The little boy who imitated Miikka Kiprusoff made a comeback to the legend “It was a privilege to grow up watching you” | Sport

Miikka Kiprusoff’s shirt will be on the roof of the Calgary Flames’ home arena next night.

Many may remember a young Calgary Flames fan boy from the early 2000s who was dressed exactly like the Finnish goalkeeper Mikka Kiprusoff and moved in the stands like Kiprusoff. The same “boy” now returned to his idol after a break of almost 20 years before the legend’s shirt-freezing ceremony in Calgary.

Nicknamed “Mini Kipper” in the 2005-06 season Brendan Peters showed his appreciation to the Finnish goalkeeper by giving him a custom painted goalkeeper’s helmet.

Known as Kiprusoff’s fan boy at the age of 9, Peters is now 27 years old and works as an artist. He paints masks. Over the past two years, Peters has painted over 40 masks for clients in Calgary.

In the video, Peters congratulates Kiprusoff on his achievements and says that he admires him.

– It was an honor and a privilege to grow up watching you, Peters said to the Finnish legend.

The jersey of Kiprusoff, who is considered Calgary’s best goaltender of all time, will go up on the roof of the team’s home hall early Sunday morning before the home game against the Pittsburgh Penguins. The Finnish goalkeeper, who played with number 34, represented the Alberta team for a total of nine seasons between 2003 and 2013.

Kiprusoff becomes the seventh Finnish player whose shirt goes up to the roof of the NHL hall.

– It is going to be hard. It’s a great honor and I know it’s going to be a great opportunity. I’m trying not to cry, but let’s see, 47-year-old Kiprusoff commented on the upcoming jersey freeze event for the NHL.

Kiprusoff, who moved from San Jose to Calgary, helped the team to the NHL finals in his first season. However, Calgary lost the series to Tampa Bay 3–4.

– It was a difficult moment. You are a player and you want to win the championship. It hurts, Kiprusoff recalled the successful years.

In 2006, Kiprusoff was awarded the Vezina award for the NHL’s most valuable goaltender.

The Finn will become the fourth player in Calgary’s club history whose shirt will be raised to the ceiling of the hall.

With Maccelli from the evening

Arizona’s Finnish forward Matias Maccelli scored 1+2 in the match against Ottawa and thus led his team to a 5–3 away win. Arizona had lost its previous 14 games in the league. The previous win was in January.

Maccelli recorded the assists by Dylan Guenther mixed By Nick Schmaltz hits. Both of the goals were scored with superiority. Maccelli was the best scorer of the match with his three power points.

The goal was Maccelli’s 11th of the season. The Finnish striker now has a total of 11+32. On Friday, Maccelli extended his point streak to the fifth consecutive match. The 23-year-old Maccelli is only six power points away from his record points (49) last season.

Arizona’s Finnish defender Juuso Välimäki recorded a total of 18 minutes of ice time in the match and was without power points.

Ottawa’s Finnish shopkeeper Joonas Korpisalo was in the match as a goalkeeper and the goal was guarded by a Swedish colleague Anton Forsbergwho blocked a total of 26 shots.