@FlameRaptorRaven

2mo

Stanley Cup Heroes, Part 7: Getting Giggy with it

You probably immediately noticed the guy holding the trophy who looks dead inside. Well, that is Jean-Sébastien Giguère (JS Giguère). By the end of this, you will understand why he has that look. But first, some background. Giguère was one of the final draft picks of the Hartford Whalers before they moved to Carolina. Specifically, the 13th overall pick in the 1995 draft. Although the first goalie off the board, he wasn’t the top projected goalie, with future analyst Martin Biron ahead of him. Still, Hartford had high hopes for him and he eventually played for the Whalers in 1997, their final season. The Whalers moved to Carolina, Giguère bounced around a bit and eventually found himself on the Ducks. He finally broke out in 2002-03 and received some Vezina votes. His emergence gave Ducks’ fans hope. The Anaheim Ducks, despite being so young, are one of the more successful NHL teams, especially in the playoffs. They rank 5th all-time in playoff winning percentage. That is ahead of the Penguins, Islanders and Avalanche, who each have multiple Stanley Cups. However, heading into their 10th season, the Mighty Ducks (as they were called at the time) only had 1 playoff series win to their name and an 4-11 playoff record to their name. Entering the 2003 playoffs, they would have to face the defending champs, the Detroit Red Wings, in round 1. In Giguère’s first ever playoff game, game 1 against a stacked Red Wings team, he stopped 63 of 64 shots and helped the Ducks win in triple overtime. It’s one of the greatest playoff debuts in NHL history, but it didn’t stop there. Throughout the rest of the series, Giguère had an insane .953 save percentage. As you might have guessed, the Ducks used this incredible performance to upset the Red Wings in a 4-game sweep. Giguère put up a .965 save percentage in his first ever playoff series. Not bad. His side was far from over. The Ducks would face the Dallas Stars in round 2. While not as scary on paper as the Red Wings, the Stars had actually finished with a better regular season record and dominated the Pacific division that Anaheim was a part of. Giguerre started it with a 60 save performance in the 5th longest game in NHL history where Anaheim won in the 5th overtime in game 1. After that, Giguère helped Anaheim win in 6. His magnum opus was in the conference finals against the scrappy Minnesota Wild. In 4 games, Giguère allowed just 1 goal for a cumulative save percentage of .992! The Wild didn’t score a goal on Giguère for the first 3 games and 4 minutes of game 4. It is a mythical performance we will likely never see again. The Ducks faced the Devils in the Cup Final and outside of a very human performance in game 6, Giguère continued his brilliance, only to fall in 7. For his efforts, Giguère became the 5th player to win the Conn Smythe winner as playoff MVP despite being on the losing team. So next time you see that dead look in Giguère’s eyes, just remember he missed out on the Cup by 1 game. You can also take solace in the fact he won the Stanley Cup with the Ducks just 4 years later.

Ducks

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Vegas joins the NHL!

On June 22, 2016, Las Vegas officially became an NHL city when the league awarded Bill Foley’s expansion group the franchise that would become the Vegas Golden Knights. A decade later, that announcement looks like one of the best decisions the NHL has ever made. The Golden Knights became the first major professional sports team in Las Vegas, helping change the city’s reputation as a sports market, and paving the way for the NFL’s Raiders, MLB’s Athletics, and continued NBA expansion talks. Nobody could have known just how quickly the franchise would take off, seeing a trip to the Stanley Cup Final in its debut season, playoff appearances in eight of the first nine years, and a Stanley Cup championship in 2023. Foley ended the announcement with a line that resonates in the heart of all who adore the team and have grown with them, “Las Vegas is hockey-ready. We’re convinced of it. We know it.” Go Vegas, baby!

@Bro

Biggest loser in Hockey?

This has been on my mind a lot lately and yes you can call me salty or whatever. On December 12th 2025 the Vancouver Canucks traded star player Quinn Hughes to the Minnesota Wild for Marco Rossi, Zeev Buimm, Liam Ohgren and a first round pick. Many Canucks like myself were very upset but saw it coming a 100 kilometres away. Buy as soon as Quinn Goes to the Wild he shows his true self. Before his first game against his former team he was asked about his former team and his response “honestly I don’t know any of there guys” Not a good look as*hat He was the Captain of the Canucks for two years and played there for almost 7 seasons. You know at least AT LEAST SIXTEEN OF THEM He also treated his tenure with the Canucks as a prison sentence always with one word answers but as soon as he goes to the Wild he’s all jolly. He never seemed happy even though his best years so far are with Vancouver. He never smiled and never did anything for this community he never cared to help people less fortunate in Vancouver especially going to B.C. Children’s Hospital where Canucks captains always have gone. No he’s done nothing. Sorry this was kinda a rant

@rafiki

"Fresh from the bench it's Crosby"

The Pittsburgh Penguins entered the 2017 Stanley Cup Playoffs looking to do something that had not been done in nearly two decades: win back-to-back championships. After defeating the San Jose Sharks in the 2016 Final, Sidney Crosby, Evgeni Malkin, Kris Letang, and the Penguins' core returned. The regular season was far from easy. Pittsburgh dealt with injuries throughout the year, including a significant absence from Letang, who missed the entirety of the playoffs with a herniated disc, but still finished with 50 wins and earned the second seed in the Metropolitan Division. Their toughest test up to that point came in the second round against the Washington Capitals. For the second straight postseason, the Penguins faced their longtime rival, who had won the Presidents' Trophy and entered the series as the favorite. Pittsburgh once again ended Washington's season, winning 2-0 in Game 7 on the road to eliminate the Capitals for the second consecutive year. The Eastern Conference Final against the Ottawa Senators was another battle. After the teams split the first six games, the series went to a deciding Game 7 in Pittsburgh. Chris Kunitz became the hero, scoring his second goal of the game in double overtime to send the Penguins back to the Stanley Cup Final for the second straight year. I can still hear Lange's voice: "Fresh from the bench it's Crosby; Crosby onto Kunitz; Kunitz a shot; HE SCOOOOOOORES!!! PENGUINS WIN IT! AND THEY GO TO THE FINAL!" In the Stanley Cup Final, the teams traded home wins through the first four games before Pittsburgh took control with a 6-0 victory in Game 5, setting up a chance to close out the series in Nashville. Game 6 remained scoreless for most of the night until Patric Hornqvist, a former Predator, scored with just 1:35 remaining in the third period. Carl Hagelin added an empty-net goal, giving Pittsburgh a 2-0 victory and its fifth Stanley Cup in franchise history. With the win, the Penguins became the first team in the salary cap era and the first since the 1997-98 Detroit Red Wings to win consecutive Stanley Cups. Sidney Crosby also became just the third player in NHL history to win the Conn Smythe Trophy in back-to-back seasons, leading the Penguins' core of himself, Malkin, and Letang to their 3rd Stanley Cup. Looking back, after Crosby and Letang joined Malkin in the 2005 draft, I don't think anyone could've predicted that they would create one of the most successful and long-lasting cores of the modern NHL. After 20 years, these three managed to accumulate 3 Stanley Cups, 3 Harts, 3 Conn Smythes, 4 Art Rosses, 5 Ted Linsays, and 23 All-Star Selections, proving their greatness. Crosby is still performing at the highest level on his classic $8.7 million contract; Malkin signed a $5.5 million 1-year contract for the 2026-27 season; and Letang is also looking to return. They are not surrounded by the team that won those back-to-back cups, but they are still acting as the glue holding together a young and rising Pens Team.