A 55 Year-Old Backup?

It's hard to imagine anyone playing hockey professionally in today's game at the age of 55. I know Gordie Howe was still playing back during his WHA days into that age, but he was a specimen like no other. Chris Chelios played deep into his career as well, but he never hit 55. There aren't many goalies who play past the age of 40, so seeing the likes of Craig Anderson in Buffalo at age 41 as the oldest goalies says something about that position. Seeing Marc-Andre Fleury playing as well as he has at age 38 means there likely should be a decline on the horizon based on his age. That's what made the news about Curtis Joseph tonight so eyebrow-raising because the Maple Leafs found themselves in a pinch after Matt Murray was injured.

First, let's take a look at Murray's injury scare against Detroit.
Detroit's Lucas Raymond loses an edge as he takes a turn through the crease and the result was Raymond sliding into the back of the legs of Murray, causing Murray to fall backwards. While it doesn't look like Murray hit the back of his head on the ice, we know that Murray has had concussions in the past so any fall or bump could result in another concussion. Not wanting to risk the health of his goalie, Sheldon Keefe sent Ilya Samsonov over the boards to relieve the fallen Murray so Murray could be tested and, potentially, treated for a concussion.

If you're doing the math in your head, that means there's an empty seat on the Maple Leafs' bench where a backup goaltender would sit. With Murray potentially unavailable for the rest of the game and Samsonov going into the game cold, it would be prudent for the Leafs to find a third netminder on this night as the EBUG could be needed.

That's where an old, familiar face appeared with his equipment.

Curtis Joseph, who last played for the Maple Leafs in 2008-09, was in the building with his equipment! Some will say that this is just a coincidence as Joseph has stopped by the Air Canada Centre in the past as a coach, but one would have to have a really good reason to be showing up on a game night with his equipment if there wasn't already a plan in place to have Joseph serve as the EBUG. The Leafs are required to have an EBUG in the building as they're the home team, and the fun part is that Joseph played for both the Maple Leafs and the Red Wings in his career.

Things veered into a strangeness after the game when reporter Mike Zeisberger tried to confirm that Joseph was, in fact, the EBUG at the game. The Maple Leafs, it seems, tried to kill the story.

UPDATE: #Leafsforever officials say Joseph was NOT the ebug. April Fools 24 hours later?

— Mike Zeisberger (@Zeisberger) April 3, 2023

I have no idea why the Leafs would want this story dead when Joseph is still a beloved member of the Leafs community, but they seemed to downplay Zeisberger's reporting on Joseph's role at the game. Honestly, the Leafs baffle me with this decision.

Whatever their reasoning was, it didn't help the Leafs in any way tonight as the Detroit Red Wings won the game 5-2 over the Maple Leafs. I can't tell you if Curtis Joseph would have helped the Leafs had he been forced into action, but he certainly wouldn't have done worse. That is, of course, if the Leafs actually had him as the EBUG for tonight's game.

Could a goaltender play until he's 55? It's highly doubtful considering today's NHL, but we came awfully close to seeing what that would look like after Matt Murray was felled by injury. For those asking, there was no update on Murray at the time of writing this article, but it's expected he'll be put through further testing tomorrow and in the coming days to ensure there are no effects from his fall tonight. I'm admittedly not a Leafs fan, but I'm hoping Murray gets a clean bill of health because concussions are scary.

We almost saw Curtis Joseph in his 944th NHL game. How cool would that have been after all these years?

Until next time, keep your sticks on the ice!