Jean-Sébastien Giguère

Jean-Sébastien Giguère

Giguère during the 2009-10 season as a member of the Toronto Maple Leafs.
Born May 16, 1977 (1977-05-16) (age 34)
Montreal, Quebec, Canada
Height 6 ft 1 in (1.85 m)
Weight 201 lb (91 kg; 14 st 5 lb)
Position Goaltender
Catches Left
NHL team
Former teams		 Colorado Avalanche
Hartford Whalers
Calgary Flames
Anaheim Ducks
Toronto Maple Leafs
National team  Canada
NHL Draft 13th overall, 1995
Hartford Whalers
Playing career 1997–present

Jean-Sébastien Giguère (French pronunciation: [ʒɑ̃ sebastjɛ̃ ʒiɡɛʁ]; born May 16, 1977) is a Canadian professional ice hockey goaltender currently playing with the Colorado Avalanche of the National Hockey League (NHL). He played major junior with the Verdun Collège Français and Halifax Mooseheads in the Quebec Major Junior Hockey League (QMJHL), where he was drafted 13th overall by the Hartford Whalers in the 1995 NHL Entry Draft. He played in the Calgary Flames organization for three seasons before joining the Anaheim Mighty Ducks in 2000. Giguère won the Conn Smythe Trophy in 2003 before winning the Stanley Cup with the Ducks in 2007. Giguère and Chris Pronger were the only former Hartford Whalers still active in the NHL as of the end of the 2010–11 season.

Contents

Playing career

Early career

Giguère was drafted out of the Quebec Major Junior Hockey League (QMJHL) by the Hartford Whalers 13th overall in the 1995 NHL Entry Draft. After a four-year major junior career that included QMJHL Second Team All-Star honours in 1997,[1] he made his NHL debut with the Whalers, playing in eight games at the end of the 1996–97 season.

The following off-season, on August 25, 1997, Giguère was traded to the Calgary Flames with centre Andrew Cassels for forward Gary Roberts and goaltender Trevor Kidd.[1] He played the entirety of the 1997–98 season in the American Hockey League (AHL) with Calgary's minor league affiliate, the Saint John Flames. He recorded a 2.46 goals against average (GAA) and a .926 save percentage in 31 games in his professional rookie season with Saint John. Giguère spent four seasons in the Flames organization, making brief 15- and 7-game appearances with Calgary in 1998–99 and 1999–2000, respectively, while spending most of his time in the AHL.

Anaheim Ducks (2000-2010)

On June 10, 2000, Giguère was traded to the Mighty Ducks of Anaheim for a 2nd round pick in 2000 (later traded to the Washington Capitals; the Capitals selected Matt Pettinger).[1] He began the 2000-01 season with the Mighty Ducks' farm team, the Cincinnati Mighty Ducks, until he was recalled from the AHL. Giguère eventually took over Dominic Roussel's backup position to starter Guy Hebert.[2] Due to only brief stints in the NHL during his tenures with Hartford and Calgary, the 2000–01 season qualified as Giguère's rookie NHL season. He played in 34 games, posting a 2.57 GAA and .911 save percentage.

In the off-season, he was re-signed by the Mighty Ducks on August 17, 2001.[1] Giguère continued to improve in 2001–02, his first full season with the Ducks, recording a 2.13 GAA and .920 save percentage in 53 games. In the 2002–03 season, he posted his first winning season, with a 34-22-6 record, as well as a career-high eight shutouts.

Giguère's first winning season in the NHL helped the Mighty Ducks enter the 2003 playoffs as the seventh seed in the Western Conference. From that point, Giguere delivered one of the greatest playoff performances in NHL history as he helped lead the team on a Cinderella run to their first Stanley Cup Finals. Facing the defending Stanley Cup champions and second-seeded Detroit Red Wings in the opening round, Giguère set an NHL record for most saves by a goaltender in their playoff debut with 63 in the Mighty Ducks' 2–1 triple overtime win in Game 1 (surpassing Toronto Maple Leafs goalie Jiří Crha's mark by two saves).[2] This record would later be broken by Vancouver Canucks goalie Roberto Luongo, who stopped 72 shots in his playoff debut versus the Dallas Stars in 2007. The Ducks would proceed to shock the hockey world by sweeping the Red Wings in four games, with Giguere labeled as the star of the series. The Mighty Ducks then faced the Dallas Stars. Giguère stopped 60 of 63 Dallas shots in the series opener, a five-overtime Anaheim win. Giguere recorded his first shutout of the playoffs in Game 4, stopping 28 shots. The Mighty Ducks eventually eliminated the Stars in six games, and moved on to the Western Conference Finals to face the Minnesota Wild. Giguère held the Wild to an all-time best-of-7 series low of one goal in the entire series, which included a franchise record shutout streak of 217 minutes and 54 seconds (later surpassed by Ilya Bryzgalov in 2006).[3]

