Oilersnation is reviving the Top 100 Edmonton Oilers of All Time list, a project originally created by the late Robin Brownlee in 2015. Curtis Joseph comes in at No. 33 on our updated 2025 list. He was ranked No. 30 on Brownlee’s original list.

Curtis Joseph has got that dog in him.

Cujo is renowned for his iconic mask, repping the ferocious canine from Stephen King’s horror novel Cujo, that gave him this infamous namesake.

In 1995, he was brought in as an up-and-coming elite franchise-level goaltender to save an Edmonton Oilers team that had missed the playoffs two years in a row.

Throughout his career, Cujo recorded the seventh most wins of any goaltender in NHL history at 454, and has somehow found himself outside of the Hall of Fame, 16 years removed from his retirement. When he hung up the skates in 2010, he officially gave up his chance at winning a Stanley Cup.

Notable

The score was 3-3 in Game 7 of the first round in the 1997 Stanley Cup Playoffs. After missing the playoffs for four consecutive seasons, the Oilers were facing the favoured Dallas Stars in sudden death overtime. Both teams’ seasons were on the line, and everyone was battling. Maybe no one as much as Curtis Joseph.

With eight minutes remaining in the overtime period, Stars forward Joe Nieuwendyk had a wide-open net to seal the series for his team. The puck had dribbled out to him right in front of the goaltender’s paint, he fought off pressure from Oilers defenceman Luke Richardson and forced the biscuit to the net.

In a flash, Joseph was flying across his crease. A desperation move hoping to just get enough to keep the puck out of his net. Somehow, his spectacular effort not only saved the shot, but he also completely absorbed the rebound as well, collecting the rubber disc in his grasp, and stopping the play that seemed sure to be the end of the Oilers season.

Then Todd Marchant scored the famous series-clinching overtime goal for the Edmonton Oilers in Game 7 of the 1997 Western Conference quarterfinals. At 12:26 of overtime, 26 seconds after Cujo’s miraculous stop, Marchant broke away and scored, leading the No. 7 seed Oilers to a 4-3 upset over the No. 2 seed Stars.

The next year, Joseph........

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