This Day in Hockey History – May 14, 2003 – Giguere Shuts Out Lemaire’s 100th

For the 2002-03 Western Conference finals, the Anaheim Ducks swept the Minnesota Wild. In Game 3, held May 14, two records were set, one for each side.

Before 17,174 at Arrowhead Pond, Jacques Lemaire led the Wild through his 100th playoff game as a coach. He had already played 145 games during his 11 NHL postseasons with the Montreal Canadiens, in which he helped them win a whopping eight Stanley Cup championships. His former linemate, Steve Shutt, said, “Once he got into the playoffs, Lemaire was probably one of the best players I’ve ever seen.”

The same season Lemaire began coaching in Quebec, 1983-84, he was inducted into the Hockey Hall of Fame. After seven years coaching the New Jersey Devils (including leading them to a Stanley Cup in 1994-95), Lemaire began coaching the Minnesota Wild in 2000. In this third year as their coach, he became the first to coach 100 postseason games after playing 100 or more. As former teammate Jean Beliveau said, “He was a hockey intellectual, but few people realized this until after his playing career was over. Jacques constantly brought out the best in Guy Lafleur, but his post-playing contributions have proved even more important.”

Unfortunately for Lemaire, his 100th game as an NHL coach did not go well for his team. Instead, Anaheim’s goalie, Jean-Sebastien Giguere, shut them out. With 35 saves, Giguere had his third consecutive shutout, matching Frank McCool’s 1945 record. The shots he faced throughout all three games totaled 98 shots. His streak had lasted 213 minutes and 17 seconds, which was 35 minutes shy of Normie Smith’s 1936 record.

Naturally, Giguere’s teammates supported him generously. Captain Paul Kariya, who had scored two goals that game, said, “He [Giguere] should be center stage. He deserves to be there.” According to defenseman Keith Carney, “He [Giguere] has been the best player in the playoffs. It is not a surprise to us.” Fellow defenseman Ruslan Salei commented, “He [Giguere] is making history.” Giguere himself told the press, “I’m taking it shot by shot and game by game, but it’s still a little surreal.”

Offensively, the Ducks scored once in the first period and then three times within about five and a half minutes during the second. “The more they score, the more you slow down,” explained Coach Lemaire. He was forced to switch out Minnesota’s goalies about midway through the game. Without any goals thus far in the series, the Wild were on track to set the record for fewest goals scored in a four-game series. Back in 1952, the record of two goals for four games was set. Trying not to lose confidence, Wild right wing Sergei Zholtok said, “Any team that gets shut out three times in a row would be frustrated. But we were playing hard until the end. The coaches were stressing that, and nobody quit. That’s a good sign.”

By the third period, the fans chanted, “Sweep, sweep, sweep.” The Ducks had won their 11th of 13 playoff games. “They outplayed us tonight,” admitted Coach Lemaire. “We should have dug a little deeper. We’ve got to get our you-know-what’s together.” Hoping to stay in the series, Minnesota left wing Andrew Brunette said, “We’ve just got to win one game. There’s no quit in us. There never was and there never will be. We’ll regroup and get excited about it and play our best game the next game. We’ve just got to worry about one game.” On the other hand, his goalie, Manny Fernandez, rationalized, “If we lose in four, I think everyone should be happy with the season we had. If there isn’t anymore juice in the tank, everybody should be happy because it has been a great season. But we have never given up, and it’s not going to happen . . . not now.”  

The Ducks completed their sweep on May 16. In the process, Minnesota scored at 4:37 of the first period, so Giguere did not have another shutout nor beat the record for the length of his shutout streak. Having advanced to the Stanley Cup finals, the Ducks lost to the New Jersey Devils, Coach Lemaire’s former and future team. Though they lost, Giguere was honored by winning the Conn Smythe Trophy. In 2006-07, the Ducks and Giguere earned their first Stanley Cup.

Meanwhile, for the Wild, Lemaire stayed on as coach through the 2008-09 season before returning to New Jersey. In his 17 years coaching in the NHL, his record (617-458-187) tallied 1421 points.

Additional Sources:

• “A Wild Goose-Egg Chase,” Los Angeles Times, 15 May 2003, pp. D1 and D8-D9.
• “Wild’s Game Plan Has Been Pointless,” Los Angeles Times, 15 May 2003, p. D9.
• “Game 3,” Minneapolis Star Tribune, 15 May 2003, pp. S1 and S3.
• “This is all too familiar,” Minneapolis Star Tribune, 15 May 2003, p. S3.
• “Wild vs. Anaheim,” Minneapolis Star Tribune, 15 May 2003, p. S4.
• https://www.nhl.com/news/jacques-lemaire-100-greatest-nhl-hockey-players/c-284849882?tid=283865022