Calgary Flames goaltender Miikka Kiprusoff retired from the NHL today.
Kiprusoff was originally drafted by the San Jose Sharks, 116th overall in the fifth round of the 1995 draft. He was traded to the Flames in November of 2003 for a 2005 second round draft pick. The Sharks selected Marc-Edouard Vlasic.
- Randy Sportak of the Calgary Sun:
“I’ve been very lucky to have spent 10 years of my career in Calgary,” Kiprusoff said in a statement. “There is no better place to live and play. I look forward to taking the next year with my family to enjoy everything wonderful about southern Alberta.”
“I decided to retire at the end of last season. I appreciated Jay Feaster and the Flames organization permitting me to take the summer to be 100% sure. It’s an important decision for me personally, my family, the Flames organization and fans. Jay and I had conversations over the summer and nothing had changed for me and upon returning to Calgary last week, I once again spoke with Jay and confirmed with him that I would be retiring.”
Kiprusoff is the Flames leading in wins (305), games played (576) and shutouts (41).
- Fantasy Hockey Scouts: “Kipper retires at 36th in career GP (623), 23rd in wins (319), 23rd in shots faced (17,114), 23rd in saves (15,614), and 30th in SOs (44).”
- Eric Macramalla: “By adding 1 year at $1.5 million to #Kiprusoff deal, his cap hit over the 6 year deal was reduced from $6.7M to $5.8M.”