Honors | Miikka Kiprusoff's shirt went up to the roof of the Calgary ice rink

NHL legend Miikka Kiprusoff47, received a huge tribute when his number 34 was retired by the Calgary Flames.

“Kipper's” jersey was ceremoniously raised on the roof of the Scotiabank Saddledome, home of the Calgary Flames, the night before Sunday Finnish time before the match between the Flames and the Pittsbugh Penguins.

Kiprusoff stood his sons, Marko-with his brother and this boy on the red carpet when the number 34 rose to the ceiling of the hall after the wonderful celebrations.

The Flames posted a video of the wonderful moment on their social media channels.

Several of Kiprusoff's old teammates and Flames' old employees had arrived at the ceremony to honor the Finn's night.

Among others, former teammates stood on the ice Dion Phanneuf, Curtis Glencross, Robyn Regehr and of course the long time captain Jarome Iginlawhose jersey was hoisted to the roof of Calgary's home gym for a day five years ago.

When Kiprusoff was announced on the ice, the Calgary crowd rose to show their appreciation. “Kipper” shouts echoed all the way to the home stands.

The Calgary legend stepped onto the ice past a line of more than ten junk hockey players, all wearing goalie gear and Kiprusoff's jersey.

The media cube of the ice rink showed a tribute video made in honor of the Finn, which only had a fraction of the cool goalkeeper's top saves.

The video after Kiprusoff gave his own speech.

“This is unique and an unimaginably great honor. Thank you, fans, it was incredible playing for you for nine great years. Thank you also to the club management, thanks to which this opportunity is possible”, started the celebration.

He thanked his teammates separately. Among others, he mentioned Iginla, by Rhett Warrener and by Craig Conroywho now serves as GM of the Flames.

In his speech, Kiprusoff threw a minor insult in the direction of the Flames captain at the time.

“Iginla – what an incredible player. There was only one thing he couldn't do: score for me in training.”

The goalkeeper, remembered for his numerous athletic saves, thanked the team's contact person separately Peter Hanlonwho was responsible for media interviews.

“Thanks to Peter, who made sure that Iginla and Conroy took care of the media and I didn't have to,” Kiprusoff said with a face of basic readings.

This comment caused the audience to burst into loud laughter, which lasted for a short time.

The 2006 Vezina winner is the second goaltender to have his game number frozen by the Flames organization. The first was another legend Mike Vernon. He played with number 30.

The Finnish athlete also mentioned him.

“Fortunately, I didn't play with him because I never liked the role of backup goalkeeper.”

The former top goalkeeper finished his speech in style.

“Nine years here were the best for our family. We will never forget them, thank you.”

The Flames players warmed up for the Penguins game in Kiprusoff's jerseys.

“Skipper's” in the name, a donation of 25 thousand dollars was made to the Children's Cottage association, which helps needy children and their families.

Calgary, the Turkuin's longest-standing NHL club, has published several videos of the party equipment throughout the week on its social media channels.

One of the best Finnish goalies of all time made an indelible impression on the people of hockey-crazy Calgary, not only as a goaltender but also as a person. The media appearances of Kiprusoff, who has the reputation of a man of mystery, can be counted on the fingers of one hand since he ended his professional career.

Kiprusoff led Calgary to the Stanley Cup Finals in 2003-2004. However, the finals against the Tampa Bay Lightning ended in a bitter defeat in the seventh game of the finals.

What made the final loss especially bitter was that the Flames Martin Gelinas appeared to score in the third period of the sixth final, but the situation was not verified on video. The Flames lost Game 6 of the Finals in overtime.

The superstar played more than 70 regular season games in no less than seven consecutive seasons and won the Vezina Trophy for the NHL's best goaltender once in his career.

The game number suspension is a way of showing respect to a deserving player that has spread from North American professional sports to Europe as well.

Typically, no one else can use the frozen game number after that, but there are exceptions. The jersey is usually towed to the ceiling by the athlete's company.

Kiprusoff started his NHL career with the goal of the San Jose Sharks, from where the journey continued to the Canadian side and Alberta.

According to Eliteprospects, he played 623 games in the NHL.

Celebrations followed in the ranks of the Penguins Valtteri Puustinen and Jesse Puljujärvi.