Blues sign G Manny Legace

[DyEaBoLiKaL]

I'm sure most knew this already, but...

Manny Legace finally has found a new team.

Made expendable in Detroit, the veteran goaltender signed Tuesday with the St. Louis Blues.

Terms were not disclosed.

Legace, 33, was the No. 1 goalie in Detroit last season, helping the Red Wings capture the Presidents' Trophy. The seven-year veteran enjoyed a career season, posting a 37-8-0 record with a 2.19 goals-against average and a .915 save percentage in 51 games.

But after Detroit was upset by eighth-seeded Edmonton in the Western Conference quarterfinals, the team signed four-time Vezina Trophy winner Dominik Hasek.

Legace should step into the No. 1 job with the Blues, who used four goaltenders and had a league-low 57 points last season en route to missing the playoffs for the first time since 1979.

"The Blues are thrilled to bring a veteran goaltender with a career winning record to our team," St. Louis general manager John Davidson said. "With the addition of Manny, we feel solid with the depth we have in a goal."

Drafted eighth overall by Hartford in 1993, Legace owns a career record of 114-43-18 with a 2.21 GAA and a .917 save percentage in 197 career games. The Toronto native played his first season with Los Angeles, then spent the next six campaigns with Detroit.

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[UCan]

Legace is a good backup, but I wish JD would've just let Cash have that spot. Oh well...

[UCan]

Blues Look To Start New Legace With Manny

For most of his life, Manny Legace has had to live with the critics who said he looked more like Spanky from the Little Rascals and that a chubby 5-9, 162-pound goaltender could never really be considered an athlete.

Legace remembers the seven long years he spent in the minors, the twists and turns of a career that seemingly was on an endless road to nowhere ... even after he finally got off the goaltending twist-a-whirl and had a chance at the big show with the Los Angeles Kings in 1998-99 -- only to hear those dreaded words from a member of the Kings management group.

"I'll never forget what that guy said to me," Legace remembered. "Point blank, he said, 'You're too small and out of shape, you'll never make it in the NHL.' It was the finality in which he said it that made me want to prove him wrong."

stlblues.com/columnists/lw_home.html

[558561]

I think this may be a good signing for you guys I mean could he really do much worse than Lalime did last season? I do not see Legace repeating last seasons nembers but can still have a good season as long as the defense holds up in front of him.

[UCan]

The reason this is considered a bad signing in my eyes is because Cash, who could've been our future goalie, will have to pass through waivers when Sanford and Legace beat him out and that won't happen.

[ScreamingLife]

Yep. You pretty much hit the nail on the head there UCan.

[UCan]

Good to see you here SL!

[ScreamingLife]

Hey, who knows? If he has a decent season, he could be trade bait at the deadline. Maybe pick up a second or third rounder.

[UCan]

Heh, I like that idea.

[IceStick77]

screaminglife said:

Hey, who knows? If he has a decent season, he could be trade bait at the deadline. Maybe pick up a second or third rounder.

So you're proposing that the Blues won't make the playoffs?

[ScreamingLife]

Yep. We're looking 10th or 11th place straight in the eye.

[UCan]

It would be pretty unrealistic to say that the Blues can make the playoffs this year, I won't complain if they somehow get the 8th spot though.

[IceStick77]

ucansadaa said:

It would be pretty unrealistic to say that the Blues can make the playoffs this year, I won't complain if they somehow get the 8th spot though.

The Wild made it to the Conference Finals after only a few years in the NHL.
The Oilers dropped to the bottom of the standings a few years after their 1990 Stanley Cup win....
The Canes won the Stanley Cup after two years of not making the playoffs at all.
Anything can happen.

[ScreamingLife]

Oh, don't get us wrong. We definitely hope that the Blues pull off something unexpected and manage a playoff berth. Talk about a great way to renew interest in the game to an alienated fanbase. But if there's one thing I've learned over the years, it's that being a Blues fan and getting your hopes up is never a good thing.

[UCan]

Yeah, that's pretty much it.