"Chris Osgood certainly looks like a coach out on the ice, leaning on a hockey stick, wearing red gloves and black sweats with a red-and-white winged wheel emblazoned on his chest.

But gazing at the still-youthful face and not seeing Osgood play is going to take some getting used to.

His title is not yet set in stone. But Osgood, 38, who won more games in the NHL than all but nine goalies in history, appeared at Joe Louis Arena as a coach for the first time Wednesday.

The occasion seemed a lot happier than bittersweet.

"I'm excited about it," he said, flashing a familiar smile.

"It'll be fun. I'm going to enjoy it. I'm looking forward to going up to Traverse City with the young guys."

Freshly back from his annual summer stay at his home in British Columbia, Osgood spent much of the Red Wings' voluntary skate Wednesday talking with the Wings' longtime goaltending coach, Jim Bedard, whom Osgood is to assist.

"I'm not doing too much, now," Osgood said. "I'm just learning from Jimmy; just kind of riding shotgun, listening to what he says and learning how to run the drills myself, so when I'm in Toledo and Grand Rapids, I can do that."

Bedard, who has been with the Red Wings for 13 years, has made that circuit himself for years, across the state to the Griffins, the Red Wings' AHL affiliate, and down just over the Ohio line, to the Walleye, of the ECHL.

They are tasks and highways with which Osgood now will become familiar.

As for a title, Osgood found the idea humorous.

"I think I'm Jimmy's assistant," he said. "I don't know many titles. We'll see as I go along."

Asked if he felt any desire to don the equipment and the uniform and get back between the pipes, Osgood smiled and firmly rejected the concept.

"No, not at all, right now. No. None," he said, before running out of bullets to shoot down any suggestion he had second thoughts about retiring.

"I'm looking forward to coaching the young guys and mentoring them."

In a 17-year career, Osgood won three Stanley Cups, two as a starter, and shared two Jennings trophies on Red Wings teams that allowed the fewest goals against in the league.

In 2007-08, when the Red Wings won the Cup, Osgood dominated, with a 2.09 goals-against average in 43 regular-season games and a 1.55 average in 19 playoff games.

Many of his statistics rival those of goaltenders in the Hockey Hall of Fame.

Had the Red Wings prevailed, after going up three games to two against Pittsburgh in the 2009 Final — when Osgood had another splendid playoff performance, allowing an average of 2.01 goals in 23 games — his place in the hall might be beyond debate.

While some fans often were critical, Osgood praised all of them in the conference call from British Columbia when he announced his retirement this summer. He said they had motivated him and, occasionally, bound the psychic wounds that afflict every NHL goalie.

His teammates always were behind him. They seemed to have taken an even quicker stride when "The Great and Powerful Oz" was on, and big things were on the line.

Osgood talked frequently about coaching goalies in recent years, as he gained the mid-30s in his life and questions were inevitably asked about retirement.

He also said it would not lead to coaching a team. That is not his style or personality, he said, despite some incisive postgame commentary from him over the years, analyzing what was going right and wrong for the Wings.

Asked about that prospect in an interview with The Detroit News one year ago, Osgood was emphatic.

"No way!" he said, dragging out each word for emphasis. "I don't want that!"

But mentoring the younger guys who do — or aspire to do — what he did for 17 NHL seasons seems to have him content and eager."