Miikka Kiprusoff

Last updated

(Photo courtesy Mike Ashmore. Thanks, Mike!)


BIOGRAPHY

BORN: October 26, 1976, Turku, Finland.
HOME:
HEIGHT: 6'0"-6'2"
WEIGHT: 180-190 lbs.
UNIFORM #: 34 (San Jose, Calgary)
CATCHES: Left

STYLE: Mostly stand-up.
STRENGTHS: Plays large, and uses his body size and positioning to play a stand-up style. Very hard to rattle.
WEAKNESSES: Due to the smaller North American ice surface, angles and timing are off slightly. Needs to work on consistency.

HIS MASK: For the mask Miikka began wearing in December of 2003, he had only two expectations: "I gave free hand to the guy who did the mask. I just wanted something mean and cool. I think it's good looking and mean. He came up with this and I like it." Adorned with gold, Ghost Rider-like, fire-breathing skulls on each side, Kiprusoff's face guard also has "Kipper" on the chin. (Randy Sportak, Calgary Sun, December 11, 2003)

WHAT OTHERS ARE SAYING:

"No. 1 goalie with last-place team in Sweden has respectable GAA, .908 save percentage." (Dan Wood, The Hockey News Future Watch 1998)

"National team goalie has been very good, but has been very difficult to sign." (Dan Wood, The Hockey News Future Watch 1999)

"Another goaltending prospect for the Sharks, Kiprusoff is improving year in and year out. Played a mixed style between stand-up and butterfly early in his career but now plays more stand-up. He's a very smart goalie and seems to do his homework on opposing players. Seems to know where they are shooting. Not overly aggressive but gets the job done." (The Sports Forecaster 1999-2000, p. 216)

"The Finnish native from Turku is playing his first season of North American hockey. The 6-foot-2, 190-pound left-hand catching goalie has stepped in to be Kentucky's starter and was selected as the starting goalie for PlanetUSA in the mid-season American League All-Star Game. Kiprusoff combines quickness and agility to thwart opponents. He still needs to continue to acclimate himself to the smaller ice surface and get more comfortable with English." (Ross McKeon, The Hockey News Future Watch 2000)

"Was voted starting goalie at the AHL All-Star Game thanks to an outstanding rookie season with Kentucky. Has great reflexes and shows tremendous poise between the pipes. Kiprusoff is versatile in the sense that he's mainly a stand-up goaltender who uses the butterfly style when needed. Although he has no considerable NHL experience, the Sharks see great promise in him. Recently in Finland, the good-sized rookie was named Best Goalie and League MVP in the same season." (The Sports Forecaster 2000-01, p. 213)

"The 24-year-old's strong development in his second year of North American pro hockey convinced the Sharks he was ready for promotion following the trade of Steve Shields to Anaheim in the Teemu Selanne deal. Kiprusoff plays a stand-up style and is fundamentally sound. Despite missing three weeks of action because of an early-season call-up, he was selected for the second straight year to start in the American League All-Star Game." (Ross McKeon, The Hockey News Future Watch 2001)

"The incredibly athletic stand-up netminder has been the Sharks' top prospect in goal for the past two seasons. With last year's trade involving Steve Shields, Kiprusoff moved into the backup role behind Evgeni Nabokov. The promising young goalie looked sharp when filling in during San Jose's first-round series loss to the Blues. Kiprusoff sees the puck extremely well. However, he must work on adjusting his angles and reading the play. At the very least, assume he'll be used as backup for 20-30 games." (The Sports Forecaster 2001-02, p. 219)

"The Sharks have uncovered several goaltending gems in recent years. After challenging starter Evgeni Nabokov during the 2000-01 playoffs, Kiprusoff had a solid rookie season as the backup last year. The 25-year-old Finn has the right temperament for the rigors of the NHL and adjusted very well to sitting on the bench for long stretches. Kiprusoff should continue to improve his game this season. If Nabokov slips up, the Sharks know they can count on Kiprusoff to take over. Down the road, he'll either challenge Nabokov for the No. 1 job in San Jose or find a starting role elsewhere." (The Sports Forecaster 2002-03, p. 213)

"Where would the Flames be if they hadn't sent a 2005 second-round pick to San Jose for Kiprusoff in 2003? They probably wouldn't be Cup contenders. Aside from captain Iginla, nobody else is as important to the Calgary cause than "Kipper" - who has further proven his mettle in international competition. He's a legitimate Vezina candidate." (The Sports Forecaster 2005-06, p. 102)


TRANSACTIONS:

ACCOLADES:

VEZINA TROPHY BALLOTING:

PTS1st2nd3rdRANKSHARE
2003-045559320.37
2005-06140255010.93
2006-07700730.05

ALL-STAR TEAM BALLOTING:

PTS1st2nd3rdRANKSHARE
2003-0414813212040.28
2005-0659911311110.94
2006-0725021940.03

HART TROPHY BALLOTING:

LADY BYNG TROPHY BALLOTING:

INJURIES:

FIRSTS:

PENALTY SHOTS:

NHL SHOOTOUTS:

DID YOU KNOW?