However, the Mighty Ducks' dream of hoisting the Stanley Cup were stopped by the New Jersey Devils, to whom Anaheim lost in a seven-game series. Giguère finished the playoffs undefeated in seven overtime games, setting a record for the longest playoff overtime shutout streak at 168 minutes and 27 seconds.[2] He finished with a 15-6 record overall, a 1.62 GAA and .945 save percentage, as well as fewer losses than Finals counterpart Martin Brodeur. He was the fifth player to receive the Conn Smythe Trophy as playoff MVP as part of the losing team[2] and the first since Philadelphia Flyers goaltender Ron Hextall won in 1987. Along with the Conn Smythe, he received the 2003 ESPY award for best hockey player. The only other goalie ever to do so is Dominik Hasek.

Giguère's playoff MVP performance was rewarded in the off-season with a four-year contract extension, signed on September 10, 2003.[1] However, his performance was inconsistent throughout much of the 2003-04 season as the Mighty Ducks missed the playoffs. He posted a 17-31-6 record and his GAA increased to 2.62. Due to the 2004–05 NHL lockout, Giguère went overseas to play for the Hamburg Freezers in Germany.

Giguère returned to an improved Mighty Ducks squad as NHL play resumed in 2005–06. Anaheim returned to the playoffs and made it to the Western Conference Finals, where they were eliminated by the Edmonton Oilers. Giguère, however, appeared in just four games as Russian rookie backup Ilya Bryzgalov took over the starting position during the playoffs. Giguère missed the first game of the opening round against the Calgary Flames due to injury, but returned for games two through five. During Game 5, Giguère was pulled after allowing three goals on eight shots. Bryzgalov took over and subsequently reeled off three consecutive shutouts spanning the first and second rounds against Calgary and the Colorado Avalanche, tying an NHL playoff record and breaking Giguère's 2003 club record of consecutive playoff shutout minutes.[3]

Entering the final season of his contract in 2006–07, Giguère earned his starting role back. In the first month of the season, October 2006, he did not lose a single game in regulation. He proceeded to put up a career-high 36 wins in 56 games.

Prior to the 2007 Stanley Cup Playoffs, Giguère and his wife welcomed a newborn son, Maxime-Oliver. Giguère missed the Ducks' last three regular season games as well as the first three games of their opening round matchup with the Minnesota Wild, with Bryzgalov taking over in Giguère's absence. He returned late in the series and was the Ducks' starter the rest of the way. During the second round against the Vancouver Canucks, his eight-game overtime winning streak in the playoffs was snapped on April 27, 2007, in a 2–1 defeat in Game 2. Nevertheless, Giguère and the Ducks went on to eliminate the Canucks en route to the 2007 Stanley Cup Finals, where they won their first ever Stanley Cup championship in a 6-2 Game 5 win against the Ottawa Senators on June 6, 2007.

On June 21, 2007, the Ducks announced that they had re-signed Giguère to a multi-year contract. Giguère posted a 35-17-6 record with a career-best 2.12 GAA in the 2007–08 season. Despite his numbers, the defending champion Ducks were defeated in the first round of the 2008 playoffs by the Dallas Stars in six games.

Giguère recorded sub-par numbers during the 2008–09 season, going 19-18-6 with a 3.10 goals against average, sharing an increased amount of playing time to his backup Jonas Hiller. This did not deter him from being voted into the 2009 NHL All-Star Game in his hometown of Montreal. As Hiller outplayed Giguere throughout the season, however, he was chosen over Giguere to start during the 2009 playoffs. Giguère's only appearance for the Ducks in the playoffs was in relief of Hiller in the third period of Game 4 of the Ducks' second round series with the Detroit Red Wings, to whom the Ducks would eventually fall in seven games.

Giguère suffered a groin strain early in the 2009–10 season on October 24, 2009. With Hiller's continued emergence as a bona-fide starter, Giguère publicly told L.A. Daily News on November 10 that he "would rather retire than be a backup goalie," fuelling a goaltending controversy on the team.[4] Losing his starting position to Hiller, he did not record his first win of the season until November 23 in a 3–2 shootout victory over the Calgary Flames.[5]

Toronto Maple Leafs (2010-2011)

Giguère was traded to the Toronto Maple Leafs on January 31, 2010, for goaltender Vesa Toskala and forward Jason Blake.[6] Three days later, he played his first game for the Maple Leafs and recorded a 30-save shutout against the New Jersey Devils. Giguère registered another shutout in his next game against the Ottawa Senators on February 6, 2010, to become the first goalie in franchise history to record shutouts in his first two games.[7] This accomplishment led Giguère to be named the NHL's second star of the week on February 8.[8] After having recorded a 3.14 GAA and .900 save percentage in 20 games with the Ducks before being traded, he improved to a 2.49 GAA and .916 save percentage in 15 games with the Leafs.

