafs ' run to the Eastern Conference Finals in 1999 and 2002 . In 2000 , during Game One of the series against the New Jersey Devils , he was considered the deciding factor in the 2 - 1 win where the Leafs were outshot 33 - 21 . After Leafs General Manager Pat Quinn was unwilling to give Joseph a four year contract ( he offered three years ) , he left after the 2001 – 2002 season to sign with the Detroit Red Wings . Some also speculated that the relationship between Quinn and Joseph was frosty because Quinn had benched Joseph in the Salt Lake City Olympics after the first game . Joseph had also hinted at wanting to play for a team that could win it all , implying the Leafs were not such a team . Joseph ' s move to Detroit was highly publicized and unpopular in Toronto . Detroit Red Wings . Joseph moved to the Detroit Red Wings , who had just won the Stanley Cup . Joseph initially was not popular with Red Wings fans but eventually found his form in the latter half of the 2002 – 03 season to backstop his team to the division title . Detroit was upset in the first round of the playoffs in 2003 by the eventual conference champions , the Mighty Ducks of Anaheim . In the 2003 – 2004 season he was originally Detroit ' s backup goalie when Dominik Hašek came out of retirement , and Detroit management tried to trade Joseph , since the team also had a capable backup in Manny Legacé . However , Joseph ' s $ 8 million USD per year contract made him hard to move . After a stint in the minors , he returned to the Red Wings lineup while Hašek was nursing a groin injury . The Red Wings plan was to attract him to other teams until Hašek returned to the lineup . But in February , Hašek decided to call it quits for the season , which once again solidified Joseph ' s position as the Red Wings starting goaltender . The Wings finished first overall in the league . The Wings were defeated in the second round of the playoffs in six games by the eventual Stanley Cup finalists from the Western Conference , the Calgary Flames . Recent years . Joseph moved to the Phoenix Coyotes via free agency in 2005 and signed a one year deal . On October 28 , 2005 , he won his 400th NHL game . On March 28 , 2006 , he posted his 424th career win , thereby moving into sixth place on the NHL ’ s all - time list , passing Tony Esposito . Joseph had shown interest in re - joining the Toronto Maple Leafs , indicating that he would be fine with a back - up role and a reduced salary . In September 2007 the Ottawa Senators quietly expressed interest in acquiring Joseph if they could unload Martin Gerber and his large contract . Joseph was a member of Team Canada in the 2007 Spengler Cup , leading them to the championship on December 31 , 2007 . On January 14 , 2008 , Joseph signed a one - year , US $ 1 . 5 Million contract with the Calgary Flames . On March 1 of 2008 , Joseph moved past Terry Sawchuk for fourth place in all - time NHL wins with 448 in a 3 - 1 win over his former team , the Phoenix Coyotes . On April 13 , 2008 , Joseph replaced Mikka Kiprusoff less than four minutes into the first period of Game # 3 of the Flames ' first round series of the 2008 playoffs with the San Jose Sharks . Joseph backstopped the Flames to a come from behind 4 - 3 win after initially falling behind 3 - 0 . This win made him the first goaltender to win a post - season game as a member of five different teams : St . Louis , Edmonton , Toronto , Detroit and Calgary . On July 1 , 2008 , Joseph rejoined the Toronto Maple Leafs by signing a 1 year , $ 700 , 000 contract . On December 30 , 2008 , Joseph recorded his 450th career win in a 4 - 3 overtime victory against the Atlanta Thrashers . On March 24 , 2009 , Joseph came out cold after 59 minutes in relief of Martin Gerber who was kicked out of a home game against the Washington Capitals . The 41 year old stopped 8 shots in overtime and all three shots in the shootout , including one from Alexander Ovechkin to secure a win for Toronto and to be designated first star of the game . Also it was the first time Joseph has won a game in which he didn ' t start . On April 8 , 2009 , Joseph recorded his 352 NHL loss which ties Gump Worsley for the NHL record for most losses by a goaltender . On June 9 , 2009 , it was reported that the Maple Leafs will not bring back Joseph for the 2010 season . Joseph announced his retirement on January 12 , 2010 in Toronto . Currently Joseph is a goaltending coach for the Kingston Frontenacs of the OHL . Career statistics . Regular season . < nowiki > * < / nowiki > International play . Joseph represented Canada at :