Jean-Sébastien Giguère definitely learned a thing or two about what makes high-end goaltenders successful during his 16 seasons in the National Hockey League.

Giguère enjoyed a terrific NHL career split between five teams from 1996-97 to 2013-14. Within that timeframe, the Montréal-born netminder spent parts of two seasons with the Toronto Maple Leafs in the early 2010s, gaining first-hand knowledge about what it takes to thrive at the centre of the hockey universe.

In 597 career NHL games with the Hartford Whalers, Calgary Flames, Anaheim Ducks, Maple Leafs, and Avalanche, Giguère posted a 262-216-25-50 record to go along with 38 shutouts and a .913 save percentage. Additionally, he went 33-17 with a .925 in 52 career playoff contests.

Although it’s now been 10 full years since Giguère retired as a member of the Colorado Avalanche, the former Conn Smythe Trophy winner and Stanley Cup champion still has plenty of insight on the goalies playing in today’s NHL.

The 47-year-old discussed what makes goaltenders like Sergei Bobrovsky and Joseph Woll tick during his conversation with Nick Alberga and Carter Hutton on Thursday’s epsiode of the Leafs Morning Take show.

J-S Giguère: I’m happy I’m not playing today, because it would be a nightmare. But, you know, I think you really have to have a mix of both [technique and athleticism]. You need to have a good technique, because in the hard times, I think it’s going to come and help you if you’re lacking confidence or you’re struggling a little bit in your game. I think it’s going to help you to have a strong foundation where you can just rely on that … at the end of the day, it’s always about giving up one less goal in about two or three periods, right? So, I think a strong technique will help with that.
But then, with the speed of the game today, the way it is, I think you need to be fairly athletic as well, because you’re going to have to do some saves that are out of your comfort zone, that are out of your technique. You’re going to have to do the splits, you’re going to have to do a bunch of stuff — a little bit like Bobrovsky, I think he’s one of the best at that. He has a really strong technique, you can tell that he plays within his rules or the foundation that he’s set up for himself, and every once in a while he comes out with a save that is just amazing … only very athletic goalies can do that, and I really think you have to have a mix of that.
This is what I see a bit with Woll, too. When I watch him, I think he’s a big goalie, one of those guys who fits the bill of today’s NHL goalie: big and tall, but he’s also athletic, and I like his technique. He doesn’t try to do too much, he’s just very simple in the way he plays, and I think that’s going to get him out of many jams.

Watch the full episode here: