Jean-Sebastien Giguere’s Post-Game Tirade

April 1, 2013; Detroit, MI, USA; Colorado Avalanche goalie Jean-Sebastien Giguere (35) makes a save in the third period against the Detroit Red Wings at Joe Louis Arena. Detroit won 3-2. Mandatory Credit: Rick Osentoski-USA TODAY Sports

After the Colorado Avalanche lost their game last night to the Calgary Flames Adrian Dater of the Denver Post decided to talk with goalie Jean-Sebastien Giguere. Giguere was fuming and proceeded to go off on his team, starting off general but eventually really throwing them under the bus. Here are all the quotes Dater included in his article:

"“As long as we don’t understand that we have to play better in our zone, we’ll never win any games. We have to do a better job in our own zone. That’s where it starts. We have to learn this at some point.”The (allowing) the first goal is one part of it (problems), but I think it comes down to us not playing very well defensively. We spend too much time in our own zone, and that’s hard. That’s where it’s hard. We know we can score some goals, we have some offensive tools. But when you spend part of the second period in your zone and give up too many scoring chances, you’re not going to win games like that.“We talk about it every day. At some point, we have to understand. There’s no more excuses. It’s not about being young, it’s not about … we have to put our head into the game.”“Some guys are more worried about their Vegas trip at the end of the season than playing the games, than playing every minute of the games. Quite frankly, I don’t care about your Vegas trip right now.”“It’s not constructive. We have to find a way to get out of this losing mentality, you know? It starts with me and the guy beside me and everyone has to do their part.”“It’s embarrassing. I’m embarrassed to be here right now. It’s not even funny.”“I don’t know what it is. I’ve been around for 15 years in this league and I don’t know what it is. I don’t know why we seem like we don’t care at points. I don’t know, I don’t know we seem like, you know — some guys are fighting to show that they belong in the NHL, some guys are fighting for contracts. And it’s just embarrassing, the way we, you know, the energy we have in the room and the way we approach practices and the way we approach this game. It’s not how you’re going to win any games in this league. I mean, this is a team (Calgary) that we can beat if we set our minds to it, and every day is the same story. I don’t know what to say. I’m beyond words right now.”“But that was just one game. It’s easy to get going when you play a team that is going to embarrass you if you don’t play well. You’ve got to play like this against every team in this league. There’s not one easy game in this league, so you’ve got to play hard and you’ve got to play well every night. You’ve got to find a way to get yourself motivated and focused. It has nothing to do with who you’re playing. It’s about how you prepare yourself and how you approach the game. It’s not about which team you’re playing. Yeah, everybody’s going to get motivated when you play the Hawks. I mean, the building is full and that’s easy to do. But can you get yourself going when you play the Calgary Flames? Can you do that right now? And obviously, we’re too immature to do that.”"

These are some pretty powerful words coming from the veteran net-minder. Before I comment I just want to say that I am not familiar with how the Avalanche have been playing this season. My teams are in the east so I haven’t seen them play. With that in mind there is one thing that Giguere said that really hit home for me and that is his final comment about the team being immature. This is something that struck me as very powerful especially considering that the team captain is Gabriel Landeskog, 20-year-old Calder Trophy winner.

Now I know Giggy has been around the block and knows a thing or two but to call out your team like this is unsportsmanlike. Giggy is not the captain of the team, as a veteran some guys might look up to him but it is still not his job to say these things to the media. The spirit of what he said was not about motivating his team but about airing his dirty laundry. He should not have said what he did.

The repercussions of what he said will not be felt until the Avalanche plays the Anaheim Ducks tomorrow night but I don’t think this tirade will have a positive effect on the team at all. It will definitely effect the atmosphere in the room in a negative way giving me low hopes for the remainder of the Avalanche season.