Kiprusoff out of Olympics

[RorschachWJK]

Hey man, are you back in Finland now?

Yep, been here since the beginning of September. You're still back there, stuck with those damn canucks I guess?

Kidding aside, I liked Canada and Toronto a lot. Got a whole bunch of good friends and great memories too.

 

[ThinMcWhistle]

Yep, been here since the beginning of September. You're still back there, stuck with those damn canucks I guess?

Kidding aside, I liked Canada and Toronto a lot. Got a whole bunch of good friends and great memories too.

Yup... Still here. I am looking into moving back to Finland eventually though....

Toronto's great, if it weren't for the lousy hockey team here..

 

[RorschachWJK]

Yup... Still here. I am looking into moving back to Finland eventually though....

Toronto's great, if it weren't for the lousy hockey team here..

 

[Pepper]

Personally I don't want to see Kipper in finnish national team ever again.

1) The timing of his announcement, why couldn't he inform the national team few days earlier?

2) You can play NHL games but you can't play in Olympics? Fine, you have made your choice. Ruutu, Koivu, Lehtonen and Pitkänen are suffering from worse injuries and they are all planning to play in Torino. Kiprusoff's injury is mild at best, Flames could let Sauve play more games and let Kipper rest.

Thanks for everything Kipper but you're not in my national team anymore.

 

[Pekka Lampinen]

The cultural difference explained:

Just as a European NHL player can grow up from child to young adult playing for the same club team, they also go through their teen years in the youth national team program, where the hockey culture invests all of its know-how to develop as good players as possible. If you insist on the importance of monetary investment, the federation also invests money in juniors and gets it back from international pro tournaments.

The European sports culture in all team sports dictates that players sever their to ties their employers to play for the national team once in a while - regardless of who pays the salary at that point, they are expected not to obey the money above all. It's not a contractual obligation, but after all we're talking ethics here.

There's also the communal aspect. Canadians may feel united under the quest for the Stanley Cup, but with players aiming to leave the league for the NHL, Finns can't feel the same about the domestic league. Instead, they are drawn together by the national team. With his lacking enthusiasm and commitment, Kiprusoff is excluding himself from the group.

This isn't strike one for Kiprusoff. You may remember that he flat out declined to play in Salt Lake City after the disappointment of being benched in favor of Pasi Nurminen in the 2001 WC.

In the media and common Finnish sports culture there is talk of athletes being increasingly selfish and valuing money too much. Committed hockey fans don't feel the need for such rhetoric, but nonetheless Kiprusoff doesn't fit the picture well.

As for the practical issue, in Finland teams don't tend to toy with players' health as often by playing them when they are injured. That's also why the diagnosis "two months from now, you'll need to rest for a few weeks" isn't received well.

Trying to delve into the Sutter controversy, I'd see that the Flames staff didn't make the decision based on Kiprusoff's nationality, but somewhere deep within the mind the sense of justice is demanding that they take the same heat they would get if an equally important part of Team Canada were in question.

 

[edd1e]

I just lost all respect for kipper, get a canadian passport and stay in calgary.

 

[Joe MacMillan]

And if he's injured then why the hell is Sutter playing him in every game (including two nights in a row week) if he's injured and the Flames have also been successful with Sauve in net.

Yeah, I'm curious about that too. I have hard to believe that this was Kipper's "own" decision.

But anyways, I really hope that Niittymäki will be our starting goalie. He's been the 2nd best finnish goalie in the world this season.

 

[Joe MacMillan]

Ok, blaiming Kipper is as stupid as blaiming Niinimaa in the int. tournaments. From now on i'm sure that Kipper will get the same reputation as Niinimaa has among finnish posters.

 

[gib]

Apparently Kipper`s hip problem has been known for hole autumn. Finland`s coaching staff and Kipper hade made an agreement that they look the situation close to olympics. So it`s was a suprise for coaches that Kipper announced it this early.

ylen teksti-tv

 

[Lindros_for_rizzle_]

Norrena is on the same level as Kirpusoff if not better so this is no major blow for Finland, and Kiprusoff seems to lack that winning mentality that Norrena has. So you can sum it up and say this was for the better to Finland.

 

[gib]

Ok, blaiming Kipper is as stupid as blaiming Niinimaa in the int. tournaments. From now on i'm sure that Kipper will get the same reputation as Niinimaa has among finnish posters.

I don`t care. I am boiling and I need someone to blame.

Situation between Kipper and Niinimaa is very different. Kiprusoff says that it`s Flames asset that he doesn`t play in Torino. So he doesn`t appreciate playing for his country. Niinimaa has always been ready to play for team Finland, even if no one wants him to play.

