Throwback Thursday: This week in 2013, Mikka Kiprusoff announces retirement

This week in 2013 (Sept. 9), Calgary Flames goalie Mikka Kiprusoff announced his retirement from the NHL.

He left the organization as the franchise leader in games played by a goalie (576), wins (305) and shutouts (41).

Originally acquired by the Flames on Nov. 16, 2003 for a second round pick in 2005 (used to draft Marc-Edouard Vlasic), Kiprusoff was relative nobody at the time. While he posted some good numbers in the AHL in the years prior, at 27 years old he only had 47 games with an unimpressive 14-21-3 record and a .897.

But in his first year in Calgary, he was nothing short of a superstar. In 2003-04, he posted a 24-10-4 record and career-best .933 save percentage and 1.69 GAA.

He shut the door in the playoffs for a deep run to game seven of the cup finals going 15-11 along the way with a .928 save percentage. After the lockout, he returned as the Vezina winner with another impressive campaign and the job was his. All in all, Kiprusoff has gone down as arguably the best goalie in franchise history.

His 305-192-68 record is nothing to shrug off, nor is his career .913 save percentage.

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