On June 10th, 2000, the Anaheim Mighty Ducks acquired goaltender Jean-Sebastien Giguere from the Calgary Flames. In return, the Flames received a second round pick in the 2000 NHL Entry Draft.
Giguere gained very little ice-time with Calgary over his two years with the team, only playing in 22 games. In those games, the netminder from Montreal, Quebec posted a .902 save percentage and a goals-against-average of 3.08. Anaheim may not have been completely aware of the gem they received from Calgary that June, but the former first-round pick of the Hartford Whalers would transform into the greatest Ducks goalie in it’s relatively short history.
Giguere’s first season with the Mighty Ducks was the first time in his young career that he played over fifteen games in a season. He was the goaltender of choice on 34 occasions, going 11-17-5 with a .911 SV% and a 2.57 GAA. This would be the only full season out of eight that Giguere would not play over 45 games for the franchise.
In his 447 games with the Mighty Ducks/Ducks, the most ever by a goaltender in Anaheim, Giguere posted a franchise-high 206 victories. He recorded a second-best 11,290 saves, falling second to Guy Hebert. Over his career with Anaheim, Giguere posted a save percentage of .914 (3rd greatest) and goals-against-average of 2.47 (2nd best). On the Ducks all-time list for goaltenders, Giguere ranks first in games played, wins, ties and overtime/shootout losses, shutouts, and minutes.
During the 2009-10 regular season, Anaheim traded Giguere to the Toronto Maple Leafs for Jason Blake and Vesa Toskala. Giguere spent the rest of that season and all of the 2010-11 season with Toronto. The veteran netminder would go on to play three more seasons as a member of the Colorado Avalanche before hanging up his skates at age 36.
Nothing For Calgary
In return for Giguere’s services, the Flames acquired Anaheim’s second round pick which turned into 43rd overall. However, Calgary would not hold onto that draft pick, trading it to the Washington Capitals for Miika Elomo and a fourth round pick.
The Capitals would select Matt Pettinger with the draft pick acquired from Calgary. Pettinger would go on to play 334 games with Washington, recording 52 goals and 47 assists. Essentially the Flames acquired nothing of future value in this entire transactional experience. They ended up two players that never took the ice for their organization. Eventual fourth round selection, Levente Szuper, would suit up for the Flames on nine occasions as a backup goalie but never got the opportunity to play.
You Just Never Know
The trade that took place between the Anaheim Mighty Ducks and Calgary Flames for Giguere is a great example of never knowing how a deal is going to pan out. Never in a million years would the Flames have made this deal if they had any clue what kind of goaltender Giguere would develop into. In addition, Anaheim could not have imagined that they would have walked away from this deal as big of winners as they turned out to being.
John Gove is an experienced hockey writer who admires the game at all levels. Currently, John is a contributor for The Hockey Writers, covering the Philadelphia Flyers.
