Jiggy’s Place in Stanley Cup History
Unheralded teams make surprising runs to the Stanley Cup final all the time. The '96 Florida Panthers, '98 Washington Capitals and '02 Carolina Hurricanes are among those who have turned the hockey world on its ear. Now we have the Anaheim Mighty Ducks, seventh place in the Western Conference, unlikely killer of Red Wings and Stars, and four wins away from the big prize.
But you have to go much further back to find a team riding such a spectacular playoff breakthrough by a young goaltender. The Ducks’ Jean-Sebastian Giguere has been the prevailing story – some would say the only great story – of the 2003 Stanley Cup playoffs. Regardless of what happens in the final series, Giguere will almost surely win the Conn Smythe Trophy as the Stanley Cup playoff MVP.
Seeking a point of reference for Giguere’s performance, many recall 1986. There are a couple of obvious parallels between the '03 Mighty Ducks and '86 Montreal Canadiens: Both teams finished the regular season in the middle of the pack, showing little promise as a playoff contender. Both teams rolled through the playoffs on the shoulders of a relatively unknown goaltender – the Canadiens had Patrick Roy, the Ducks have Giguere.
But look a little closer and the comparison weakens.
Giguere is in his second season as the Ducks' number-one goalie, and began the playoffs with 182 NHL games under his belt. He just turned 26, an age when many NHL starters begin to find their game.
Roy, on the other hand, was 20 years old in 1986. He was coming off a decent rookie season, but it is simply unheard of for a goaltender to lead his team to the Stanley Cup at such a young age.
Another Montreal legend, Ken Dryden, was a rookie with just six games of NHL experience when the 1971 playoffs began. A few weeks later he was a Stanley Cup champion and playoff MVP.
In 1987, Ron Hextall finished his rookie year by taking the Philadelphia Flyers within one game of a championship. He was named the Conn Smythe winner despite losing game seven of the Stanley Cup final against Edmonton.
Giguere’s likely counterpart in the year’s final series, Martin Brodeur of the New Jersey Devils, was named rookie of the year in 1994 and lifted his first Stanley Cup in 1995. Like Hextall and Dryden, he was 23 years old at the end of his first great playoff run.
It should also be noted that Giguere has arrived during one of the NHL’s most conservative eras. Defense and the elimination of risk are the keys to success in today’s NHL. Consider Giguere’s latest achievement: three consecutive shutouts in the Western Conference final. In the NHL’s first 85 years, only three goaltenders managed such a feat in a playoff series. Now it has happened three times in the last two years. And is it unfair to point out that goalies of the 1980s and earlier looked a lot smaller than today’s bulked-up Michelin men?
Such comparisons do not reflect poorly on Giguere or his remarkable spring. In one respect, Giguere's journey to this year's Stanley Cup final is more impressive than Patrick Roy's 1986 post-season: The '86 Canadiens, benefiting from a series of upsets, did not face any of the top regular season teams on their way to the Stanley Cup. The Ducks, on the other hand, began their conquest of the West by disposing of two of the big dogs, Detroit and Dallas.
There is no doubt that without Giguere, the Mighty Ducks would not have survived the first round. But to secure a place among hockey’s great young playoff goalies, he must either win the Stanley Cup or carry his current level of play into next season and several seasons beyond. Anything less and his incredible run of 2003 will go down as just another Stanley Cup footnote.
More on the Stanley Cup Conference Finals:
News Flash: Hockey Justice Not Perfect!
Getting What You Paid For?
More Stanley Cup Notes:
Hockey Experts on the Loose Again!
Upsets and Abuse in the Opening Round
