10 questions with Curtis Joseph

Former Blues goaltender Curtis Joseph was back in town last week to promote his new book, Cujo: The Untold Story of My Life On and Off the Ice, which is available now at STL Authentics. The book shares untold stories about his childhood and how he made it to the NHL and beyond.
We caught up with Joseph to talk about his memories of playing with the Blues, how the "Cujo" nickname came about, his current role with the Toronto Maple Leafs and more.
Below is the full Q&A.

STLOUISBLUES.COM: It feels like it's been awhile since we've last seen you here in town. How much do you enjoy getting back to St. Louis and catching up with old friends?
CURTIS JOSEPH: It's tremendous. I was excited to get here. We did a book signing last night and literally 300 people came out and they were recounting old stories and old Blues games. It really made me feel good. It was nice to re-live some of those moments. It made you miss what you had back then. We had a good young group and we played some good hockey.
BLUES: What former Blues do you keep in touch with? And do you get time to see them often?
JOSEPH: Kelly Chase, the mayor, he calls me about a lot of things. He's my go-to person as far as what's happening (in St. Louis) and making sure everybody is doing well. I see Jeff Brown every once and awhile, Brett Hull every once and awhile, and at Gretzky's Fantasy Camp, I see Wayne Gretzky - he's a Blues alum!
BLUES: You were an undrafted but well-sought-after free agent when you joined the Blues. When you think back on your time in St. Louis, what are the things that stand out?
JOSEPH: It was a great time. I remember Brian Sutter, Tony Twist, Kelly Chase, Brett Hull - the MVP of the League. Garth Butcher, just a bunch of great guys. It was like a family. Vincent Riendeau, just a good human. Ron Caron, I loved Ron Caron - he was the nicest man. If he liked you and you needed a trade, he would send you to a nice place where you would be successful. Who does that? That says what you need to know about his character. It was a great time in my life with a lot of great memories.

BLUES: That Stephen King story, "Cujo" was popular back then, and then you debuted that iconic "Cujo" mask while you played for the Blues and wore it for the rest of your career. How did the idea for that come about?
JOSEPH: I got the nickname I believe from (Blues defenseman) Robert Dirk. He shortened my name and I ran with that theme - the mad dog on the mask. I kept the mask the same so it was always recognizable to myself. It was a great nickname, it's easy to say for kids and kids would paint their masks just like it. The nickname has been really good to me and I thank Robert Dirk for giving it to me.
BLUES: Brian Elliott paid tribute to your original Blues mask and blue goalie pads a few seasons ago. What was that like to see them back in the League all those years later?
JOSEPH: It was awesome. The Blues had a goalie night and we were in to see that game, me and Grant Fuhr and Mike Liut - and wouldn't you know it, Elliott stood on his head! It was awesome, I was so pumped for him. Looking at that mask, it was such a great mask. I would have kept that for a long time, too. It was nice for Brian to pay tribute and I was very honored.
BLUES: What are you up to these days? Are you still working around the game?
JOSEPH: I work with the Toronto Maple Leafs as an ambassador. I did community stuff for them the last 10 years, but the last few years, I've done in-house meet-and-greets, going to see the suiteholders and different things like that. It's a nice job, I don't do it every day, I just do it part-time. But it's nice for me to get back to my kids, because I've got kids - two in college at Alabama, I've got my youngest boy playing junior hockey in Canada. That's what I love to do. I can be as busy as I want to or take time to watch my kids play.
BLUES: Going to Alabama, they're probably big football fans.
JOSEPH: My older boy, he's a big tailgating fan. I say, 'Taylor, did you go to the Alabama game today?' And he says 'I went to the tailgate. It's going to be a blowout, dad!' He says that all the time.

BLUES: How has the game changed today from when you played the game, as far as goaltending is concerned?
JOSEPH: There isn't a goalie under 6-foot-2 nowadays, so they wouldn't look at me as a prospect anymore at 5-foot-11. Goalies are bigger and their technique is flawless, it really is. The goalie coaches and the equipment changed the way goaltending was played. I saw the evolution, and I had to change my game at 35 years old too, for the better, to keep myself in the League. I had to go back to goalie school. And now there's no clutching and grabbing and now there's no fighting. It really has changed, I watched it happen. It's a highly-skilled game, it's wonderful to watch, but I do miss the tough guys. Me, Chaser and Twister wouldn't be in the League (today).
BLUES: You wrote a book about your life and hockey career with Kirstie McLellan Day, who has written six national bestsellers. What was the process like of sitting down and choosing what stories should go into the book?
JOSEPH: We started at the beginning and it took us a year to do. Kirstie is a wonderful human being and a great storyteller. We'd sit down and say "we're only going to go an hour today" and we'd go five hours, just conversation. The book reads like that - it's a conversation, really easy to read. She got all my thoughts down. Some of it was hard as far as the childhood, but the idea is to help people - don't be a victim, be victorious. Some things are stacked against you, everybody has things that are going to go against them, but its just about perseverance. I was a glass-half-full kind of kid and everything kept getting better. Hopefully young people will take away some perseverance and some inspiration.
BLUES: What kinds of things will we learn about you by reading the book? Is it primarily about your hockey career, or will we learn a lot about you personally, too?
JOSEPH:Yeah, there's personal stuff, and how I made it to the NHL. It's a very unlikely - a tremendously unlikely - story. I was a small kid that played Single-A hockey. I started at 10 years old so I was five or six years behind everyone else, so I had to be a goalie. I couldn't skate.