"Good thing Aaro Kiprusoff is in kindergarten, so he can't yet decipher the meaning of this article.

Because truth be told, Daddy takes his boy's feelings into account during sock hockey games at Chez Kiprusoff.

All those goals through the five hole? Well, they're not entirely attributed to the shooting prowess of young Aaro.

"We've been playing a little bit in the house", Miikka Kiprusoff says from his perch in the Calgary Flames dressing room. "If I let him score, it seems like he's pretty happy about it."

Pretty happy? Try elated. After all, Dad just happens to be a world-class goaltender tasked with carrying the battered and bruised Flames through an injury-plagued October.

No team can make the playoffs in the first month of season, but some clubs will dig themselves a hole too deep to climb out of.

With the casualty list mounting by the day, Kiprusoff, 33, is the man with the ability to steal wins all by his lonesome. No doubt he'll be called upon to do just that in the days and weeks to come.

"He's definitely got my vote for the best goalie in the world," says defenceman Ian White. "He's amazing day in and day out. Never really seems to have a bad day."

Best goalie in the world? That's pretty high praise.

"Well, who else would you put up there with him?" White counters. "There's thee guys I guess. Ryan Miller and the other guy and Kipper."

The other guy? Martin Brodeur, maybe?

"Yeah," White says. "Exactly. So take one or leave one, but I put my bet on Miikka."

Maybe so, but Kiprusoff didn't even win a Vezina Trophy nomination last season. The top three, as judged by the 30 NHL general managers, were Miller, Brodeur and the quirky Ilya Bryzgalov, of the Phoenix Coyotes."