Rangediddy
The puck was in
- Oct 28, 2011
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So what you're saying is you've never seen him play.
Was Kiprusoff really as good as he was pegged?
- Thread starter Bjornar Moxnes
- Start date
Never watched the flames in the mid to late 2000s, so I can't say that much about it. But looking at his stats, the 2008 and 2009 flames probably made the playoffs in spite of him, and he had quite a few mediocre seasons as well. That 2004 run was something special, but I'm not as high on him as other flames fans because outside of 2 or 3 elite seasons, his numbers were nothing special. Also, he was awful in 2013 (which is around when I started getting interested in the flames again).
This is pretty much the impression I get from this thread. Kipper was an absolute workhorse (70+ games played on a yearly basis) and only towards the end did he start to show signs of falling off. He was the backbone of a lot of Flames teams that would have been average without him (and those that were just average with him would have been downright awful otherwise). Without him, there is no 2004 miracle run to the SCF. There is no Northwest Division banner in 05/06. No Vezina or Jennings that year either. And no 319 wins to lead all Finnish goalies until just last week when Rinne passed him, five years after Kipper retired.
Yes he really was as good as he was pegged. End of discussion.
What a dumb thread.
As an Oiler fan, I'M GLAD HE'S GONE DAMMIT.
As an Oiler fan, I'M GLAD HE'S GONE DAMMIT.
Rangediddy
The puck was in
- Oct 28, 2011
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Don't blame you. Between Kipper, Iginla and Regehr having his way with Hemsky, those would have been frustrating times.
Flames Fanatic
Mediocre
If you want to argue that his peak wasn't very long, only 3-4 years of truly elite play I can agree with that. But he was our MVP for longer than that, even if the stats don't necessarily show it. We had some truly awful teams defensively post Sutter.
Anders Eriksson, Adrian Aucoin in his late 30's, David Hale, Jim Vandermeer, Adam Pardy, the corpse of Jordan Leopold, Ian White, Aaron Johnson, Steve Staios wearing cement bricks for skates, THE Anton Babchuk, Chris Butler, Scott Hannan, Derek Smith, all played significant minutes in front of him in the years his numbers faltered.
Anders Eriksson is still my benchmark for worst NHL defender I've ever seen.
And look at the teams forward crops in those years too. Kipper and Iggy were pretty much the sole reason we were even around the playoffs.
Anders Eriksson, Adrian Aucoin in his late 30's, David Hale, Jim Vandermeer, Adam Pardy, the corpse of Jordan Leopold, Ian White, Aaron Johnson, Steve Staios wearing cement bricks for skates, THE Anton Babchuk, Chris Butler, Scott Hannan, Derek Smith, all played significant minutes in front of him in the years his numbers faltered.
Anders Eriksson is still my benchmark for worst NHL defender I've ever seen.
And look at the teams forward crops in those years too. Kipper and Iggy were pretty much the sole reason we were even around the playoffs.
Kiprusoff peak was short, as is the case with a ton of goalies. It's a tough position to stay at the top on. His peak basically started in 2003 and ended in 2007, and during that period he was absolutely elite. He was arguably even #1 or #2 during these four years. OP's advanced stats, which are from AFTER his prime, doesn't change that.
Nick Hansen
Registered User
- Sep 28, 2017
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What pissed me off the most is when people called Hemmer soft.
If he was soft, he wouldn't enter the gauntlet known as Robyn and the Boards every game.
He was fragile, but he had balls the size of grapefruits.
Mobiandi
Registered User
- Jan 17, 2015
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I have yet to see a goalie after him with his penchant for amazing stick saves. Some goalies only get 1 or 2 highlight reel stick saves in their NHL career. Kipper had so many
It's unfortunate that Youtube was in its infancy when he was in his prime. There's a lot of good saves of his that are impossible to find
It's unfortunate that Youtube was in its infancy when he was in his prime. There's a lot of good saves of his that are impossible to find
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Kipper was one of the best goalies in the league for his stretch. Is this what you're trying to argue here?
