Friday, January 04, 2008

I like where this is headed

Kipper stole his 3rd game of the year last night and his 2nd in recent memory. If you throw out the 5 GA abomination from the Vancouver game around the Holidays, Miikka has certainly seemed to be getting better and better as the season has progressed.

Just to make sure, I threw together a chart of Kipper's SV% through games 1 to 41. As you can see, a general upwards trend emerges. If he can continue to improve**, a lot of the Flames other problems will suddenly become a lot less important.

**Obviously the trend indicates an improvement in team play as well, as goalie stats tend to mirror the club's performance in general. However, I can safely say Kipper himself has personally improved outside of team effects based on observation: for example, the Flames were obviously out-matched last night thanks to dubious scheduling and a quality opponent. In October or November, when Kipper was struggling, they probably lose that exact same match 4-2 or 5-2.