Legace Left Waiting: "No calls, nothing at this point"

Unrestricted free agent Manny Legace, 33, who finished fifth in Vezina voting with 37 wins, a 2.19 GAA, and a .915 save percentage, has not gotten any interest on the free agent market. Says Manny:

"It's just mind-boggling. I thought for sure there'd be interest from somebody after the year I had. But nothing. I don't know what to think. And I don't know what teams are thinking...I thought I had a great year to be honest with you. I thought I'd get some interest but nothing, no one has called...To be honest, I don't know what's going to happen...I'm willing to do anything on any team. Ideally I'd like to go to a team where at least I'd have a chance to compete for the No. 1 job. That's all I'm probably looking for now, a chance to compete."

Legace's agent, Ed Ratushny, had to start making phone calls to get the process started:

"We have started preliminary discussions with two teams. But what I find surprising was the bidding for Martin Gerber as compared to Manny."

Florida and St. Louis are reported to be teams that could pick up Legace. Manny also took time to describe the phone call he got in early June from Ken Holland, in which he learned that the team was looking for another starter:

"It was a shocking phone call. I thought we could work something out. It was just disappointing. That was tough because I loved playing in Detroit, it was awesome. That was the best owner I've ever played for, a great organization...But they were very classy about it, they didn't throw me out like an old newspaper. We talked and they made me understand they wanted to go in another direction...I think they were really going after Gerber. Mike Babcock wanted one of his old goalies there and that's understandable, coaches want their own guys. It's unfortunate they didn't get him...I think now they're looking at probably (Ed) Belfour or bring back Dom (Hasek). That's what I foresee for them."

It really makes no sense that Legace has gotten no offers yet. To think he has fallen this far from grace since early April, when he likely could've been traded for a top-line player, is just shocking. Sure, his 4-6 record in playoff games is not all that great. But 14 teams missed the playoffs last season, and Legace could, at the very least, help those teams in getting into the playoffs. He's a lot better of an option than most of the remaining goaltenders out there now, and it's unfortunate that Ken Holland burned bridges with Legace and then missed out on much of the free agent goaltenders available. I would not be totally against Legace re-signing with the Wings, as the Wings offense bears much of the blame for recent playoff losses.