The following season, Giguère suffered a groin injury in mid-November 2010, sidelining him for three weeks. Upon his return, he played in several games before re-injuring his groin. During that time, the Leafs were in need of a goalie, forcing them to call up goalie James Reimer from the AHL. With Giguere sidelined, third-string goaltender James Reimer took over the starting position.

Colorado Avalanche (2011-present)

Giguère signed a two-year contract with the Colorado Avalanche on July 1, 2011.[9] Giguère embraced his role in the Colorado locker room as the veteran mentor, especially for the young starting netminder Semyon Varlamov. His leadership was key in a four game homestand in mid December when Varlamov was sidelined for a back ailment. Giguère started all four games and won them all, securing the Avs a team record eight straight wins at home. The most since the Quebec Nordiques won 10 straight in 1995 before the club moved to Denver later that year.

Personal

Giguère and his wife Kristen have two sons: Maxime-Olivier, who was born during the Ducks Stanley Cup Championship run, and Luka. Giguère missed the team's last three regular season games as well as the first three games of the team's quarter-final series against the Minnesota Wild when he learned that Maxime-Olivier had been born with a deformed eye.[10]

Giguère's father died of cancer on December 15, 2008, and this greatly affected his performance for the rest of the season. Giguère went into the All Star game that year with a very weak record, with only one win in his last nine games.[11]

Giguère suffers from a rare gastric condition that causes his body to take in too much air when he drinks fluids. As a result, his body has difficulty absorbing water, leading to severe dehydration when he sweats.[12] This became the case when he was in the AHL during the 1997-98 season. During one game, he lost 19 pounds, became sick, and was rushed to the hospital.[13] Team doctors in Calgary then discovered the condition.

Career statistics

Regular season

Season Team League GP W L T OTL MIN GA SO GAA SV%
1992–93 Laval QAAA 25 12 11 2 — 1498 76 0 3.04 —
1993–94 Verdun Collège Français QMJHL 25 13 5 2 — 1234 66 0 3.21 —
1994–95 Halifax Mooseheads QMJHL 47 14 27 5 — 2755 181 2 3.94 —
1995–96 Halifax Mooseheads QMJHL 55 26 23 2 — 3230 185 1 3.44 —
1996–97 Halifax Mooseheads QMJHL 50 28 19 3 — 3009 169 2 3.37 .902
1996–97 Hartford Whalers NHL 8 1 4 0 — 394 24 0 3.65 .881
1997–98 Saint John Flames AHL 31 16 10 3 — 1758 72 2 2.46 .926
1998–99 Calgary Flames NHL 15 6 7 1 — 860 46 0 3.21 .897
1998–99 Saint John Flames AHL 39 18 16 3 — 2145 123 3 3.44 .905
1999–00 Saint John Flames AHL 41 17 17 3 — 2243 114 0 3.05 .897
1999–00 Calgary Flames NHL 7 1 3 1 — 330 15 0 2.73 .914
2000–01 Cincinnati Mighty Ducks AHL 23 12 7 2 — 1306 53 0 2.43 .917
2000–01 Mighty Ducks of Anaheim NHL 34 11 17 5 — 2031 87 4 2.57 .911
2001–02 Mighty Ducks of Anaheim NHL 53 20 25 6 — 3127 111 4 2.13 .920
2002–03 Mighty Ducks of Anaheim NHL 65 34 22 6 — 3775 145 8 2.30 .920
2003–04 Mighty Ducks of Anaheim NHL 55 17 31 6 — 3210 140 3 2.62 .914
2004–05 Hamburg Freezers DEL 6 — — — — 302 12 0 2.38 .925
2005–06 Mighty Ducks of Anaheim NHL 60 30 15 — 11 3381 150 2 2.66 .911
2006–07 Anaheim Ducks NHL 56 36 10 — 8 3244 122 4 2.26 .918
2007–08 Anaheim Ducks NHL 58 35 17 — 6 3310 117 4 2.12 .922
2008–09 Anaheim Ducks NHL 46 19 18 — 6 2458 127 2 3.10 .900
2009–10 Anaheim Ducks NHL 20 4 8 — 5 1108 58 1 3.14 .900
2009–10 Toronto Maple Leafs NHL 15 6 7 — 2 915 38 2 2.49 .916
2010–11 Toronto Maple Leafs NHL 33 11 11 — 4 1633 78 0 2.87 .900
NHL totals 525 231 195 25 42 29,777 1258 34 2.53 .913
AHL totals 134 63 50 11 — 7452 362 5 2.70 —
QMJHL totals 177 81 74 12 — 10228 601 5 3.39 —

