Deal Makes Giguere, Ducks Happy Campers

The Mighty Ducks will have their No. 1 goalie in net when they open training camp at Disney Ice today.

Jean-Sebastien Giguere, who won the Conn Smythe Trophy as the most valuable player of last season’s playoffs, agreed Wednesday to a four-year contract worth $19.5 million, ending the prospect of a messy holdout. He will receive $4.5 million this season, with incentive clauses. He will make $4.5 million in 2004-05 and $5.25 million in each of the following two seasons.

“I’m very happy to get this finally over,” said Giguere, who flew in from Montreal on Wednesday morning. “I did not want to miss any part of training camp. It is very important to have a good start this season.

“There was a little pressure on both sides, knowing that training camp was coming. I think knowing that, there was a little more pressure to get it done.”

Camp will begin without Petr Sykora, who had a team-high 34 goals last season, as he remains unsigned. He is believed to be seeking more than $4 million a season.

Still, the Ducks secured their goalie and some peace of mind, as they get ready to defend their Western Conference title. The two sides were about $3 million apart until the last few days.

“We’re very happy to get it done,” General Manager Bryan Murray said. “It is an indication that J.S. wanted to be here the first day. Partway through the negotiations [Tuesday] night, he made a commitment to get on a plane and head this way. We were fortunate to get this done.

” ... We discussed goaltenders who missed training camp. There are exceptions, but generally speaking they have tough years. You have to have your goaltender the focal point of the team, let the players have no excuses other than to play.”

Giguere will be the cornerstone the Ducks build on after coming within one victory of winning the Stanley Cup last season. He has had solid performances the last two regular seasons, topped by his performance in the playoffs last spring. Giguere had five shutouts and a 1.62 goals-against average. The Ducks extended New Jersey to seven games in the Cup final.

“Missing camp was not something I wanted to consider,” said Giguere, who has been working out at a camp run by Duck goaltender consultant Francois Allaire the last two weeks.

“It takes two or three weeks to get in game shape. It was important to be in camp Day 1 to make sure I was ready for the season.”

The Ducks overhauled key elements of their team this summer.

Paul Kariya was allowed to become an unrestricted free agent, in a gamble that he could be signed for less. Kariya did take less money, signing with Colorado. Murray turned his attentions to and signed center Sergei Fedorov, one of the top players in the game, and Vaclav Prospal, who can play center or wing.

Those moves, plus the deals that brought forward Rob Niedermayer and Sandis Ozolinsh during last season, have made the Ducks a deeper and more formidable team, which they showed during their playoff run.

“When camp starts, last season is over,” Coach Mike Babcock said. “I want guys to come in with some urgency.”

There would have been more urgency, but not the kind Babcock wants, had Giguere held out. A year ago, San Jose unraveled, a direct result of goalie Evgeni Nabokov’s holdout.

“It was very important to get him in,” Murray said. “The things we did over summer, losing Paul, signing Sergei and Vinny, then not having Jiggy would have been disappointing.”

Murray said he hoped to come to terms with Sykora, who made $3.54 million last season, as soon as today. Murray said that the two sides were close on money but further off in terms of years on the contract.

With Sykora in the fold, the Ducks can boast a team that could be better than last season, when they improved 26 points in the standings to finish eighth in the conference and then made a stunning run to the final.

With Fedorov and team captain Steve Rucchin, the Ducks have as strong a 1-2 punch at center as any team in the NHL. Prospal scored 22 goals for Tampa Bay last season. Stanislav Chistov and Alexei Smirnov are a year older and, the Ducks hope, wiser. Keith Carney and Ozolinsh lead the defense.

There are also greater expectations for a franchise that was previously considered a doormat by much of the NHL.

“I don’t think there will be any external pressure whatsoever,” Rucchin said. “Everyone knows what kind of team we have and we know we have to be better this year. The only pressure is going to come from this [dressing] room.”