A native of Peace River, Alberta, Chris Osgood starred in the WHL with three different clubs, Medicine Hat, Brandon and Seattle. He was taken 54th overall by the Detroit Red Wings at the 1991 NHL Entry Draft after a sparkling year with the Medicine Hat Tigers. During his rookie year as a pro, the youngster won 19 games for the AHL's Adirondack Red Wings in 1992-93.
Osgood won 23 games as a rookie, backing Tim Cheveldae and then Bob Essensa in 1993-94. The gifted puckstopper was a fine partner for veteran Mike Vernon in 1995 when the Wings reached the Stanley Cup Final. In 1995-96, Osgood led the NHL with 39 wins and helped Detroit set a league record with 62 wins. He continued to keep Detroit at or near the top of the NHL rankings and watched Vernon lead the club to its first Stanley Cup in 32 years in 1997. The next season was Osgood's turn to shine as he won an NHL-best 16 post-season matches while aiding Detroit's successful Cup repeat.
Osgood continued to be among the NHL's busiest and winningest netminders. He struggled with injuries in 2000-01 and ended up splitting the regular season chores with Manny Legace. After eight seasons in Detroit, Osgood was picked in the 2001 Waiver Draft by the New York Islanders after the Wings acquired superstar Dominek Hasek and left the Peace River, AB native available prior to the 2001-02 season.
After parts of two seasons with the Islanders, the St. Louis Blues traded for Osgood after the team had struggled throughout the 2002-03 season with injuries and unstable netminding. Upon his arrival with the Blues, Osgood was a workhorse and in 2003-04 notched his 300th win.
Following a 20-win season in 2005 the netminder signed a two-year contract with to re-join the Red Wings in the summer of 2006. The following season he shared the starting role with Dominik Hasek before he suffered a fractured hand in practice. He would compete in only 21 games that season as Hasek would take on the starting role.
In 2007-08 Osgood combined again with Hasek and went on to allow just 184 goals in 82 games. The duo each won 27 games in the regular season and helped Detroit to its sixth Presidents' Trophy in 13 seasons. In the NHL playoffs, Osgood took over for Hasek in games 3 and 4 of the first round and never looked back. He led the team to the Stanley Cup Final where he recorded back-to-back shutouts in games one and two. It took six games for Osgood and the Red Wings to defeat the Pittsburgh Penguins en route to their fourth Stanley Cup in eleven years. Osgood became the first starting goaltender since Terry Sawchuk to win Stanley Cups ten years or more apart.
After the playoffs, Osgood and Hasek were awarded the Jennings Trophy for leading the league in goals against during the 2007-08 regular season.
On December 27, 2010, Osgood became only the tenth goaltender in NHL history to reach 400 career wins. He did so in a game against the rival Colorado Avalanche. The following summer he would officially announce his retirement from the game.