 

[Joe MacMillan]

Norrena is on the same level as Kirpusoff if not better so this is no major blow for Finland, and Kiprusoff seems to lack that winning mentality that Norrena has. So you can sum it up and say this was for the better to Finland.

Norrena should not even be on the team. I know you're a biased linköping fan, but lets be realistic now.

 

[Lindros_for_rizzle_]

Oh please...

SVS% 2004/2005 season

Norrena 93.45%
Theodore 91.68%
Kiprusoff 91.59 %

 

[Joe MacMillan]

Oh please...

SVS% 2004/2005 season

Norrena 93.45%
Theodore 91.68%
Kiprusoff 91.59 %

Oh please...

In 2004/2005 season Bäckström outplayed Vokoun, Raycroft, Roloson etc. in Finland. Is he better than all of them? No. Hell, he even outplayed Norrena in 2005 WC's.

 

[TK79]

I hope Lehtonen has enough time to get back into top shape and doesn't suffer any setbacks. If he's in top form then Finland still has the caliber of goaltending to compete for a medal. The choice between Toivonen and Niittymäki is a tough one, Nitty has probably played better this season but Toivonen is the more talented of the two.. I just hope Erkka doesn't pick Markkanen or Toskala, who have more experience but have been wildly inconsistent this season. I actually miss Pasi Nurminen

My two cents on the Kipper situation is that the Flames probably asked him to skip the Olympics and he didn't fight back. It's not the first time Kipper has shunned the national team, so I can't say i'm too suprised. I just hope Lehts is ok, oterwise Finland would be without their top 3 options in goal before the season (Kipper, Lehts and Pasi Nurminen). Luckily Finland has great depth at the position at the moment, many other nations would be screwed if all of their top three options were injured..

 

[TK79]

Norrena is on the same level as Kirpusoff if not better so this is no major blow for Finland, and Kiprusoff seems to lack that winning mentality that Norrena has. So you can sum it up and say this was for the better to Finland.

Umm no.. Norrena has proven absolutely nothing in international competition besides winning a few meaningless Euro-tour games.

 

[psycho_dad*]

Apparently Kipper`s hip problem has been known for hole autumn. Finland`s coaching staff and Kipper hade made an agreement that they look the situation close to olympics. So it`s was a suprise for coaches that Kipper announced it this early.

ylen teksti-tv

Yeah I read about this too. I guess that leaves the door a bit open still. Finland did not name anyone to replace Kipper yet, and they wont for a while. I bet they are discussing this with Kipper and trying to sort out why he bailed from the previous plan to check the situation closer to the olympics. Naturally flames have are the reason, but maybe they can work something out, especially if his hip heals in time.

 

[Heavy Fuel]

The cultural difference explained:

Just as a European NHL player can grow up from child to young adult playing for the same club team, they also go through their teen years in the youth national team program, where the hockey culture invests all of its know-how to develop as good players as possible. If you insist on the importance of monetary investment, the federation also invests money in juniors and gets it back from international pro tournaments.

The European sports culture in all team sports dictates that players sever their to ties their employers to play for the national team once in a while - regardless of who pays the salary at that point, they are expected not to obey the money above all. It's not a contractual obligation, but after all we're talking ethics here.

There's also the communal aspect. Canadians may feel united under the quest for the Stanley Cup, but with players aiming to leave the league for the NHL, Finns can't feel the same about the domestic league. Instead, they are drawn together by the national team. With his lacking enthusiasm and commitment, Kiprusoff is excluding himself from the group.

This isn't strike one for Kiprusoff. You may remember that he flat out declined to play in Salt Lake City after the disappointment of being benched in favor of Pasi Nurminen in the 2001 WC.

In the media and common Finnish sports culture there is talk of athletes being increasingly selfish and valuing money too much. Committed hockey fans don't feel the need for such rhetoric, but nonetheless Kiprusoff doesn't fit the picture well.

As for the practical issue, in Finland teams don't tend to toy with players' health as often by playing them when they are injured. That's also why the diagnosis "two months from now, you'll need to rest for a few weeks" isn't received well.

Trying to delve into the Sutter controversy, I'd see that the Flames staff didn't make the decision based on Kiprusoff's nationality, but somewhere deep within the mind the sense of justice is demanding that they take the same heat they would get if an equally important part of Team Canada were in question.

That is a fair comment from the Finnish/European perspective and it helps illustrate the cultural divide that seperates us. While Canadians love their national teams from junior to Olympic, the Holy Grail for most of us is the Stanley Cup. As for comparing investments between NHL clubs and the individual countries, doesn't the NHL pay a significant amount to the different ice hockey federations for their players to come to North America?

For a long time there has been a fair amount of well deserved criticism for certain European players that played a "soft" game here in critical regular season and playoff games. Then the same "soft" European NHL player shows up in his national team uniform and suddenly displays amazing tenacity and effort that we rarely saw from them in the NHL.

