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Giguere set to return to lineup

November 10th, 2009, 7:00 am · 8 Comments · posted by Curtis Zupke, Staff writer

Jean-Sebastien Giguere hopes his latest comeback is his last. Blue Jackets Ducks Hockey

After a nagging groin-muscle injury kept him out for more than two weeks, Giguere figures to return to the lineup this week as the Ducks go on a four-game road trip.

“It seems like it took a long time, but I think it’s for the better,” Giguere said after Monday’s practice.

“I was hoping that (the recovery) would be a little bit quicker, but I got it pretty good.”

Giguere will serve as backup to Jonas Hiller for most of the trip and should see action because the Ducks will play four games in six days. They play at New Jersey on Wednesday and have back-to-back games at Columbus and Detroit on Friday and Saturday before Pittsburgh on Monday.

“I’m sure we’re going to have to use Giguere here very shortly,” Coach Randy Carlyle said. “We’ll see how things go on Wednesday in New Jersey.”

Giguere had been having groin-muscle issues leading up to the Oct.24 game against Columbus and re-injured it when he stretched trying to stop a shot by Fedor Tyutin with 3:22 remaining.

Giguere left the ice, and Tyutin’s goal was the game winner.

He had felt fine up that point, though, and said he doesn’t regret the decision to come back.

“The last game I played, I felt I was ready,” Giguere said.

Giguere has been skating for a week and gone through full practices for several days without any setback.

The Ducks were comfortable enough to re-assign backup goaltender Justin Pogge to Bakersfield of the East Coast Hockey League.

Pogge did not appear in a game during his two-week stint, but Carlyle said it was beneficial for the 23-year-old to spend time with the club.

“One thing about Justin I admire is he stayed after practice,” Carlyle said. “Those are the tough ones – when you’re the third goalie and people are recovering from injuries – you get all the dirty work. Those are things you appreciate.”

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 8 Comments

  • OsamaRosenberg says:
    November 10, 2009 at 8:01 am

    I hope he does not screw up some games for us again.

  • Alisa says:
    November 10, 2009 at 10:09 am

    Just in reading Carlyle’s comments about the fact that we’ll see how things go on Wednesday and when Jiggy could see game action again.. I feel like Carlyle himself doesn’t have much confidence in Jiggy anymore….

  • Chaz says:
    November 10, 2009 at 10:39 am

    http://www.tsn.ca/nhl/story/?id=297862

    Jiggy would rather retire than be a backup. Hmmm…

  • Alisa says:
    November 10, 2009 at 11:12 am

    I posted this on the other Jiggy/Hiller blog post, but in case no one sees it…

    Jiggy confirmed today to the LA Daily News that he’d rather retire than be a backup and that now is the time for management to make a decision as to whether or not they want him or Hiller.

    Ball’s in management’s court now.

    There’s a story on the TSN website about it…

  • OsamaRosenberg says:
    November 10, 2009 at 11:47 am

    Alisa, if he retires, is his $6 mil. per year will count against the salary cup?

  • Alisa says:
    November 10, 2009 at 12:15 pm

    Good question. I think that there’s some rule whereby it still counts against the cap, I think. He’s under 35, so it’s not like the Ducks can just get out of his cap hit just by retirement. I think there’s some clause in the CBA that prohibits that from happening because they don’t want teams to find “creative ways” to get out of a cap hit when a signing doesn’t work out. Perhaps there’s some sort of exception for long-term, career-ending injury. But I doubt they get out of the cap hit purely because Jiggy doesn’t want to be a back up anymore

    • Steben says:
      November 10, 2009 at 1:13 pm

      Yeah he’s only 32. But if he wants to leave he just might get traded. if Murray can find a dance partner so to speak.

  • backcheck says:
    November 11, 2009 at 3:26 am

    I skimmed the CBA but didn’t see a section or article titled retirement. So this is an educated guess. All contracts are approved by the NHL and filed with the Central Registry. If a player retires, he is required to notify the league and his team. His contract is then pulled from the Central Registry and would not count against the cap.