If so, you're going to get (deservedly) bent.
If so, you're going to get (deservedly) bent.
Cup or Bust
Registered User
- Oct 17, 2017
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Outside of Hasek, he is one of the more dominating goalies I have seen. There were some seasons where Calgary was not that good but he could be amazingly difficult to score on. If you only look at stats they might not wow you, but he carried the Flames for years. This is a good example of advanced stats being complete garbage. Kipprusoff was one of the most positionally sound and consistent goalies I have seen. The Flames never really had a top end team in any of his seasons. It is scary how good he would have been on an elite team.
Raccoon Jesus
Todd McLellan is an inside agent
The biggest problem with advanced stats--people start with the conclusion rather than a hypothesis then select stats that match. And instead of having honest dialogue, they use this conclusion to disagree with any evidence or opinions to the contrary. It's bad faith conversation, ugh.
Came to post exactly this, the nhl is littered with guys who can be elite for 30-40 games, I don't know how many seasons in a row the advanced-stats-only club trumpeted how much better than everyone else guys like Brian Elliott and Steve Mason actually were. Guys who can be elite for 60+ games year in and year out are absolutely the cream of the crop. Kiprusoff was inhuman, if anything, he's completely underrated at this point. Maybe all people remember since his career tailed down relatively recently is the ending rather than his peak? Sort of like right after Lidstrom retired. I can't count how many times after their deep playoff runs that the entire team was basically Iginla popping in a goal or two and Kipper just shutting everything else down. Fun as hell to watch too if you weren't the victim.
Came to post exactly this, the nhl is littered with guys who can be elite for 30-40 games, I don't know how many seasons in a row the advanced-stats-only club trumpeted how much better than everyone else guys like Brian Elliott and Steve Mason actually were. Guys who can be elite for 60+ games year in and year out are absolutely the cream of the crop. Kiprusoff was inhuman, if anything, he's completely underrated at this point. Maybe all people remember since his career tailed down relatively recently is the ending rather than his peak? Sort of like right after Lidstrom retired. I can't count how many times after their deep playoff runs that the entire team was basically Iginla popping in a goal or two and Kipper just shutting everything else down. Fun as hell to watch too if you weren't the victim.
Mobiandi
Registered User
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The most unfortunate thing out of it all was that we likely ran Kipper into the ground by playing him so often. In his 9 seasons here, his best back-up ever was some guy named Joey MacDonald. I honestly doubt I could pick him out of a line-up.
The irony now is that in our search for a new #1 after his retirement, all we can find are back-ups.
Super Hans
Stats Evangelist
- Oct 9, 2016
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I always get the Mats Sundin vibe from him. Top 10 players in their position for a good stretch, but never the best (outside of 05-06 for Kipper). The success of the teams highly depended on them, but was never enough to win it all. Viewed as very good players by most, but as folk heroes in the Canadian cities they played for.
hangman005
Mark Stones Spleen
I feel not enough people bring up his 04/05 season... dude let in no NHL goals the whole season... in fact all the goalies were on fire 
It’s shame we lost a year of Prime kipper and other players to the lockout.
But Kipper was great, I would take him over most if not all active goalies today... But then he is my man crush lol.
In short Kipper great... really really great.
It’s shame we lost a year of Prime kipper and other players to the lockout.
But Kipper was great, I would take him over most if not all active goalies today... But then he is my man crush lol.
In short Kipper great... really really great.
King'sPawn
Enjoy the chaos
- Jul 1, 2003
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You sound like someone who just uses numbers and doesnt actually watch.
Kipper is a legend. Loved watching him beat us.
North Cole
♧ Lem
- Jan 22, 2017
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Kipper was amazing. What other goalie had a freaky little kid with a painted-on beard pretending to be them right behind the glass?
