Was/Is Kiprusoff over rated?

[Nexus]

Just about one year ago, Karri Ramo recorded the first shutout by a Flames goaltender not named Miikka Kiprusoff in 9 years and 10 months.

From 2005-2012, Kiprusoff had 273 wins, while all other Flames goalies combined for 22 wins.

This sums it up pretty well. Amazing goalie, and awesome character.

 

[Skobel24]

I would love to have seen Calgary have a capable backup so he didn't need to play 70+ games a season. The athleticism is takes to do that is insane.

 

[PepperKeenan]

J
From 2005-2012, Kiprusoff had 273 wins, while all other Flames goalies combined for 22 wins.

That's friggin impressive, Just checked Lundqvist's wins (2005-2012) compared to his backups.
Hank: 252 wins. Backups: 52 wins.
Hank played between 52-73 games a season for a total of 468 games. Kipper played 514 playing between 70-76 games a season.

 

[Paper]

He played like 75 games a year though.

And that's because if the Flames wanted a chance to win they had to have him in net. Putting in the backup was conceding the game before it started in certain years. The guy was the Flames.

 

[THall4]

I dunno about save % but he was one of the best during hjs prime. Howard plays on a much superior team. Without kipper calgary woukf havr been a basement team

Sums it up quite easily.

Without Kipper Calgary woulda been a lottery team...even in his later years..

 

[Brooklanders*]

Not a player I would call overrated.

 

[CgyFlamesftw]

Peak kipper one of the best, when he was in the zone nothing could get by him.

 

[Voight]

I remember wanting the Blackhawks to trade for him when Niemi left (good luck I know).

I hope one day he wins a cup as a coach or GM or something, guy really deserved one. But kudos for staying with the Flames, even as their playoff & cup windows closed.

 

[Unlimited Chequing]

I'll preface this by saying I by no means suffer from blind homerism and can accept most criticisms against my team if there's a valid argument, there's no way Kipper could be considered overrated and I'll argue that any day of the week.

As it's been pointed out, he masked how bad of a team the Flames were while he was there and we really should have been rebuilding 4-5 years earlier at least. He stole games for us that we had no business winning. The reason why he played 70+ games a season was because we depended on him that much because we were always just barely within reach of a playoff spot. I can't remember which season it was, but one year the coaching staff explicitly said at the start of the season they were going to minimize the games he played so that he'd be better rested for the playoffs and towards the final stretch of the regular season when we were chasing that last spot, he was in night in, night out again.

When Iggy left, I was bummed out but scorers come and go, but when Kipper retired, I really felt there was no way we'd get a goalie of his calibre again (and I still feel this way).

 

[GoodKnight]

Loved the goalie battles between him and Luongo back in like 06-07. Was incredible stuff

 

[Crabapple]

Just about one year ago, Karri Ramo recorded the first shutout by a Flames goaltender not named Miikka Kiprusoff in 9 years and 10 months.

From 2005-2012, Kiprusoff had 273 wins, while all other Flames goalies combined for 22 wins.

And there you have it folks.

Kipper was one of the bests

 

[theseeker]

underrated......I would go to Hawks games in Chicago just to see him play.
focused and athletic........"brilliant netminding"

 

[Spade]

I question his compete level in the later years but hard to play for those Flames teams too

If there's one thing that I would never doubt about Kipper, it's his compete level.







Guy had a save of the year candidate every season. Easily my favorite player of all time, just a fun goalie to watch. By the last year though, he finally broke down from the abuse and that was really the first time you saw his age.

He was so good that as a kid I thought that all goalies played like him and were supposed to play like him....until I started watching other teams' games.

 

[SillyRabbit]

Kipper was a beast during his prime.

Definitely an elite goaltender.

 

[CraigsList]

I wish we would have had more help for Kipper. It was basically him and Iggy running the show. Can't win anything with only 2 good players. Would love him as a goaltending coach one day.

 

[KrisLetAngry]

He was amazing

 

[Took a pill in Sbisa]

I wonder what his numbers are if you eliminate his October numbers from every year.

I can't recall his earlier seasons, but he was notorious for slow starts in his last few years with speculation that he did virtually no offseason training.

His October stats would really have dragged down his Sv% mentioned in this OP