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Miikka Kiprusoff’s Meteoric Rise

The 2004 Flames are fondly remembered for many reasons. However, their best story may have been their goaltender’s leap from a nobody to a superstar. Darryl Sutter was head coach of the San Jose Sharks from 1998-2003 before coming to Calgary, so he was familiar with the goalie factory in San Jose. The Sharks had Evgeni Nabokov who finished top 5 in Vezina voting 4 times in his career. They also had Vesa Toskala who would go on to play 250+ games. Then, they had Miikka Kiprusoff. A 27-year-old 5th round pick that wasn’t playing. Although he had fallen out of favour, Sutter knew he could be the guy. All it took was a 2005 2nd round pick to get him. What did he do next? All he did was put up 24 wins, a .933 save %, 1.69 goals against average and 4 shutouts in 38 games. That 1.69 GAA was the lowest in NHL history for any goalie with 30 games played. He finished 2nd in Vezina voting and 4th in Hart voting. The Flames went from 18th in goal against in 2003 to 3rd in 2004. Kipper’s brilliance continued into the playoffs. Kipper won series against the talented Canucks, Presidents Trophy-winning Red Wings and the Sharks where he out-dueled Nabokov. He finished the 2004 playoffs with a .928 save %, 1.86 GAA and 5 shutouts, missing out on a Stanley Cup by a missed goal in game 6 and 1 goal in game 7. Only Vasilevsky has accumulated that many shutouts in a single playoff run since. Kipper was no fluke. After the lockout, he came back in 05-06, won the Vezina trophy and officially became the best goalie on the planet. From 2003-2007, no goalie had a better save percentage and only Brodeur had more shutouts. Sadly, the Flames wouldn’t win another playoff series with Kipper. He finished his career as the Flames’ all-time leader in wins and shutouts as well as Finland’s all-time leader in wins and shutouts. He also won a bronze medal in the 2010 Winter Olympics. His number has been retired by the Flames.

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