Markstrom the hockey fan came to the fore when meeting Kiprusoff ahead of Saturday's number retirement ceremony
No border war here. Calgary Flames goaltender Jacob Markstrom, a product of Sweden, wouldn’t dare hold a grudge against former Flames great Miikka Kiprusoff, one of Finland’s all-time greats.
In fact, as the Flames prepare to retired Kiprusoff’s No.-34, Markstrom finally was able to meet Kiprusoff and be a fan.
“That’s a goalie when I was old enough to stay up late and watch NHL hockey he was one of them I enjoyed watching,” Markstrom said. “Obviously unbelievable goalie. Well-deserved going up in the rafters.”
Kiprusoff, who finished his nine seasons in Calgary with a franchise-record 305 victories, won the Vezina Trophy, William Jennings Trophy and first-all-star honours in the 2005-06 season, will be lauded Saturday night when the Flames play host to the Pittsburgh Penguins.
Markstrom, as per his way, downplayed to the media meeting the net minding great, but coach Ryan Huska let it be known there was plenty of admiration when the puck-stoppers touched base.
“Jacob was pretty excited to meet him,” Huska divulged. “They know all about him. They really do. Anybody that plays for this organization, there’s some names that you know and he’s most definitely one of them.
“For Jacob, there’s a lot of great goalies around, but this is one guy, as a youngster, he followed, which is pretty cool. He’s got his Kiprusoff jersey made up to get signed. It’s cool how he appreciates how good of a goaltender he was.”