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Few NHL goalies have come in an made an immediate impact and continued to do it long term. Patrick Roy and Martin Brodeur among the exceptions.
Netminders usually take a bit longer to get their game.
Wednesday two late-blooming netminders are slated to face each other as Miikka Kiprusoff faces red hot Colorado’s ‘keeper Craig Anderson.
The 28-year-old Anderson has been the talk of the NHL all through the month of Oct. He leads the league in wins (9), save pencentage (.940) and shutouts (2). Doing that in front on a young and not very experienced group of skaters.
He’s played every minunte of the Avalanche 12 games and takes a 3-game winning streak into the Saddledome.
Anderson, who started to show real promise last season as backup in Florida, once thought he might be parlaying an NHL career in the ‘Dome.
He was the Flames 3rd round draft pick in 1999 while tending goal for Guelph in the OHL junior circuit. The Flames didn’t sign Anderson, who at that time insisted his last name be spelt “A-N-D-E-R-S-S-O-N” altho legally his last name had one ‘s’. He later was told by the NHL that if he wanted to get paid he’d have to spell his name properly. He went back in the league draft in 2001 and was taken by Chicago in the 4th round.
Kiprusoff may have his name pronounced differenly by some and when he first came to Calgary some thought he was a Russian, but the native of Finland made no issues about the spelling of his name.
Kipper was 27-years old when he joined the Flames after being the #3 goalkeeper in San Jose.
Immediately, in Nov. of 2003 he made a big impact playing a vital roll getting the team on the winning track and to the Stanley Cup finals. Two years later he won the Vezina Trophy.
Now Kipper, who celebrated his 33rd birthday 2 days ago, tries to move to within one victory for 200 in his Flame career.
