"Although they say their focus is strictly on looking after their own business in this determined push for a playoff spot, the streaking Calgary Flames might want to win one for the Kipper tonight.
When the St. Louis Blues come marching into the Scotiabank Saddledome for an 8 p.m. faceoff, Miikka Kiprusoff will stand ready for the challenge in what will be his 500th game in the National Hockey League.
In this day and age, it is a milestone of considerable sorts. Especially when you consider the workload he has shouldered since arriving in Calgary during the magical Stanley Cup run of 2003-2004.
After being lightly used by the San Jose Sharks, there were 38 games that first season and a gaudy 1.70 goals against average with a career-high .933 save percentage. Then he went to work . . . 74 starts in each of the two seasons following the lockout season of 2004-05 followed by 76 starts the next two seasons and 73 last season.
There's been 41 appearances this season.
Since Kiprusoff doesn't talk before game starts, we'll let others talk about his value to the team.
"You can call him a workhorse, but he's more than a workhorse because he's in there and he's dominant," said captain Jarome Iginla, whose team will try to ring up a fourth straight victory tonight before breaking for the all-star weekend. "It's his consistency . . . when I think over the course of his career how many games he plays.
"When he's had maybe a tough week or didn't feel good, it's such a shock. Teams go through that with goalies all the time and we don't ever go through it. He's just in there. He's been one of the top goalies for however many years."
Kiprusoff, who'll be gunning for career win No. 259, has shown some rare cracks on occasion this season while piling up a record of 19-18-2. But he has been steady behind a team that hasn't always given him solid defensive support.
Foes know how good he is, how tough it is to get a puck past him.
"Everyone knows he's a great goalie, but the biggest thing that stands out from other goalies is he's such a battler," said Tom Kostopoulos, a recent arrival from Carolina. "Sometimes when you think you've got him beat, he comes out of nowhere, reaches with his glove, pad or stick and finds a way to make the save."
