Flames, Kiprusoff agree to six-year deal

[Habsfan84]

The Calgary Flames have locked up Miika Kiprusoff for the next six years.
The Vezina Trophy winning netminder has agreed to a long-term deal which will pay him $35-million US. The Finn's average salary will jump to $5.8-million but the deal is believed to be weighted to pay him more in the early years.
Kiprusoff was in the final year of his deal which was scheduled to pay him $3.6-million. His new deal puts him the same league as Vancouver's Roberto Luongo and New Jersey's Martin Brodeur.
"Bottom line is he's one of the best three goaltenders in the NHL," said general manager Darryl Sutter. "You want to make sure you're able to show your fans and your players that you tend to have those top players on your teams for a long time."

Over the course of the last few months, the Flames have also signed leading scorer Jarome Iginla and defenceman Robyn Regehr to five-year extensions worth $35 million and $20 million, respectively.

"We have a mission here and it's a pretty straight forward mission," said Flames president and CEO Ken King. "We want to win the Stanley Cup and we want to take an organized and thoughtful approach to that. Our objectives are very, very clear"
Kiprusoff is in his fourth season with Calgary and is the franchise leader in shutouts (21) and is approaching his 200th regular season game, which will rank him 5th highest in franchise history. He has a 5-3 record, a goals-against average of 3.13 and a save percentage of .879 this season.
"I would like to thank the Calgary Flames owners for making this long term commitment to me and my family so we can remain in this city and be part of this organization," Kiprusoff said in a statement.
"I look forward to the responsibility and challenge that comes with this contract. Calgary is a loyal hockey community that expects and deserves the very best from its home team."
Next up for Sutte is centre Daymond Langkow, currently second in Flames scoring, who is scheduled to become a free agent next summer as will winger Kristian Huselius. Star defencemen Dion Phaneuf is also scheduled to become a restricted free agent next year.