There is no way under the sun that Jean-Sebastien Giguere deserved the effing Conn Smythe Trophy.
Martin Bodeur set a playoff record for shutouts.
Jeff Friesen did not ever score a meaningless goal.
Scott Stevens was plus, like, a million.
The Conn Smythe is a privilege, not a recognition of a flameout performance. Sure, he got the Ducks there. But. And this is a bigger “but” than J.Lo could ever hope to have. Nobody who gives up three goals in a GAME 7 deserves the effing Conn Smythe.
Giguere totally deserved it. And this is why.
Brodeur carried his team to the finals, but Giguere carried his team more. Up until Game 5 (I think??) he was a stone wall through the playoffs, dispatching the biggest two teams in the West. The Devils beat…Boston and Tampa Bay. Point-wise, #5 and #7 in the Eastern Conference. Granted they then had to play Ottawa, the President’s Trophy winner, to get to the finals, but that series did not strike me to be nearly as much of a competition as the Ducks’ series against Minnesota.
And of course Brodeur has a lot of shutouts, he plays behind one of the best defenses in the NHL.
The trophy goes to the Most Valuable Player in the playoffs. Anaheim would have gotten nowhere if not for Giguere.
Nope. I’m in Jersey. I love my Devils and I nearly got thrown out of the pub last night for hurling invective at the television when they announced the Conn Smythe winner as B.S. Giguere.
Brodeur didn’t set a record for OT minutes without a goal (or go 7-0 in overtime). To say Giguere ‘flamed out’ when his team lost to a much better New Jersey team is… well, you’re just pulling for your own team, and you happen to be wrong.
The Devils have won three cups in 9 years, the Ducks had to upset several teams that were much more experienced than they (SWEPT defending-champion Detroit and beat Dallas), and I think they were the lower seed in every series. He carried them on his back the entire way at age 26. He’s absolutely the right guy. I think it’s impressive that this team even took the Devils to 7 games.
Well I was at the game last night and was extremely surprised at his winning the CST. There have only been a few times in history that the CST has been awarded to someone on the losing team. If I recall correctly, most of the time it was awarded to the goalie.
Now, I would have liked to have had Friesen win the thing.
Hell - I’m just happy we won THE REAL DEAL!!! (and mind you, very, very, exhausted today.)
I happen to be WRONG? The great thing about sports is that they’re subjective. Sure, Giguere had a great playoff series. Sure, he buckled down in the extra periods. But Brodeur shut people down. And the Devils defense and trapping system should not be a reason to forget that.
What about Stevens? Paul Kariya was pretty much a non-factor because of him. What about Friesen? He was just as clutch on the scoring end as Giguere was in net. And if Madden had had a better Finals, I would have suggested him. He made Thornton and Lecavalier look like mites.
Jiggy had a great run. And sure I’m hometowning it up a bit. But I get to, simply because there are arguments to be made for a few players, and I’d rather argue for one of my own boys.
Hell, if it were up to me, I’d give the damn trophy to Ken Daneyko, for playing all those years here in Jersey and for being the class act on a great team.
The Ducks very nearly won the Stanley Cup without any players in the top 10 in playoff scoring (Oates and Sykora were tied for 10th). If that doesn’t highlight what Giguere did for the team, nothing will. I’m astonished that people are not only reacting that this wasn’t a foregone conclusion but that he shouldn’t have been near the trophy.
