With the trade deadline upon us, hockey fans across North America are wondering what their favourite teams are going to do.
This is especially the case when it comes to the Calgary Flames. With all the trade talk swirling around the team, Flames’ fans must wonder if they have seen the last of the best netminder in their franchise’s history, Miikka Kiprusoff.
There’s a good chance that, no matter what, the 36-year-old may end up retiring at the end of this season. If that is the case, than both the league and the Flames have lost a terrific goaltender.
Prior to the 2003-04 season, the Flames had struggled in the goaltending department since the 1996-97 season. The team went through a cupboard of masked men including Fred Brathwaite, Jamie McClennan, Dwayne Roloson, Mike Vernon, Grant Fuhr, Jean-Sebastien Giguere, Tyler Moss, Jason Muzzatti, Ken Wregget and several others.
That all changed for the better in the 2003-04 season. On Nov. 16, 2003, the Flames acquired Kiprusoff from the San Jose Sharks in exchange for a second-round draft pick after Roman Turek got hurt.
Kiprusoff made an immediate impact while between the pipes in Calgary. In his first game with the club, Kiprusoff made 22 saves in a 2-1 victory over the Montreal Canadiens and went on to win 12 of 17 starts between Nov. 20 and Dec. 29.
The man Flames’ fans call “Kipper” had a strong finish to the regular season and ended up getting Calgary into the postseason for the first time since 1995-96. Flames’ fans gave Kiprusoff a standing ovation during the team’s 1-0 postseason clinching victory against the Phoenix Coyotes.
That regular season, Kiprusoff finished with modern NHL record-low goals against average of 1.69 to go along with 24 wins, a .933 save percentage and four shutouts. His strong and consistent play between the pipes helped Kiprusoff become a finalist for the Vezina Trophy as one of the league’s top goaltenders.
If Flames’ fans thought Kiprusoff was special in the regular season, he was even more remarkable in the postseason. In getting the Flames to within one win of their first Stanley Cup since 1989, the Finnish netminder went 15-11 with a 1.85 GAA, a .928 save percentage and five shutouts.
The following season, Kiprusoff continued to build up his name by being even better than his first one with the Flames. Kipper broke Mike Vernon’s franchise record when he picked up his 40th win of the season and ended up going 42-20-11 with a 2.07 GAA, a .923 save percentage and 11 shutouts.
While Kiprusoff could not get his team past the first round of the postseason, his efforts during the regular season certainly did not go unrecognized. Kiprusoff won the Vezina Trophy, the Jennings Trophy, for allowing the least amount of goals during the regular season, and was a finalist for the Hart Trophy, given to the league’s most valuable player.
The rest, as they say, is history. Kiprusoff would go on to become the franchise’s top goaltender and had seven straight seasons with at least 35 wins, goals against averages of under 2.84, save percentages higher than .903 and at least five shutouts.
If this is truly the end for Kiprusoff as a Flame, it would only be right to remember him as one of the league’s most consistent netminders since the 2003-04 season. Flames and hockey fans should remember Kipper as someone who did everything he could to keep Calgary relevant in the NHL by getting them into the playoffs in five of his eight seasons and as someone who was very loyal to his team and its fans.