SEASON RECORDS:

REGULAR SEASON
Year  Team                        GP    Min   W   L   T  OL     GA    GAA   Shots    Sv%   ShO   G   A   PiM     S/60    PERS
93-94 TPS Turku Jr. FINLAND       35     
94-95 TPK Turku Jr. FINLAND       31   1880                     93   2.97
      TPS Turku FINLAND            4    240                     12   3.00                    0
95-96 TPK Turku FINLAND           12    550                     38   4.14
      Kiekko-67 FINLAND            5    300                      7   1.40
96-97 AIK Solna SWEDEN            42   2466                    104   2.53                    3
97-98 AIK Solna SWEDEN            42   2457                    110   2.69   
98-99 TPK Turku FINLAND           39   2259  26   6   6         70   1.86           .936     4
      Finland WORLD                4    156                      3   1.16      65   .954     0
99-00 Kentucky Thoroughblades AHL 47   2759  23  19   4        114   2.48    1497   .924     3   0   1    10
00-01 Kentucky Thoroughblades AHL 36   2038  19   9   6         76   2.24    1026   .926     2   0   2     2
      San Jose Sharks NHL          5    154   2   1   0          5   1.95      51   .902     0   0   0     0    19.87  935.08
      Finland WORLD                3    140                      5   2.14      45   .889     1             0
01-02 San Jose Sharks NHL         20   1041   7   6   3         43   2.48     508   .915     2   0   0     4    29.28  964.15
      Cleveland Barons AHL         4    242   4   0   0          7   1.73     137   .949     0   0   2     2    33.97 1005.52
02-03 San Jose Sharks NHL         22   1199   5  14   0         65   3.25     537   .879     1   0   0     0
03-04 Calgary Flames NHL          38   2301  24  10   4         65   1.69     966   .933     4   0   1    15
      Finland WORLD CUP            6    364   4   1   1          9   1.48     149   .940     2   0   0     2
04-05 Timra IK SWEDEN             46   2719                     97   2.14    1154   .915     5   0   0     2
05-06 Calgary Flames NHL          74   4380  42  20      11    151   2.07    1951   .923    10   0   2    10
06-07 Calgary Flames NHL          74   4419  40  24       9    181   2.46    2190   .917     7   0   0     2
SIX (6) NHL SEASONS              233  13494 120  75   7  20    510   2.27    6203  0.918    24   0   3    31

POST-SEASON
Year  Team                        GP    Min   W   L   GA    GAA   Shots    Sv%   ShO   G   A   PiM     S/60    PERS
93-94 TPS Turku Jr. FINLAND        6
94-95 TPS Turku FINLAND            2    120            7   3.50
96-97 AIK Solna SWEDEN             7    420           23   3.29                    0
98-99 TPK Turku FINLAND           10    580   9   1   15   1.55                    3
99-00 Kentucky Thoroughblades AHL  5    239   1   3   13   3.26                    0
00-01 San Jose Sharks NHL          3    149   1   1    5   2.01      79   .937     0   0   0     0
01-02 San Jose Sharks NHL          1      8   0   0    0   0.00       2  1.000     0   0   0     0    15.00 1025.00
03-04 Calgary Flames NHL          26   1655  15  11   51   1.85     710   .928     5   0   1     0
04-05 Timra IK SWEDEN              6    356           13   2.19     118   .890     0   0   0     0
05-06 Calgary Flames NHL           7    428   3   4   16   2.24     202   .921     0   0   0     2
06-07 Calgary Flames NHL           6    255   2   4   18   2.81     255   .929     0   0   0     2
FIVE (5) NHL POSTSEASONS          43   2495  21  20   90   2.16    1248  0.928     5   0   1     4

NHL GAME DIRECTORY:

INTERNATIONAL GAME DIRECTORY:

To The Goaltender Home Page