They are saying hindsight is 20/20. So, I’m fairly constructive each single NHL normal supervisor appears again wistfully at former gamers who merely couldn’t minimize the mustard on his group however then discovered stardom enjoying for one more franchise. Of all positions, it’s no secret that goaltenders are probably the most tough to judge and develop.
Their development into full-time professionals can take twice so long as skaters and even then, there isn’t a assure of success. That’s why it’s no shock the Calgary Flames have punted a number of notable netminders who flamed out in cowtown, solely to search out success elsewhere.
Former Flame Jean-Sebastien Giguere Turned a Stanley Cup MVP in Anaheim
If you happen to blinked, you might need missed Jean-Sébastien Giguère‘s quick stint with the Flames. The product of Montreal, Quebec arrived in Calgary in 1997 through a commerce with the Carolina Hurricanes and truly spent three seasons within the group. Nonetheless, he solely discovered his means into 22 NHL video games, going 7-10-2 with a lackluster 3.07 goals-against common (GAA) and a .902 save proportion (SV%).
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Giguère was initially drafted by the Hartford Whalers thirteenth general within the 1995 entry draft and was thought-about a high goaltending prospect. Nonetheless, over three years, his mixed numbers within the NHL and American Hockey League (AHL) merely weren’t ok for the Flames, in order that they traded him to the Mighty Geese of Anaheim throughout the 2000 offseason in alternate for a second-round choose. Trying again, former Calgary normal supervisor Craig Button in all probability would have appreciated to offer the lanky “Jiggy” only one extra probability.
As soon as he arrived in sunny California, Giguère’s fortunes turned nearly instantly. He suited up 34 occasions in his first marketing campaign in Anaheim and by the 2001-02 season, he was the group’s beginning netminder – a job he efficiently held for the subsequent seven years. Whereas he put up some fairly spectacular common season numbers throughout his tenure with the Geese, it was his otherworldly efficiency within the 2003 Stanley Cup Playoffs that made the previous Flame a family identify.
In an incredible run, Giguère went 15-6 whereas posting a 1.62 GAA and .945 SV%. Whereas Anaheim fell in need of profitable the Stanley Cup, No. 35 nonetheless gained the Conn Smythe Trophy, turning into solely the fifth participant in NHL historical past to safe the award with out hoisting up the Cup. However, let’s not really feel too badly for “Jiggy,” as he finally received his ring after he led the Geese to the franchise’s first championship in 2007. After being traded to the Toronto Maple Leafs throughout the 2009-10 season, the French Canadian goaltender completed out his enjoying days with the Colorado Avalanche in 2014, recording a 262-216-75 document together with a 2.53 GAA and a .913 SV%. Not too shabby for a man the Flames utterly gave up on.
Dwayne Roloson Couldn’t Stick in Calgary However Led Edmonton to a Stanley Cup Ultimate
Whereas the extremely touted Giguère was struggling to discover a place within the Flames group, the group was proper in the course of creating undrafted Dwayne Roloson of their farm system. After signing as a free agent and enjoying a few years for the AHL Saint John Flames, Roloson was referred to as as much as the massive membership throughout the 1996-97 marketing campaign. For the subsequent two seasons, “Roli the Goalie” put up first rate numbers on a rebuilding Calgary group, going 19-30-9 with a 2.89 GAA. Nonetheless, the Flames then determined to maneuver on from the native of Simcoe, Ontario, in 1998, buying and selling him to the Buffalo Sabres, the place he backed up Dominik Hasek for 2 years.
Roloson might be the textbook definition of a late-bloomer, as he bounced across the hockey world for years earlier than lastly discovering main success. After being picked up within the 2000 Columbus Blue Jackets enlargement draft, “Roli” as an alternative signed with the St. Louis Blues AHL farm group. That profitable minor league stint led to a possibility to rejoin the NHL with the Minnesota Wild in 2001 and that’s when his profession actually took off.
