Chris Osgood has silenced his share of critics in his day.
A three-time Stanley Cup champion with the Detroit Red Wings, the veteran goalie has been counted out and written off at times during his NHL career, only to bounce back and prove his worth with another ring.
This week, he‘s been proving doubters wrong in a different sense.
With the Red Wings calling Kelowna home between games in Calgary on Monday and Edmonton on Friday, Osgood has enjoyed overseeing his teammates‘ first Okanagan experience.
“I‘m not saying the guys are surprised, but I‘m kinda saying ’I told you so,‘” said the Peace River, Alta., product, whose spent the past 12 off-seasons at his summer home on Kalamalka Lake near Vernon.
“With the guys on our team, especially the Europeans, they had no idea about this place. Now, they‘re all real impressed with it.”
The Red Wings arrived in Kelowna late Monday night, flying in on the team jet after beating the Calgary Flames 2-1 in NHL action. Detroit general manager Ken Holland, a Vernon native, arranged for the Okanagan detour. That decision was supported by coach Mike Babcock, who played junior with the WHL‘s Kelowna Wings in 1982-83.
When it came to selling the players on the Okanagan layover, Osgood took a leading role.
“It was partly my idea, it was mainly Ken‘s, but I backed it up and was kinda his PR man for it,” Osgood said. “I kinda explained to the guys what it was going to be like out here, what they could all do. And when I said they could golf and go snowmobiling or ski in the same day, they didn‘t really believe me. They think that‘s California and that Canada is freezing . . . so it‘s kinda like, ’I told you so.‘
“I hadn‘t seen some of the guys for two days because I was at my house, and today when I walked in, they were saying, ’I realize why you guys live here.‘”
Tuesday was an off-day for the team, with the players and coaching staff free to roam and find their own entertainment. That ranged from golfing at the Harvest to snowmobiling at Big White to visiting local wineries.
“I‘m big on chemistry, and coming here, it‘s an opportunity for our guys to bond a little bit,” Holland said. “But Mike gave them (Tuesday) off to do their own thing, and each to their own, but obviously there‘s so many different options here.”
Osgood also acted as a tour guide, taking a few teammates, including fellow goalie Jimmy Howard and forward Kris Draper, out to his summer home. There, they did some fishing off Osgood‘s dock and battled one another on his Golden Tee golf arcade game.
Wednesday it was back to work, as Babcock, who guided Canada to Olympic gold last month, put his troops through the paces in an uptempo, 45-minute practice at Prospera Place before a packed house of roughly 6,000 fans. That session, as well as today‘s 11 a.m. skate, was open to the public with admission being a donation to the Kelowna Community Food Bank.
For Wednesday‘s practice, fans donated more than $25,000 worth of food, dropping off 11,200 pounds, or 5 1/2 tons. The food bank also accepted cash donations totaling $1,500.
The players were surprised by the crowd size, and did their best to entertain with some highlight-reel goals and saves, and even a playful, gloves-on scrap between Swedish defencemen Niklas Kronwall and Jonathan Ericsson that drew cheers as the practice came to a close.
But the Red Wings weren‘t getting too carried away, as their focus remains on the Western Conference playoff race, where they currently occupy the eighth and final berth ahead of Calgary. With Calgary in Colorado on Wednesday night, Holland admitted he‘d be doing some scoreboard watching during their down time.
“Without a doubt,” he said. “I‘m taking the coaches and our training staff to my house in Vernon, and we‘re going to watch the game and go to a restaurant for supper.”
The players weren‘t as certain of their plans, with Osgood and Howard also pointing out it was St. Patrick‘s Day.
“I‘ll probably be tuning in to that (Calgary-Colorado game),” Howard said. “But nothing too crazy, and just try to stay out of trouble, considering we‘re in the playoff grind here.”
As for his first impressions of Kelowna and Okanagan life, Howard, a 25-year-old rookie-of-the-year candidate from Syracuse, N.Y., couldn‘t pinpoint his favourite part.
“I‘m very impressed so far,” he said. “Just how beautiful it is, waking up and looking out the window with the lake right there and the mountains and everything.
“It‘s a great spot, and it‘s nice to just relax and have some fun.”
Howard spends his off-seasons in Maine where he too owns a house on the water, “but Ozzie‘s place is definitely a lot nicer.”
Even forward Henrik Zetterberg, who owns ocean-front property back in Sweden, has been in awe of what the Okanagan has to offer.
“You can basically play golf in the morning, snowmobile in the afternoon and ski at night, you can do it all here,” he said. “I‘ve never been here before, never thought it was this beautiful up here. I had heard a lot of good things about it, a lot of players in the league have their summer homes here, but it‘s been all that and even better.
“It‘s almost like going home for me.”
The Kelowna getaway also been a welcome break from the daily grind, especially for those, like Zetterberg, who didn‘t get a break during the Olympics.
“We‘re really enjoying our few days here,” he said, “and I think it will help our team to play better in the future.”
While this visit can be credited to a scheduling quirk, Osgood is hoping the Okanagan stop becomes an annual tradition for the Red Wings and other NHL clubs. Prior to this week, no NHL team had trained in Kelowna.
“Every year I‘d want to come back here, for sure,” Osgood said. “This is a great place for teams to come, to even hold training camp or just hang out for a couple days like we are during the season.”
Holland also credited Kelowna Rockets president Bruce Hamilton with making this unique first a reality for Okanagan hockey fans, by providing the Red Wings with arena access and a team bus among other accommodations.
“When you play for six or eight months, every now and then you like to do something different to try to break the humdrum of a long season,” Holland said. “We just tried to figure out what would be the best way to take advantage of three days off. Ultimately, my thought was to come to Kelowna, I talked to Mike about it and he loved the idea, and when we talked to Bruce Hamilton, he made it happen.
“A lot of our players are here for the first time, and I was talking to them at breakfast (Wednesday) morning and they‘re getting a feel for how beautiful it is here.” Top of Page
