St. Louis Blues’ Finnish forward Kasperi Kapanen was down when his long-awaited NHL match did not materialize on Sunday, October 27.
To his chagrin, he sat wearing a suit in the press stand when the Blues skated the home team Canadiens and Kasper’s cousin who plays there, a rookie forward in the dollar league Oliver from Kapa against. The Canadian club won 5–2 against the Blues.
– We have a lot of attackers in the team, and sometimes we can’t fit in the lineup. You just have to try your best when you get back into the lineup. That’s just the way it is. I was really disappointed that I couldn’t play. We won’t have time to play against each other one day, Kasperi Kapanen told Urheilu.
In the regular season, the teams will meet one more time in St. Louis on March 26, 2025. However, Kasper and Oliver playing against each other in the NHL at that time is under big question marks.
Kasperi, who is struggling with his powers, has recently been moving between the popcorn section and playing. The most recent setback came on Wednesday when he suffered an upper body injury against Ottawa. Kasperi is currently playing for his NHL future and has to show better results than he currently has.
Oliver, on the other hand, needs more responsibility and self-confidence to develop in his career, and his final season may go to Timrå, where he already has a playing contract. Montreal is still feverishly considering Oliver’s status with the Canadiens and Olli Jokinen between the SHL club he coached.
“The boy got to eat decent food”
Kasperi Kapanen is a former NHL player Sami Kapanen son. Oliver, on the other hand, is the former ice hockey goalkeeper, the current sports director of Timrå IK Kimmo Kapanen son.
The cousins had already had a taste of a possible NHL encounter in the summer.
– We already talked in the summer that if there is an opportunity to play against each other, then we will enjoy and at the same time compete to see who is better. It would have been nice to play against my cousin, but maybe the opportunity will come later, Oliver said.
The age difference between the cousins is seven years, because Oliver is 21 years old and Kasper is 28 years old. The two have faced each other once before.
– Kasperi is a little older than me, but we have been playing yard games at the same time. I’ve rarely beaten him in them, but now it was meant to show which of us is better, grinned Oliver.
After all, Oliver and Kasperi had time to have dinner together in Montreal the night before the match. After the game, they didn’t even have time to see each other anymore, because the Canadiens were already in a hurry for their next game in Philadelphia.
– We went to dinner before the game, and I decided to pay for it. The boy (Oliver) got to eat decent food for probably the first time here in Montreal, and he didn’t have to order room service. It was nice to see and talk to them, Kasperi Kapanen was happy.
Oliver begins to have the first symptoms of hotel death in Montreal.
– I’m still living in a hotel, so those days are a bit boring there. The city is certainly nice and a bit bigger than Kuopio, which I’m used to. Here, you can see at every corner that hockey is a big thing for the city and the people, Oliver admits.
Fast development curve
Montreal’s 2nd round pick, Oliver Kapase, had a wild stretch last puck season, where he blew himself up in everyone’s eyes, shining in KalPa – and especially in the playoffs. At the end of it, the trip took the Lions to the WC crew.
Oliver scored a hat trick in the preliminary round against Britain in the prize tournament and became the fourth player from Kapanen’s puck family to score a goal at the World Cup level.
– Self-confidence is probably the most important factor in my development, and then also the fact that I have received responsibility as an adult and was ready for it. The World Cup was quite a big step and through that I knew how to prepare here for the NHL.
– I like to train hard and a lot. It has probably been the biggest thing in my career, thinks Oliver.
St. Louis’ Kasperi Kapanen has followed his younger cousin’s puck career.
– Oliver has developed a lot in the last year. His skating looks much better than before, he’s always had a good itch.
– I think he is playing really good hockey at the moment. He’s a good two-way player. The games I’ve seen, he’s played well, praises Kasperi, who played 73 regular season games in St. Louis last season with an output of 6+16=22.
The head coach hopes for an improvement in self-confidence
After a promising and effective start to the NHL practice games, Oliver Kapanen claimed his place in Montreal’s NHL team.
The biggest exclamations have been muted for a while in Montreal, because Oliver is not allowed to celebrate with the power points of the dollar league for the time being.
In the 11 matches he has played, Oliver Kapanen has marked one assist point. He is the second most ineffective of the NHL forwards who have played more than ten games at this point in the league. NY Islanders center Kyle McLean has played 12 games and doesn’t have a point yet.
With the Canadiens coach Martin in St. Louis is a view of why the effects of the Finnish promise have still remained in the pipeline.
– I feel that his confidence is not at the level we would like it to be. We’re trying to get him (Oliver) to have more puck-handling successes in practice, which will then be reflected in the games. I think he will be an effective player as long as he gains more confidence, states the St. Louis local newspaper For The Gazette.
According to the coach, Oliver Kapanen is a smart hockey player, which is why he is also played in the role of a winger in the NHL, even though the center forward position is more natural for him.
– All the time, of course, you want to be able to play more. I would hope that the coach could trust me in every situation on the ice. I want to be a reliable player for both the team and the coach and play in different situations, says the Finnish rookie striker.