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At age 34, Roloson not solely appeared in his first NHL All-Star Sport, however he additionally recorded the most effective SV% within the league throughout the 2003-04 marketing campaign. After one other profitable season in Minnesota, No. 35 was traded in March 2006 to Calgary’s arch-rival, the Edmonton Oilers, in alternate for a first-round draft choose. Sarcastically, it was in Oil nation the place the previous Flame actually made a reputation for himself because the beginning goaltender throughout the Oiler’s Cinderella 2006 Stanley Cup run.
Roloson posted a sensational document of 12–5 by way of the primary three rounds and was thought-about a front-runner for the Conn Smythe Trophy if the Oilers have been victorious within the closing. Sadly, throughout Sport 1 in opposition to the Carolina Hurricanes, the group’s playoff MVP suffered a third-degree MCL sprain on his proper knee and was knocked out of the collection. Edmonton would in the end lose the collection in seven video games, however Roloson had established himself because the franchise’s primary netminder and went on to play three extra seasons in Oil nation.
In the summertime of 2009, Roloson grew to become an unrestricted free agent and selected to sign up New York to play for the Islanders, however he discovered himself on the transfer once more simply a few years later after being traded to the Tampa Bay Lightning. On the ripe outdated age of 42, the veteran goaltender lastly hung up his skates in 2012. After enjoying 606 NHL video games, he completed with a document of 227-257-82, a 2.72 GAA and a .908 SV%. Whereas he was by no means a celebrity, “Roli the Goalie” may have been a reliable puck stopper in Calgary for a few years if the Flames had given him extra of an opportunity.
The Flames Handed on Drafting Corridor of Famer Martin Brodeur
OK, I do know this subsequent one is a little bit of a stretch. No, Martin Brodeur was by no means a Flame, however he most actually may have been enjoying in entrance of the C of Purple if group administration had picked him within the 1990 NHL Entry Draft. As a substitute, the Flames brokered a cope with the New Jersey Devils to maneuver as much as the No.11 slot to pick the draft’s highest-ranked goalie prospect, the Brandon Wheat Kings’ Trevor Kidd. In the meantime, the Devils used their No. 20 choice to snag Brodeur, a lesser-known prospect from the Quebec Main Junior league.
Keep in mind once I mentioned hindsight is 20/20? Might you think about if the Flames had been those who took an opportunity on the lower-ranked Brodeur? Speak about a franchise-altering transfer! Kidd was speculated to be the inheritor obvious to the Flames’ Stanley Cup-winning netminder Mike Vernon, and whereas he did finally safe the primary goaltender job, he by no means discovered nice success in Calgary and was traded out of cowtown in 1997. He ended up being considerably of a journeyman NHLer with stops in Carolina, Florida and Toronto. The native of Dugald, Manitoba, was out of the massive leagues by the top of the 2003-04 season and completed with a middling 140-162-52 document, a 2.84 GAA and a .901 SV% in 387 video games performed.
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If we examine Kidd’s ode to mediocrity to the spectacular profession of Brodeur, I’m fairly certain the heads of each single Flames fan will begin spinning till they finally pop proper off. I would want to put in writing a very separate article to completely doc the lengthy checklist of No. 30’s spectacular accomplishments, so right here’s a small sampling to offer you an thought of why he was a first-ballot Corridor of Famer and is within the dialog for being the best goalie of all time.
- Calder Trophy as Rookie of the Yr
- Three Stanley Cups
- 4 Vezina Trophies
- 9 NHL All-Star Sport Appearances
- Most NHL video games performed by a goaltender – 1,266
- Most Common Season Wins – 691
- Most Common Season Shutouts – 125
- Most Profession Saves – 28,508
I’m not even together with his profession playoff data, however I feel you get the image. Brodeur retired in 2015 after 21 stellar NHL seasons and completed with a 691-397-154 document, a 2.24 GAA and a .912 SV%. As I mentioned earlier than, projecting which goaltenders will hit and which can in the end miss is an nearly not possible job. However, it’s nonetheless a really fascinating train to look again at who the Flames let go or didn’t even draft and wistfully surprise: “What if?”
