Goalie-in-Waiting Giguere Recalled

The future of Duck goaltending arrived in town but took a seat in the Arrowhead Pond stands instead of playing Friday against the Edmonton Oilers.

Jean-Sebastien Giguere was recalled from Cincinnati of the American Hockey League because Guy Hebert has a sore left thumb and the club wasn’t certain he could play. Hebert did play and Giguere was scratched.

If the first few weeks of the season are any indication, it won’t be long before Giguere, 23, becomes a fixture in goal for the Ducks. Giguere is 4-0 with a 1.00 goals-against average and a .957 save percentage for Cincinnati.

Hebert, the last original Duck, is 33 and has only this season and next left on his contract, so it stands to reason that Giguere will slowly but surely inherit the No. 1 job in Anaheim.

Certainly, Giguere believed he would be in the NHL by now, but Dominic Roussel edged him out for the backup’s job in training camp.

“It was pretty disappointing to be sent down,” Giguere said. “But I’m sure I’m going to learn from it. Obviously, I didn’t play well enough to stay here. I want to be here, but they’re not going to just give it to me. It’s up to me to get a spot.”

Giguere, drafted 13th overall by Hartford in the 1995 draft, has played only 30 games in the NHL. He was 1-3-1 with a 2.73 goals-against average in seven appearances last season with the Calgary Flames.

Calgary didn’t believe it could protect Giguere in the expansion draft in June, and traded him to the Ducks for a second-round pick rather than lose him to Columbus or Minnesota and get nothing in return.

“The last two years were years I didn’t move up or gain anything,” Giguere said of his tenure in Calgary. “This year, I’m working on my technique and on being more consistent. If I play a lot of games and be consistent, it’ll help me. It’s not bad to play down there [at Cincinnati]. At some point you need to move up. At some point, if I wait a little longer, I’ll show I’m ready to come up and face the music.”

It was unclear whether Giguere would return to Cincinnati today or join the Ducks for a two-game trip to play Sunday at Calgary and Monday at Edmonton.

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The pain in defenseman Ruslan Salei’s sore left foot eased enough to allow him to return to the lineup Friday. Salei, who took a slap shot off his boot in the Ducks’ 4-3 victory Oct. 21 against Philadelphia, was sidelined for two games.

“It’s good enough to go,” he said at the morning skate. “The pain is not going to go away after one night. It’s still painful, but you can take this pain.”