Year one in Calgary: From Third String to Starter
Let's head back to this story's beginning on November 16, 2003. The Flames required some help in the net as starting goaltender Roman Turek had been sidelined with a knee injury earlier in the season. With the Flames having trouble on finding consistency in the net, Head Coach and General Manager Darryl Sutter looked to his former team, the San Jose Sharks for an answer.
In comes 27-year-old Finnish goaltender Miikka Kiprusoff, who had just been relegated to the position of third-string goaltender behind fellow countryman Vesa Toskala, and starting goaltender Evgeni Nabokov.
Kiprusoff was acquired from the Sharks for a second-round draft pick and the rest was history. Blasting out of the gate with a 22-save 2-1 win over the Montreal Canadians and went on to carry the Flames not only an 8th seed playoff berth but an appearance in the Stanley Cup Finals.
Kipper finished the year with a record 24-10-4, a 1.69 goals-against average, a .933 save percentage, and four shutouts. That postseason saw Kiprusoff pick up 15 wins and five shutouts but as we all know fell short to the Tampa Bay Lightning in seven games.
Flash forward to March 1, 2024 the night before his jersey heads up to the Saddledome rafters. During his press conference, Kiprusoff said that coming to Calgary was like a second chance for him and when things started going well, he said the whole year ( playoff run) was unbelievable.
"I know I should say it was in, because it was in," said Kiprusoff when asked about the infamous moment in game six of the 2004 Stanley Finals ...
“It was in.” - Miikka Kiprusoff, 20 years later pic.twitter.com/zTsivjGALW
— Eric Francis (@EricFrancis) March 1, 2024