Miikka Kiprusoff milestone started with technical tweaks in Calgary

A feature post from the InGoal Archives as we celebrate Finnish National Independence Day.

Kevin Woodley | December 6, 2019 | 15 min read

Maybe it was all the guests from Finland on the InGoal Radio podcast (and one more special Finnish guest to come soon!). Or maybe it was all the talk of Finland celebrating its Independence Day on Dec. 6, and the ensuing conversations about Pekka Rinne, his amazing glove hand and it’s ties to playing Pesapola (Finnish baseball) on the InGoal writer backchannels, and our social media feed. Whatever the reason, we were feeling nostalgic for Finland, which led to a glimpse through the archives and the discovery of this old deep dive into the goalie who player perhaps the biggest role in the Finnish goaltending revolution breaking through in the NHL: Miikka Kiprusoff. The soft-spoken Finn’s incredible turnaround after being traded to the Calgary Flames by the San Jose Sharks included some specific technical and equipment changes under the guidance of the Flames goalie coach David Marcoux, but perhaps the best part was the spotlight it shone on the shy stopper, and some of the stories that emerged. Whether it was stretching for three hours on a game day, skipping out on training runs to eat blueberries in the woods back home, or pretending not to speak English to avoid carrying bags, it was fun to revisit this feature story, so we thought we’d pull it out of mothballs and re-publish it here just for you, our InGoal Premium readers, in the hopes you enjoy it just as much.

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