I think it is only natural to display a national pride and play hard for your country but if you are raking in millions of dollars from your NHL city you owe them a like effort.

 

[Vic Rattlehead*]

I hope Lehtonen has enough time to get back into top shape and doesn't suffer any setbacks. If he's in top form then Finland still has the caliber of goaltending to compete for a medal. The choice between Toivonen and Niittymäki is a tough one, Nitty has probably played better this season but Toivonen is the more talented of the two.. I just hope Erkka doesn't pick Markkanen or Toskala, who have more experience but have been wildly inconsistent this season. I actually miss Pasi Nurminen

My two cents on the Kipper situation is that the Flames probably asked him to skip the Olympics and he didn't fight back. It's not the first time Kipper has shunned the national team, so I can't say i'm too suprised. I just hope Lehts is ok, oterwise Finland would be without their top 3 options in goal before the season (Kipper, Lehts and Pasi Nurminen). Luckily Finland has great depth at the position at the moment, many other nations would be screwed if all of their top three options were injured..

Toivonen has stole many games for Boston. He has been amazing this season.

 

[mattihp]

Ok, blaiming Kipper is as stupid as blaiming Niinimaa in the int. tournaments. From now on i'm sure that Kipper will get the same reputation as Niinimaa has among finnish posters.

Yep. The ones that should be blaimed are the coaches who go back to choosing these players.

Sutter can't flat out just deny Miikka playing in the olympics, he has to have some say about it himself too.

I for all am for this. We lose a heckuva good goalie, but also a player who to some degree doesn't want to play for his country.

I think for sure Miikka's self esteem has something to do with this, that he has a hard time saying no to the coaching staff of the flames, or that he feels that it is too big for him.

I wouldn't be too sorry to see him retire from the national team, as I am pretty sure our other goalies will develop well, but playingwise he could've been a good teacher for the young'uns. Here's hoping Miikka has a splendid season and playoffs with the flames. But here's a for being a finn and wanting the cup more than having your memory for ever in the hearts of every hockeyloving finn, and possibly depriving them of a medal.

But the chance is still there, even with a weak pack of forwards with has-beens and gonna-bes, and hey. Even some never-beens.

Hopefully these olympics will have the finnish supporters singing the name of an upcoming goalie, be it Lehtonen, Toivonen or even the little older Niittymäki, so that we can say that something good came out if it.

 

[mattihp]

I think it is only natural to display a national pride and play hard for your country but if you are raking in millions of dollars from your NHL city you owe them a like effort.

Maybe that just goes to show, that not just everything can be bought for money, and that hockey always is better when it is homegrown so that the heart stays where you play.

 

[GuloGulo]

Jeez. And the other 19 guys don't matter?

Team Finland > Kiprusoff

Kipper can't go, nothing more to it. Russia could do well with Sokolov in goal. Finland did well before Kipper was a big name. Sweden has contended a few times with nobodies in goal. Other guys can pick up the slack.

 

[Resolute]

I don`t care. I am boiling and I need someone to blame.

Situation between Kipper and Niinimaa is very different. Kiprusoff says that it`s Flames asset that he doesn`t play in Torino. So he doesn`t appreciate playing for his country. Niinimaa has always been ready to play for team Finland, even if no one wants him to play.

The release came through the Flames. Of course the team is going to put itself first in such a release.

Kiprusoff got you guys to the final of the World Cup. I think that if he felt he was healthy enough to compete for Finland, he would have. However, he does have to be mindful of his real job - the one that pays him, and helps him provide for his family - and his long term future. If sitting out the Olympics is best for him in the long term, then that is his decision, and his right to make it.

 

[arrbez]

Personally I don't want to see Kipper in finnish national team ever again.

1) The timing of his announcement, why couldn't he inform the national team few days earlier?

2) You can play NHL games but you can't play in Olympics? Fine, you have made your choice. Ruutu, Koivu, Lehtonen and Pitkänen are suffering from worse injuries and they are all planning to play in Torino. Kiprusoff's injury is mild at best, Flames could let Sauve play more games and let Kipper rest.

Thanks for everything Kipper but you're not in my national team anymore.

I seem to remember someone saying Kipper had problems with the national team before or something? Something about just quitting halfway through the game? Or was that for a club team?

Or did I just imagine it?

 

[gib]

What ever...I am pissed the most, because of the way Kipper announced this, not because we lost a good goaltender. Two months to go before olympics and he can already say he`s not fit then. But hey...rest in peace Kipper, cause nobody misses you in Finland This was your last chance to play for team Finland, cause young guns Lehtonen and Toivonen will take your spot. So cry yourself to sleep you old fart....