Playoffs

Season Team League GP W L MIN GA SO GAA SV%
1992–93 Laval QAAA 11 6 5 654 38 0 3.49 —
1994–95 Halifax Mooseheads QMJHL 7 3 4 417 17 1 2.45 —
1995–96 Halifax Mooseheads QMJHL 6 1 5 354 24 0 4.07 —
1996–97 Halifax Mooseheads QMJHL 16 9 7 954 58 0 3.65 —
1997–98 Saint John Flames AHL 10 5 3 536 27 0 3.02 —
1998–99 Saint John Flames AHL 7 3 2 304 21 0 4.14 .859
1999–00 Saint John Flames AHL 3 0 3 178 9 0 3.03 .880
2002–03 Mighty Ducks of Anaheim NHL 21 15 6 1407 38 5 1.62 .945
2004–05 Hamburg Freezers DEL 2 — — 100 7 — 4.20 —
2005–06 Mighty Ducks of Anaheim NHL 6 3 3 318 18 0 3.40 .864
2006–07 Anaheim Ducks NHL 18 13 4 1067 35 1 1.97 .922
2007–08 Anaheim Ducks NHL 6 2 4 358 19 0 3.18 .898
2008–09 Anaheim Ducks NHL 1 0 0 17 0 0 0.00 1.00
NHL totals 52 33 17 3167 110 6 2.08 .925

Awards and achievements

Transactions

References

  1. ^ a b c d e "Jean-Sebastien Giguere - TSN". The Sports Network. http://tsn.ca/nhl/teams/players/bio/?id=570. Retrieved 2009-11-24. 
  2. ^ a b c d "Jean-Sebastien Giguere - Legends of Hockey". Hockey Hall of Fame. http://www.legendsofhockey.net/LegendsOfHockey/jsp/SearchPlayer.jsp?player=18271. Retrieved 2009-11-24. 
  3. ^ a b Michaelis, Vicki (2006-05-09). "Bryzgalov has Ducks opponents seeing goose eggs". USA Today. http://www.usatoday.com/sports/hockey/nhl/ducks/2006-05-09-bryzgalov_x.htm. Retrieved 2009-11-24. 
  4. ^ "Report: Giguere says he'd rather retire than be a backup". The Sports Network. 2009-11-10. http://tsn.ca/nhl/story/?id=297862. Retrieved 2009-11-10. 
  5. ^ "Giguere gets first win as Ducks down Flames". The Sports Network. 2009-11-24. http://tsn.ca/nhl/story/?id=299688. Retrieved 2009-11-24. 
  6. ^ "Ducks trade Jean-Sebastien Giguere to Toronto". Los Angeles Times. January 31, 2010. http://latimesblogs.latimes.com/sports_blog/2010/01/ducks-jeansebastien-giguere-brian-burke.html. Retrieved 31 January 2010. 
  7. ^ "Jiggy Shuts The Door On Senators". Canadian Press. http://mapleleafs.nhl.com/club/recap.htm?id=2009020859. Retrieved 2010-02-08. 
  8. ^ Hunter, Paul (February 8, 2010). "Giguere’s shutouts earn him NHL star honour". Toronto Star. http://www.thestar.com/sports/hockey/nhl/mapleleafs/article/762291--giguere-s-shutouts-earn-him-nhl-star-honour. 
  9. ^ "NHL Free Agent Tracker". The Sports Network. http://www.tsn.ca/nhl/feature/?id=25880. Retrieved 1 July 2011. 
  10. ^ "The quiet leader". cbc.ca. 2007. http://www.cbc.ca/sports/hockey/stanleycup2007/features/giguere.html. Retrieved 2007-05-14. 
  11. ^ Elliott, Helene (January 25, 2009). "A bittersweet All-Star weekend for Jean-Sebastien Giguere". Article (LA times). http://articles.latimes.com/2009/jan/25/sports/sp-elliott-giguere-nhl-allstars2. Retrieved 30 March 2011. 
  12. ^ "Stanley Cup Winner JS Giguere Tackles Hydration Issue with Sweat Test". gatorade.ca. 2007. http://gatorade.ca/en/giguere/index.html. Retrieved 2007-08-21. 
  13. ^ hockeygoalies bio

External links

Preceded by
Jeff O'Neill		 Hartford Whalers first round draft pick
1995		 Succeeded by
Nikos Tselios
Preceded by
Nicklas Lidström		 Conn Smythe Trophy winner
2003		 Succeeded by
Brad Richards