"Jay Feaster has watched a franchise goalie leave town.

The Calgary Flames acting GM isn't rushing to relive the experience.

The struggles of goalie Miikka Kiprusoff over the past couple of weeks, including twice being hooked in his last three starts, has created debate whether the Flames should trade away their No.-1 netminder and rebuild for the future, but Feaster has a strong reaction to that idea.

"I've lived in the desert because of never replacing an elite, world-class goaltender," Feaster said Tuesday.

Go back to the post-lockout Tampa Bay Lightning a year after winning the 2004 Stanley Cup, and then-Bolts GM Feaster tried to re-sign Nikolai Khabibulin.

The Lightning had no chance under the salary cap of matching the four-year, US$27-million contract Khabibulin he received from the Chicago Blackhawks, and the team paid dearly.

"Here we are how many years later and the franchise is still trying to replace Khabibulin," Feaster said. "I am not fully sold on the school of thought you don't need an elite goalie to win a Stanley Cup. I'm not saying you have to have a goalie who has won the Cup before, but I'm not of that school kind right now that says you can win without an elite goaltender. If you don't have an elite goaltender, you'd better have elite players at a lot of other positions.

"In Tampa, we had elite players at other positions. We had three of the best forwards in the game in (Vincent) Lacavalier, (Brad) Richards and (Martin) St. Louis. We had one of the best offensive defencemen in the game in Danny Boyle. And, yes, we made the playoffs after Khabibulin left, but we were eighth seed one year and seventh the other and out in the first round both times.

"Kiprusoff is an elite goaltender, one of the best in the game, so if you're contemplating moving that player, you'd better be really sure about what you have to replace that player with.""