Before anyone else births a litter of kittens here, let me at least go out with good information haha
Major transition met with adaptability by Miikka Kiprusoff.
I think it's no secret anymore that the rule changes and style of play changes that came about on the other side of the Big Sleep in 2005 had a major effect on goaltending. A lot of goalies that had success in the DPE or were developing in the DPE were wiped out. Very few were elite on both sides. Brodeur and Luongo are both already up on the board, but Miikka Kiprusoff ought not to wait much longer in my opinion.
Now, history is a little friendlier to names like Brodeur and Luongo...while Kipper's name doesn't quite have the same punch. But it's not for lack of ability.
Like Brodeur, Kipper didn't over-react and throw himself out of the play. But also like Brodeur, he fought like hell to make sure he stayed in the play as effectively as he could. Usually this was because the puck was at the end of its path and he (they?) could commit at that point. As opposed to making the first move, going all in on that move, and then if something else happened - you'd be sunk. I've detailed that with some other goalies already, I won't mention any names as to not incite a riot haha
One of the old mantra's in some goalie schools is "head, hands, feet" - as the order of operations for aligning one's self to a shot. I feel like Braden Holtby sort of brought that vernacular back into semi-popular hockey circles at his peak. Kipper was all about that lifestyle. He had two modes, "head, hands, feet" and "fishing" and I have no clips of him fishing coming up.
Let's take a look...
Watch here for just 15-18 seconds (should start at 9:47).
It shouldn't be too difficult to track goalie and puck in the same line of vision as the puck basically magnetized to the kick plate.
Here's a freeze frame within the same second.
Head tracking. Now, he's hybrid goalie. He'd prefer to stay upright, but has butterfly as a save selection. So low angle shots don't bother him (unlike a lot of the RVH goalies today...like Matt Murray, who has been mentioned...that blocking style, making the first move and being stuck with it, that's not a positive usually...and that's not Kipper). You see the stick is protecting the passing lane adjacent to the net as well. He kept that handy. Though, he was repulsive at playing the puck outside of the crease haha
Sorry for the grain, but in case people don't want to click the video. The puck has transitioned to the other side of the net. But it's not actionable for the goalie, so he feels no need to throw himself anywhere. First, let me identify (head), now let's bring the torso with - you see the stick hand is going to swing, the glove hand is obscured but it's moving too (hands)...last, I'll bring my feet. His right skate is still on the far side post.
This seems a little counterintuitive to some, but it's quite effective in the right hands. Now, Kipper was very mobile, he wasn't all over the floor, and he had ultra fast extremities...so he could take the time to scan...sort of a measure twice, cut once, sort of deal.
Let's watch it in real action.
Same movement. He identifies the shooter, chooses a save selection, and while he does give up a semi-uncontrolled rebound, he's in a position where now he can sell out into that because there's only so many places that puck was gonna reasonably go after that save and he was gonna be there to pounce. That's a very Brodeur-ian sequence, albeit maybe deeper in the net than Marty would play.
His ability to track the puck, keep his feet, and move with the play is what allowed him to transition so well to the new more open style of play. But it wasn't just his lateral mobility that made him useful, he also had some speed matching going back too (not that he had a lot of room, he played pretty deep).
Watch the save here...
Good depth, out to challenge, doesn't over-commit, moves laterally AND back with the shooter who is easily able to slip loose of his check...
"Ok, so why didn't we get more greatness out of him?"
Always a good question. One, he got a late start. He was like 5'10" and wasn't a butterfly goalie. So, it took a while for anyone to trust him. But once they realized it (with a little help from Warren Strelow), then he really got after it. 1.69 GAA - I mean, come on, if only that was a lockout-shortened season, he'd be a God haha
I also never got the sense that he took offseason training all that seriously. So, he didn't really extend his athletic prime from that perspective.
Also, sometimes you can get a bit of paralysis by analysis...
Again, being sub-6-foot, playing deep, and trying to let your head do the first three-quarters of your save process does have
some drawbacks...
I purposefully chose the overhead to start this sequence - one, because the seizure-inducing video quality is such that folks might not like it - but mainly because you can see that Kipper knows this is gonna be a late-breaking 2 on 1 here because his d-man is in "one too many beers mode". And if he commits too hard to this shot, he'll be yielding an empty net on the back side...
Unfortunately, the shooter is Teemu Selanne and Selanne rips it short side high. Win
some most, lose some...
Kipper's playoff record isn't anything to shake a stick at...but adjusting for Calgary Flames history, he's got every playoff series win from 1990 to 2014, right?
Maybe that was more of a Calgary thing...? Kipper did take Finland to 1st in their pool in the 2004 World Cup of Hockey, and got the Finns all the way to the Final (losing 3-2). He also helped the Finns to a bronze in the 2010 Olympics (his game against the U.S. isn't worth recalling, ahem).
I don't think he was dealt the best hand team-wise, but he was a workhorse when he got the reigns...and every year that he started (except one), he got at least some Vezina consideration...and a lot of people are rightfully talking about Quick's run in 2012 (as they should, it's maybe the best ever), but let's not forget, the Flames were +10000 to win the Cup in '04, the second worst behind Florida (+11000) and he got them to within a goal...
