Finnish hockey knows no other Miikka Kiprusoff like a hockey superstar, surrounded by an equally powerful shadow of mysticism. At the same time as a huge number of legendary stories revolve around Kiprusoff, no one really seems to know anything about the goalkeeper who ended his playing career in the spring of 2013.
And Kiprusoff didn’t want anyone to know anything.
When Kiprusoff unexpectedly ended his career in Calgary in the spring of 2013, he skipped the final media conference of the season by sneaking out a secret route. Even the goalkeeper’s equipment was left behind in the legendary Saddledome.
When Kiprusoff now returned to the scene of the crime due to the shirt freezing ceremony organized by the club, the escape episode was returned to at the press conference. The local media tested how Kiprusoff always managed to escape from the closing press of the spring.
– I can not tell. I discussed that very topic there and someone here might still need that route. Sorry, Kiprusoff muttered.
Running away is in the same series as the living legend that no one can catch Kiprusoff on the phone. Even the Calgary Flames couldn’t get it when they wanted to inform him about the shirt freezing ceremony. According to some stories, even Kiprusoff’s player-agent didn’t want to catch him at the time.
– He doesn’t answer. It’s such a nice little game for “Kipper” that he doesn’t answer the phone, played in Calgary and in the national team with the TPS coach Ville Nieminen laugh.
– Sometimes I would like to run these stories with him, but it’s been twenty years since we played in Calgary. Every decade there is an opportunity to talk and tell a story. Now let’s wait and see if it happens in the 20th century, Nieminen continues with a laugh.
Kiprusoff, who avoided the media and all kinds of attention in his playing career, has enjoyed the events of the past weekend in Calgary in every way. Even though there has been enough cat-crossing for every departure, the father of two children who settled in Helsinki has managed to talk about all the money.
– It’s strange to get attention. Giving speeches or speaking to the media has never been my comfort zone, but this weekend has been a lot of fun. I have done all this with pleasure, Kiprusoff smiled at the media conference.
Best in the world
Kiprusoff becomes only the fourth player to have his jersey suspended by Calgary. Among Finnish goalkeepers, only Nashville has received the honor before Pekka Rinne. The reasons for the honor are quite clear: between 2004 and 2007, Kiprusoff was nominated three times for the NHL’s best goaltender and won the award once (2006). In addition, he played an incredible seven 70 matches in a row, always being the goalkeeper elite of the series and the carrying force of his team.
Many have called Kiprusoff even the best in the world at his best.
– When we went to the finals with Calgary in 2004, he was by far the best goalkeeper in the world at that time. His statistics can also be seen from the next few years: the goals conceded were constantly close to two. It’s incomprehensible, Nieminen praises.
Interviewed by the Calgary Herald Brian Bouchard played with Kiprusoff in Calgary in the very season when the Finn was chosen as the best player in the series in his position.
– He was the best goalkeeper I had played with. Speaking of skill and talent, he was clearly the best I had ever seen. I had seen him from afar and played against him, but seeing him every day, oh man, he was special.
When those who played with Kiprusoff reminisce about the times they shared with the man from Turku, his ability to read the game and his incredible elasticity often come to the fore. Many who played with Kiprusoff remember him stretching enormous amounts every day.
– There were times when I looked at him and thought that I would never be able to do the same. We could also discuss the game and he told about the options that could be encountered during the game. This can happen, this and this can happen… He read the game so well that he seemed to be slightly ahead all the time, having played and worked with Kiprusoff for a long time Jamie MacLennan recalled in a Herald article.
One theme still rises above the others when talking about Miikka Kiprusoff: the right kind of relaxation.
– The whole ice rink could have been on fire, but he was completely calm, MacLennan stated.
– He had no pulse at all. I have never seen a guy in my life who is so calm on the outside. He did care, but never showed it, in Calgary during the 2004 playoffs as an extra backup Robert Krahn told the Herald.
Nieminen compares views.
– At that time of the world, goalkeepers were special and “Kipper” was special compared to the last model. He found an indifference suitable for action in matters other than hockey. When the game started, his concentration was at an absolutely freezing level and his game face was phenomenal. There were many different nuances in his playing character. All of it was regulated by a suitable indifference.
– That’s not what the story says, where that balance was found, Nieminen laughs.
Kiprusoff legends have often been associated with alcohol, which Nieminen may be referring to in his comment. The Flames’ Finnish icon has also often been called a rock star whose stories outside the rink, according to many legends, could write their own story.
– I can’t tell those stories because I’ve never been involved in such chains of events, Nieminen says.
Velmu character
Although Kiprusoff appears reserved and calm on the outside, his former teammates paint a picture of a soft-spoken and very humorous person – at times also someone who knows his own worth.
– Kipper didn’t always get along Bob Hartley’s with. Once, during the superiority exercise, Bob pushed snow into Kipper’s goal. When Hartley started towards the midfield, Kirpusoff was already sweeping the snow from the goal back onto the ice. Hartley ordered me to the spot. When I went to the finish, Kipper had a big smile on his face as he leaned on his finish. That’s what Kipper is, Calgary’s goaltending coach Clint Malarchuk remembers.
– He had no problem fooling around with the coach.
Boucher also remembers how Kiprusoff used to bother the coach at times.
– Once Darryl Sutter worked with defenders shooting from the line and told Kipper not to give loose pucks. Darryl was really hot when Kiprusoff kicked the puck towards the blue line just to annoy Darryl. I’m also sure that behind his mask he was laughing. I think that was funny, because few people could stand up to Sutter like that.
According to Nieminen, Kiprusoff also knew how to entertain in the dressing room.
– It was the kind of agitation and situational comedy suitable for the whole group. He could twist some of the world’s silliest things into a story or wrestle with someone. He was an excellent comedian within the team.
“I’m trying not to cry”
Early on Sunday morning, the man of thousands of (untold) stories will receive the greatest honor that the club can offer a player: the frozen Miikka Kiprusoff jersey with number 34 will be lifted by Lanny MacDonald, Theoren Fleury and Mike Vernon’s then to the roof of the arena.
Kiprusoff has earned his honor, as during his nine years in Calgary he became the best goaltender in Flames history and still leads most of the club’s goaltending statistics.
– I’m trying not to cry, but we’ll see, Kiprusoff stated.