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How Miika Kiprusov almost became a Vancouver Canucks legend instead of a Calgary Flames legend.
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Published on May 24, 2024 • Last updated 1 hour ago • 5 min read
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#34 Miikka Kiprusoff of the Calgary Flames makes a save on a shot by #22 Daniel Sedin of the Vancouver Canucks during the first period of an NHL game at GM Place in Vancouver, British Columbia on March 14, 2010. PHOTO BY CARMINE MARINELLI/QMI AGENCY /CARMINE MARINELLI/QMI AGENCY
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Miikka Kiprusoff is the best goaltender in Calgary Flames history, and if you’re a Vancouver Canucks fan you know that very well.
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But here’s the amazing thing: he could have been one of the best goalies in Vancouver Canucks history.
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Former Flames coach and general manager Darryl Sutter said Kiprusov, who eventually led the Flames to the Stanley Cup Final in 2004, was mostly a Canadian player, not a Flame.
Sutter appeared on Calgary’s Sportsnet 960 radio on Thursday and explained how Kiprusoff ended up being traded from the San Jose Sharks to the Flames in November 2003.
Kiprusov was one of the few promising goaltenders on San Jose’s team at the time, and was ranked third in the depth chart at the start of the season behind Evgeny Nabokov and Besa Toskala.
He barely played and was clearly frustrated.
Then, when Flames primary goaltender Roman Turek sprained his knee in mid-October, Sutter stepped in. A few weeks later, he traded a second-round pick to San Jose to acquire Kirprusoff, and the rest is history, as they say.
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Kiprusov stole the ball from Turek and never looked back. The following spring, he led the Flames to Game 7 of the Stanley Cup Finals, where they lost to John Tortorella’s Tampa Bay Lightning, but he continued to play until 2013, having great seasons every year.
As Sutter recalled on his Flames Talk daytime show, the Sharks were overflowing with goalies.
“He was somewhere between No. 1 and No. 4 on the charts, depending on who you talk to and the date or month,” Sutter said. “I knew what kind of player he was and what he could do, and I knew we needed a top-tier goalie.”
Sutter recalled that the Canucks were after Kiprusov, too. He said the best they could do was offer him a conditional pick in the 2005 draft. The condition has since faded into the mists of time, but it ended up being a second-round pick. Sutter understands the Canucks made a similar offer.
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“Vancouver was also fully supportive of him,” he recalled.
Of course, the Sharks had no idea that the 2005 draft would ultimately be ordered by a weighted lottery, as the 2004-05 season was marred by an owners’ player lockout, but they still likely felt the Flames’ potential second-round pick was more valuable than the Canucks’.
“We were fortunate to get him,” Sutter said of the Sharks’ decision to take Calgary’s offer over Vancouver.
At the time, the Canucks’ general manager was Brian Burke. According to Daniel Wagner’s recent book, On The Clock: Behind the scenes with the Vancouver Canucks at the NHL Draft, Burke shook hands with the Sharks during the 2003 draft for a conditional second-round pick in 2004. Wagner claims the deal fell apart when Sharks general manager Doug Wilson demanded that the pick become a first-round pick if Kiprusoff emerged as the Canucks’ No. 1 goaltender. (That pick was eventually used to draft Cory Schneider.)
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Burke himself acknowledged to Postmedia on Friday that he had been actively pursuing Kiprusoff, but said he couldn’t remember what the final offer was.
“I never question Darryl. I don’t know if that’s what actually happened, but we had long discussions about the kipper and I just couldn’t get it done,” he said in a text message. “I think this is exactly what happened. Remember, 5 out of 6 deals you consider (probably more) will fall through.”
It was no surprise that Burke was interested in Kiprusoff. The Canucks looked like Stanley Cup contenders in the 2002-03 season, but lost to the Minnesota Wild in the second round of the 2003 Stanley Cup Playoffs, in part due to poor goaltending by Dan Cloutier.
Cloutier was a beloved teammate and fan favorite, but his performance in the 2003 playoffs will forever be the question: “What if the Canucks had a better goaltender than Dan Cloutier during their West Coast Express days?”
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The Canucks led the series against the Wild 3-1, but lost the series after allowing 16 goals in the final three games. The Wild were soundly defeated by the Anaheim Ducks in the Western Conference Finals, but many believe the Canucks’ powerful offense would have overwhelmed the Ducks and earned them a place in the Stanley Cup Final for the third time in franchise history.
Of course, whether they could have beaten the New Jersey Devils in the Finals is another matter, as they did beat the Ducks in seven games.
Of course, the 2003-04 season had its own “what ifs” with Todd Bertuzzi’s attack on Steve Moore, which resulted in Bertuzzi being suspended for the rest of the season. Losing the standout power forward in this game was a major blow to Vancouver’s hopes of bouncing back after the disappointment of 2003.
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Either way, Kiprusov turned around the Flames’ season instead of carrying the Canucks for the rest of the season and into the playoffs. He then helped Calgary beat Vancouver in the first round. He also finished second in the Vezina voting that season.
Calgary Flames goaltender Miikka Kiprusoff poke checks Vancouver Canucks’ Ryan Kessler during the third period at the Scotiabank Saddledome in Calgary on Wednesday, Dec. 1, 2010. Photo by DARREN MAKOWICHUK /DARREN MAKOWICHUK/CALGARY SUN/QM
He went on to have a fantastic decade in Calgary, winning the Vezina Trophy in 2006 and being a finalist again in 2007. He made 70 or more starts in seven of his nine seasons with Calgary.
There’s no reason to think he wouldn’t have been just as great in Vancouver.
Of course, if he had immediately reached the same level in Vancouver that he did in Calgary, the trade for Roberto Luongo would never have happened, they probably wouldn’t have drafted Cory Schneider and the rest of the decade would undoubtedly have been very different for the Canucks.
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Think about all this for yourself.
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