Miikka Kiprusoff.html



Position	Goaltender
Catches	Left
Height Weight	6 ft 2 in (1.88 m) 187 lb (85 kg; 13 st 5 lb)
NHL Team F. teams	Calgary Flames San Jose Sharks
Nationality	Finland
Born	October 26, 1976 (1976-10-26) (age 32), Turku, Finland
NHL Draft	116th overall, 1995 San Jose Sharks
Pro career	1994 – present

Miikka Sakari Kiprusoff (IPA: [ˈmiːkːɑ ˈsɑkɑri ˈkiprusofː]) (born October 26, 1976 in Turku, Finland) is a Finnish professional ice hockey goaltender playing for the Calgary Flames of the National Hockey League (NHL). He captured the 2006 Vezina Trophy as the NHL's best goaltender, and is widely considered among the league's elite at the position.

Playing career

Kiprusoff won the SM-liiga gold medal in 1995 and 1999 in TPS as a goalie, and won the Urpo Ylönen trophy for best goaltender in 1999. He also played in the Swedish Elitserien before he made his NHL debut in 2000 with the San Jose Sharks overall in the 5th round at the 1995 NHL Entry Draft.

NHL years

In his first year with the Calgary Flames, Kiprusoff posted an NHL-record 1.69 GAA and helped his team reach the 2004 Stanley Cup Finals.

After spending three years as a reserve goalie with the Sharks, Kiprusoff was traded in 2003 to the Calgary Flames. He ended the regular season with a goals-against average of 1.69, a modern NHL record. Kiprusoff was nominated for the Vezina Trophy. In the playoffs, he had five more shutouts, helping the Flames to win the Western Conference championship en route to a narrow defeat to the Tampa Bay Lightning in Game Seven of the Stanley Cup Finals.

Kiprusoff earned his first playoff shutout on April 13th, 2004 at the Pengrowth Saddledome, blanking the Vancouver Canucks. The game finished 4–0 and Kiprusoff stopped all of the twenty shots he faced, and was named the first star of the game. Kiprusoff then backstopped the Flames to series victories over the Detroit Red Wings and his former club the San Jose Sharks to advance to the Stanley Cup Finals, where the Flames eventually lost in seven games to the Tampa Bay Lightning.

The NHL resumed play in the 2005–06 season after the 2004–05 lockout. He was nominated for the Hart Trophy and won the Vezina Trophy as the league's best goaltender. He also won the William Jennings Trophy in recognition for playing on the team with the least goals allowed.

Despite a disappointing year by Kiprusoff, compared to his stellar previous years, during the 2006–07 season, he still played a major role in the 2007 Stanley Cup playoffs, with a .929 save percentage including a 48-save performance in the second game of the first round. Calgary took the eighth seed, one point ahead of the Colorado Avalanche. Due to a great number of shots by the Detroit Red Wings, Calgary couldn't hold on and lost in six games. On May 1, 2007, Kiprusoff was nominated for the third straight consecutive season for the Vezina trophy but finished tied for last in voting with New York Rangers' Henrik Lundqvist, behind Vancouvers' Roberto Luongo and eventual winner New Jersey Devils' Martin Brodeur.

On October 30, 2007, Kiprusoff, seeking a long-term contract, signed a six-year extension deal worth $35 million US. [1] After recording 39 wins in the 2007–08 NHL season, Kiprusoff and the Flames were once again defeated in the first round of the 2008 Stanley Cup Playoffs, this time by San Jose in a seven game series.

Calgary records

• On April 7, 2006, Kiprusoff broke the Flames' franchise record for wins in a season.
• He also broke the Flames' franchise record for most games played in a season when he collected his 40th win of the season against the Minnesota Wild
• He also shattered the Calgary Flames' single-season shutout record with a career high 10 shutouts. The previous mark was held by Fred Brathwaite who had five.
• His 2003–04 1.69 GAA ranks 1st in the modern-day NHL, it garnered him a nomination for the Vezina Trophy.
• On March 27, 2007 Kiprusoff broke the Flames Shutout record in a 1–0 shootout win over the Minnesota Wild with a record 21 shutouts in career regular season play with the Flames.

International play

Kiprusoff followed up his outstanding 2004 Stanley Cup performance with another excellent performance on behalf of Team Finland in the 2004 World Cup of Hockey tournament, where he backstopped the Finnish squad to a silver medal, losing in the gold medal final to Team Canada.

He was selected to play for Finland at the 2006 Winter Olympics in Turin but declined, citing a nagging hip injury. He also declined the invitation to join the Finnish national team in the 2008 World Championships.

Personal life

• Kiprusoff and his fiancée, Seidi Saski Mantere, have a son, Aaro, born in the summer of 2005.
• He also has a Bullmastiff, Reiska.
• Kiprusoff's older brother, Marko Kiprusoff, is a defenceman for TPS as of December 2008 and has also played in the NHL with the Montreal Canadiens and New York Islanders.
• His favorite band is The Style

Awards

• Urpo Ylönen trophy - 1999
• Jari Kurri trophy - 1999
• Vezina Trophy - 2006
• William M. Jennings Trophy - 2006
• NHL First All-Star Team - 2006
• NHL All-Star Team - 2007

Career statistics

International play

Played for Finland in:

• 1996 World Junior Championships
• 1999 World Championships
• 2001 World Championships
• 2004 World Cup of Hockey (silver medal)

International statistics

External links

• Miikka Kiprusoff's NHL player profile
• Miikka Kiprusoff's career stats at The Internet Hockey Database
• Bio and detailed statistics from hockeygoalies.org
• Miikka Kiprusoff on nhlfinns.com