The following letter was written by friend and fellow Ducks fan, Bryce Randle.  He is currently the managing editor of HockeyPlayer.com and GrowingUpHockeytheDVD.com.

Dear Jean Sebastian (JS) Giguere,

I want to personally thank you for being an Anaheim Duck, in my opinion the model of the Anaheim Ducks for the past several years.

I don’t live in Anaheim. I live about 650 miles away. I loved the duo of Kariya and Selanne, what took me away from my love of the Los Angeles Kings, but later got distracted while living in Michigan for a short time. However, your goaltending and your love of the game brought me back to the Anaheim Ducks in 2002. I still loved the Ducks during that short time away, but I didn’t follow the team. I still remember listening to NHL.com’s radio feed of your shutout win of 5-0 over your hero Mario Lemieux in December of 2002.

While going to the Cup Finals in 2003 I was serving my church in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil and was only allowed to check my e-mail once a week. My future brother in law taped your shutouts on the VCR and saved the tapes for me. My younger brothers sent me newspaper articles and scores through the mail and internet. Your shutout streak gave me inspiration to achieve difficult goals. Your face of disappointment gave me hope for the team. You taught me an important lesson; you can’t win them all, but you can enjoy the ride along the way.

Derek, just over 2 months old, and I watching Game 5 versus Ottawa in 2007.

My son was born March 30, 2007, a few weeks within your son’s birth. I remember reading what was happening with Maxime’s eyes and praying for your family, wondering what it would be like for me to go through the same with my newborn son. Following the playoffs this time was much easier than 2003 (and 2006 for that matter). I was so relieved when you got your job back from Bryz to take on Vancouver, to best Detroit and to finish the finals to win the Cup against Ottawa.

The past two years have been hard for me to watch. I’ve cheered you on every day when others doubted, I knew there was a warrior inside you. You deserve to be number one Giggy. I’m so sad to see you leave the franchise, but I am glad you will be able to rise to the top again. A part of me hopes you shut the Ducks out the next time we see you, as long as you don’t ruin anything for us.

Thank you, J.S. You’re the best.

We won’t ever forget what you did for us.

Sincerely,

Bryce Randle

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