Manny Legace is another in a long line of Canadian World Junior heroes.His path to the NHL was very rocky and his perseverence gained my respect from "another World junior has been" to "boy, he is a solid NHL goaltender".
Drafted by the Hartford Whalers 188th overall in 1993, Legace looked to be the goalie of the future for the Mighty Whale after being awarded the top goaltender in the 1993 World Junior championships.
But stardom would not come easy for Legace. An apprenticeship with the Springfield Falcons lead to individual honours, he also spent time with the Richmond Renegades and Las Vegas Thunder. After a trade to the Kings he found himself with the Long Beach IceDogs and finally made his debut at 26.
Legace finally signed with the Wings, but was promptly claimed by the Canucks, and then reclaimed by the Wings two weeks later. He was now off to the Manitoba Moose.
Legace finally got his shot in the NHL when he beat out Ken Wregget and his chance to backup Chris Osgood. In a non-shock, Legace beat out Osgood as the starter and posted a 24-5-5 record. This created some minor fantasy waves that were quickly dissapated with the signing of Dominik Hasek. Back to the backup role. With the retirement of Hasek came the signing of CuJo and the goalie carousel had Legace bouncing between starter and backup.
After the lockout Legace was finally handed the coveted starter's job and ran with it to the tune of a 37-8-0 record, winning many owners their league championship in the process, and creating the yearly late round selection of any mediocre Red Wing starter. Proving that team is more important than goaltender ability.
A poor playoff showing banished Legace from fantasy relevance as the Wings cut bait to go with the inferior Osgood. Most likely ending any fantasy relevance for him in the future. But the way the Wings seem to recycle goaltenders, you never know.
Fantasy Sense tips their glass to Manny for never giving up.
With thanks to the Goalie Post, on to tonight's games.
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