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Report: Avs’ Giguere set to retire

jsgigueregetty

One of the few players to win a Conn Smythe despite losing the Cup Final is ready to hang up the skates.

On Monday, reports of J.S. Giguere’s looming retirement surfaced -- per TVA’s Renaud Lavoie -- suggesting the 37-year-old goalie was set to end his 18-year career, pending conversations with both his agent and the National Hockey League Players’ Association.

A former first-round pick of Hartford (13th overall, 1995), Giguere played for the Whalers, Flames, Ducks, Leafs and Avalanche, with most of his success coming during a 10-year stint with in Anaheim. His finest season came during the 2002-03 campaign, when he went 34-22-6 with a .920 save percentage, 2.30 GAA and eight shutouts during the regular season...then went on a playoff run to remember, posting an eye-popping .945 save percentage and 1.62 GAA in 21 games as the Ducks eventually lost to the Devils in Game 7 of the Stanley Cup Final.

In winning the Conn Smythe that year, Giguere became one of just 16 goalies to win the award and, as mentioned above, one of just five players to capture playoff MVP despite playing for the losing team in the Cup Final.

Four years after that famous postseason run, Giguere would win a Cup win Anaheim, backstopping the team to the ’07 championship over Ottawa. After leaving Anaheim, he reinvented himself as a quality veteran backup, which included a stellar ’11-12 campaign in Colorado when he made 32 appearances while posting a .919 save percentage and 2.27 GAA.