"Miikka Kiprusoff is a victim of his own success.

After all, his recent struggles wouldn't be front-page news if not for Kiprusoff's seemingly superhuman performances for the bulk of his tenure with the Calgary Flames.

"This is just so new to all of us — watching Kiprusoff finally look normal and go through stretches where he's not the best player on the ice in most games," said Kelly Hrudey, who tended twine in the NHL for 15 seasons

and is now an analyst for CBC's Hockey Night in Canada telecasts.

"And it's probably pretty new for him, because

I can't imagine the last time he can remember thinking this way. Right now, whether it's three or four games, he's the weak link. It's hard to accept sometimes, but he's such a strong guy mentally that you know he'll come through it, and we probably won't even remember this blip in a couple or three weeks."

Flames fans are crossing their fingers that it's not too late by then.

The former Vezina Trophy winner has been uncharacteristically shaky over the past three games, and it couldn't come at a worse time for a team that is running out of time to climb back into the Western Conference playoff picture.

Kiprusoff surrendered a questionable marker at a bad time in last Wednesday's 3-1 defeat to the division-leading Vancouver Canucks and served up a couple more softies two nights later in a 5-4 shootout setback against the Detroit Red Wings."