Curtis Joseph, known affectionately to hockey fans around the world as Cujo, was an unlikely NHL superstar. The boy from Keswick, Ontario, didn’t put on a pair of skates until most kids his age were already far along in organized hockey, and he was passed over by every team in the NHL draft. Despite an unorthodox start, he would go on to play 18 seasons with the St. Louis Blues, Edmonton Oilers, Toronto Maple Leafs, Detroit Red Wings, Phoenix Coyotes, and Calgary Flames, winning an Olympic gold medal along the way. For the first time, in this revealing memoir, Joseph talks about his highly unusual upbringing and what led him to pursue hockey. Fans will not want to miss this untold story of perseverance and finding one's own path. “I don’t know a lot about goaltending and the life they live, but I know one thing: Curtis Joseph was a team guy all the way! Enjoy his book. He is a good man.” —Wayne Gretzky “I always loved being around the Joseph family. Curtis was such a good role model for kids our age. The way he carried himself on and off the ice was something to admire. I definitely learned from him.” —Connor McDavid Kirstie McLellan Day has co-authored books with Wayne Gretzky, Theo Fleury, Bob Probert, Ron MacLean, and Kelly Hrudey. She lives in Calgary, Alberta. Curtis Joseph played 18 NHL seasons as a goaltender for the St. Louis Blues, Edmonton Oilers, Toronto Maple Leafs, Detroit Red Wings, Phoenix Coyotes, and Calgary Flames. A three-time All-Star, he also won a gold medal with Team Canada in the 2002 Olympics. Joseph currently serves as a goaltending consultant in the Carolina Hurricanes organization. CUJO The Untold Story of My Life On and Off the Ice By Curtis Joseph, Kirstie McLellan Day Triumph Books LLC Copyright © 2018 Curtis Joseph and Kirstie McLellan Day All rights reserved. ISBN: 978-1-62937-678-3 Contents Foreword by Wayne Gretzky, Prologue, 1. 999, 2. "I'll Take the Hit", 3. Bad People, 4. Pretending to Be Curtis Joseph, 5. Topsies and Knockdowns, 6. My Very Own Cuckoo's Nest, 7. Processed Cheese, 8. Keep Your Eye on the Ball, 9. "Take a Knee", 10. A Girl on the Team, 11. Barenaked Lady, 12. "How's This Going to Work?", 13. Wild Nights, 14. A Tough Way to Go, 15. Drilled, 16. "What Do You Have to Lose?", 17. The Hounds, 18. The Bear, 19. A Season Nobody Expected, 20. Donnie, 21. Once-in-a-Lifetime Deal, 22. "Coojoe, Stend Up!", 23. Sudsy, 24. A Bucket of Sand, 25. No Backing Down, 26. Butchy, 27. A Red Necktie, 28. Hully, 29. No Hiding in the Game, 30. Cursing a Lot, 31. Wendy, 32. Victor, 33. Positive, Negative and Realistic, 34. The Hot Spot, 35. I Still Get Mad, 36. Not a Team Guy, 37. Chris McSorley and the Illegal Stick, 38. The Classy Guys, 39. David and Goliath, 40. Over and Out, 41. He Looked Like Bobby Clarke, 42. Gothic Meets Country, 43. "Never Mind Him!", 44. "I'll Kill Alfredsson Next Shift", 45. "No Stopping Behind the Net", 46. "That Kah-vellov", 47. "I'm Gonna Punch Ya in the Tomato", 48. Moment of Majesty, 49. Conveying a Message, 50. Powerful Stuff, 51. Guns a-Blazing, 52. "His Eyeball Is Split in Half", 53. Goalie Gone Wild, 54. Reach, 55. "Oh My God, My Career Is Over", 56. Hellbound Train, 57. Under His Shirt, 58. "Fill Me Up", 59. And Then It All Went Sideways, 60. Salt Lake City, 61. Fist Bump, 62. Webb Was Dangerous, 63. "Bless You, Boys", 64. A Tough Call, 65. "Is This How It's Going to Be?", 66. High Risk, High Reward, 67. Battle Mode, 68. The Smell of Burning Rubber, 69. Square to the Puck, 70. "Let's Go Have Some Fun", 71. Trust, 72. "I'm Going to Play for the Leafs!", 73. Riding into the Sunset, 74. What Wayne Said, Career Milestones, Curtis Joseph's Career Ranking Among NHL Goaltenders, Acknowledgements, Photo Gallery, CHAPTER 1 999 Everybody used to call it Nine Ninety-Nine, because it was located at 999 Queen Street West in Toronto. And then in the 1970s, it got to be known by locals by its new address — 1001 Queen Street West. Its proper name was the Queen Street Mental Health Centre. It was a mental institution. A big one. During the 1970s, inmates whose conditions reached a stage where they could be managed by medication were moved on to halfway houses. One of these was a place called Martin Acres, located on a piece of farmland at the northeast corner of Leslie Street and Green Lane in Sharon, Ontario — now part of the town of East Gwillimbury, about forty-five minutes north of Toronto, right next to Newmarket. Martin Acres housed about seventeen men at a time. And it was my home. The place where I grew up. The house was a big, red-brick "rehabilitation centre," but the men who went there never left. Outside, it was L-shaped with a couple of wings. One wing ran north-south, and the other from east to west. The shorter, newer wing was built over a triple-car garage. It was a maze. One wrong turn and you'd come to a wall. You walked through