Goaltenders
Goaltenders |
|---|
Patrick Roy (37) |
Jean-Sébastien Giguère (36) |
Devan Dubnyk (34) |
Goalie Trio: Patrick Roy, Jean-Sébastien Giguère, Devan Dubnyk
Patrick Roy, 37
Avalanche: 1995-96 - 2002-03 | 478GP, 2.27GAA, 0.918SV%
NHL Career: 1984-85 - 2002-03 | 1,029GP, 2.54GAA, 0.910SV%
Despite playing a majority of his games (and winning three Vezina Trophies and a Stanley Cup) with the Montréal Canadiens, many associate Patrick Roy with the Colorado Avalanche.
Is this because he won two Stanley Cups in his eight seasons in Denver and because he passed Terry Sawchuk's then-record for most wins by a goalie, all while wearing an Avs sweater? Undoubtedly.
Is this because he picked a fight with Anaheim Ducks head coach Bruce Boudreau and nearly broke down the stanchion between the benches in his first game as the bench boss for the Avs — and his subsequent abandonment of his role as head coach of the Avalanche in August 2016, just six weeks before the start of training camp? Undoubtedly.
Do the fans in Colorado still adore Patrick Roy, exemplified most recently when the crowd at Ball Arena cheered him on in his return as a head coach, this time for the New York Islanders? Undoubtedly.
Jean-Sébastien Giguère, 36
Avalanche: 2011-12 - 2013-14 | 72GP, 2.51GAA, 0.914SV%
NHL Career: 1996-97 - 2013-14 | 597GP, 2.53GAA, 0.913SV%
Giguère spent three seasons backing up Semyon Varlamov in the Mile High City, and he ended his career as an Av. Despite the middling production of the team rostered around him from 2011-2014, Giguère personally played rather will in his limited deployment.
Appropriately, as both Giguère and Teemu Selänne played for both the Avalanche and the Ducks, the two teams ended their respective 2013-14 seasons in a game against each other. That game would also be the two veterans' last games in the NHL. In honor of this, Selänne was named all three stars of the game in front of the doting Anaheim crowd, and he took his celebratory, ceremonial last laps arm-in-arm with Giguère.
Devan Dubnyk, 34
Avalanche: 2020-21 | 5GP, 3.26GAA, 0.886SV%
NHL Career: 2009-10 - 2020-21 | 542GP, 2.61GAA, 0.914SV%
Dubnyk routinely stymied the Colorado Avalanche as the starting goaltender for for multiple division rival teams across a span of seven seasons. From 2013-14 through 2020-21, Dubnyk played for three different teams: the Nashville Predators, Arizona Coyotes, and, most notably, the Minnesota Wild. Of all the teams Dubnyk started against in his career, the Avs are tied for first with St. Louis at 38. The next closest after them is the Vancouver Canucks at 28.
Needing goaltending depth as the 2020-21 playoffs approached — and having seen, first-hand, how good a goalie "Dubie" could be — the Avs traded for him at the deadline that year. He only made five appearances for the Avs, in the regular season, and he did not play in the playoffs, from which the Avs were unceremoniously bounced in the second round by the Vegas Golden Knights. After that season, he attempted to find his foothold back into the NHL by signing with the AHL's Charlotte Checkers, but he retired soon thereafter. He now periodically appears on the NHL Network as an analyst, and he runs "Dubnyk Development," a mentorship program for goalies of all ages and skill levels.
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