This series features players the Calgary Flames drafted and—regrettably—moved on from too soon. Be prepared for pain, frustration, and anger as we delve into what could have been! Up next is the fourth honourable mention, Jean-Sébastien Giguère.
The series will consist of 10 players and five honourable mentions. The criteria for the players selected for this list were that they had a career of at least 500 NHL games, the Flames moved on from the players in their mid-20s, and the players had a noteworthy career after leaving Calgary.
Why is Giguère an honourable mention?
First and foremost, “Jiggy” was not drafted by the Flames. The Hartford Whalers originally selected him in the first round of the 1995 NHL Entry Draft, 13th overall. After the Whalers relocated to North Carolina and were rebranded as the Carolina Hurricanes, Giguère was traded to the Flames with Andrew Cassels for Trevor Kidd and Gary Roberts.
The 6-foot-1, 202-pound goaltender played parts of two seasons for the Flames at age 21 to 22. He suited up for 22 games, posting a 7–10–2 record with a .902 save percentage and 3.07 goals against average. Obviously, nothing to get too excited about, but his career after Calgary screams that they should have given him a longer look.
The Flames dealt Giguère to the Mighty Ducks of Anaheim on June 10, 2000, at the young age of 23. As hockey fans know, goaltenders usually take a lot more time to develop. Giguère was no exception, and he blossomed with the Mighty Ducks.
Giguère played the better part of nine seasons for the Mighty Ducks/Anaheim Ducks. Over 447 games with the organization, he recorded 206 wins, a .914 SV%, and a 2.47 GAA. His SV% and GAA bested his career averages of .913 and 2.53, respectively.
Giguère’s career accomplishments
Giguère put together a very respectable career. So much so that his accomplishments are deserving of a section all their own.
He finished top-10 in Vezina Trophy voting four times, including as high as fourth in 2007–08 at the ripe age of 30. That year, his .922 SV% and 2.12 GAA were the best marks of his career. He also won 35 of the 58 games he played.
Three times, Giguère received top-10 votes for the NHL All-Star Team, with his best placing being third in 2007–08.
Giguère won a Stanley Cup with the Ducks in 2006–07, the same year the organization was rebranded from the Mighty Ducks of Anaheim to the Anaheim Ducks. He was ninth in NHL All-Star Team voting and eighth in Vezina Trophy voting that year.
Arguably his most impressive accomplishment, Giguère was awarded the Conn Smythe Trophy as playoff MVP in 2002–03, despite being on the losing team. He is one of five players ever to achieve this feat and the most recent player to do so. It was well-earned, as he came just one win shy of his first Stanley Cup that year. En route to a Cup Finals loss to the New Jersey Devils, Giguère sported 15 wins with a sterling .945 SV% and 1.62 GAA.
What did the Flames have to show for Giguère?
As I previously mentioned, the Flames traded a 23-year-old Giguère to the Mighty Ducks in 2000. For their young goaltender, the Flames received a second-round pick in the 2000 NHL Entry Draft. They then flipped the pick to the Washington Capitals for winger Miika Elomo and a fourth-round pick in the 2000 Draft.
The Capitals used the second-round pick—43rd overall—to draft forward Matt Pettinger. Pettinger—best known as a depth energy player—had a respectable 422-game NHL career before going across seas to the DEL after the 2009–10 season at age 30.
Elomo played two NHL games for the Caps in the season leading up to the trade and recorded an assist. Unfortunately, these were the only two NHL games he ever played. The Finnish forward played the 2000–01 season for the Saint John Flames of the AHL before returning home to the Liiga for good.
The Flames used the fourth-round pick—116th overall—to draft goaltender Levente Szuper. He was, in fact, not super. The Hungarian goaltender played four seasons in the AHL after being drafted but moved back overseas for the next six years. Szuper returned to North America to play in the United States’ Central Hockey League for a couple years but, as you may have guessed by now, he never suited up in the NHL.
Summarizing how costly the Flames’ mistake was
The Flames eventually got their goaltender in Miikka Kiprusoff, but moving on from Jiggy at age 23 is still a tough pill to swallow. First, it cost them a beloved Gary Roberts in the prime of his career (although his most productive offensive years were already behind him). Second, they had nothing to show for the trade that sent him to the Mighty Ducks. The Flames managed to turn the second-round pick they received into two players who combined for zero NHL games played after the trade.
Again, the addition of Kipper obviously mitigates the pain of the disastrous handling of Giguère, but I’m not factoring that into my assessment. The Flames dropped the ball in a big way with Giguère. He wasn’t a cheap acquisition, and they turned that into nothing. Had they kept the pick and drafted Pettinger themselves, I’d still say it was a costly mistake, but much less so.
We’ll never know what the Flames would have done with that pick, but they had a pair of picks—three before and after that one—that they hit on. As a reminder, Pettinger was drafted 43rd overall. The Flames picked Kurtis Foster (405 NHL games) 40th overall and Jarret Stoll (872 NHL games) 46th overall. Who’s to say they wouldn’t have found a good NHLer like Pettinger at 43?
Do you agree with our assessment of the Flames’ handling of Giguère? Let us know your thoughts!
Check out all of The Win Column’s posts from this series:
Main list: #10 Jonas Hoglund | #9 Robert Svehla | #8 Travis Moen | #7 Steve Begin | #6 Sam Bennett | #5 Dion Phaneuf | #4 Derek Morris | #3 Jarret Stoll | #2 Craig Anderson | #1 Cory Stillman
Honourable mentions: #5 Michael Nylander | #4 Jean-Sebastien Giguere | #3 Sean Monahan | #2 Marc Savard | #1 Martin St. Louis
