1,230 regular season NHL games.
20 incredible plays.
Over 145,000 votes.
But just one winner of the inaugural TSN.ca NHL Play of the Year Showdown.
After a back-and-forth final matchup with Anaheim’s Bobby Ryan that saw both highlight-reel plays alternate the lead, Miikka Kiprusoff‘s amazing, diving paddle save on Kyle Wellwood has been voted the 2008-09 NHL Play of the Year. Kiprusoff garnered 55% of the over 50,000 votes cast in the final to claim the title.
But make no mistake, it was no cake walk.
At one point, Ryan held a healthy lead over Kipper and appeared poised to pull off yet another upset. It was Ryan, after all, who thumped the heavily favoured Alex Ovechkin in the semi-finals.
In the end, however, Kipper proved to be unstoppable as the fans agreed with TSN NHL Insider Bob McKenzie in awarding the netminder’s save the NHL Play of the Year.
Greg is the founder of Red Mile Blog has been following the Flames through good times and bad since they arrived in Calgary in the early 80s. He has written hundreds of articles on the Flames since 2005 and considers himself an expert on hockey inconsistency and frustration. He shoots right and usually plays defence, but has been known to jump up in the rush. He is a 2-time CAHL men's league champion and knows the sweet taste of beer from a Cup.
