The Zetterberg Era
Ball Hockey Sucks
I think Osgood is criminally undervalued, but... this is where we differentiate.
Belfour was a machine in his day. A gamebreaker. The fanfare in Chicago was because he single-handedly would carry the team, ala Hasek in Buffalo. His time in Dallas cemented that he could carry a team in the playoffs, as well. In both 1999 and 2000 he was the team MVP. I know Joe Nieuwendyk won the trophy, but believe it or not, many think that's because Belfour actually had a contentious relationship with the media. Meanwhile there's a good ol' boy like Joe with game winning goals. Immediately after Nieuwendyk received the Conn Smyth, he skated over to Belfour and had some words with him. A tip of the hat.
Then the goalie battle in 2000 between Brodeur and Belfour was insane. Two all-time greats at their peak.
Part of this position is probably impacted by the fact the Wings own Ed Belfour's soul.
Hard to be scared of Eddie the Eagle when you're de-pants him constantly and he is making an *** out of himself attacking Lapointe and later Homer.
I will say they played around pretty similar times and have very similar numbers and it isn't like Ed was on bad teams.
Interestingly and it isn't on the same level, but it is kind of like the argument at hand, occasionally somebody points out Howard and Rinne have virtually identical numbers in their careers, certainly a different narrative they have when you talk about them.