There comes a time on the road for many pro hockey players, even NHL first-round draft picks with a fine, family pedigree, when rubber hits that road.
You come upon the Last Chance Saloon.
Meet Kasperi Kapanen. He saw it, keeping it to himself in his heart of hearts until he finally gave voice to that spot on the unfulfilled promises road Wednesday in Game 1 of the Stanley Cup Final.
“I’ve bounced around,” admitted the Oilers’ forward.
“And there’s no point in getting into the why it wasn’t working out… but I knew that potentially this might be my last chance and I’m grateful they gave me the opportunity.”
Kapanen officially grabbed that opportunity by the throat against Florida with two assists, five hits, and a wonderful split-the-defence and almost scoring play seven minutes into overtime, looking like 97, not 42, the inverse of his dad Sami’s old NHL number.
For sure, Corey Perry, in his 232nd NHL playoff game, to Connor McDavid to Leon Draisaitl was the storyline in the Oilers 4-3 OT win Wednesday at Rogers Place but Kapanen’s play was a loud subplot.
It’s been building for the 28-year-old Kapaen over these last eight playoff games. He’s scored three goals, including the OT winner to knock out Vegas in the second round.
He scored two goals against Dallas to help eliminate the Stars in the Western Conference Final, and, on a night when he played over 20 minutes against Florida, the most ice-time he’s ever had as a member of the Oilers, he set up Draisaitl for the game’s first goal 66 seconds in and helped with McDavid on Mattias Ekholm’s blast to tie it in the third period.
Maybe the loudest statement game for the much-travelled Kapanen, who has been traded twice and claimed off waivers twice since he was a first round pick, 22nd overall of the Pittsburgh Penguins in 2014.
He was traded to Toronto as part of the 2015 deal that sent Phil Kessel to the Penguins, then re-acquired by the Penguins five years later in a multi-player 2020 transaction that included current Florida winger Evan Rodrigues.
Pittsburgh put him on waivers in February, 2023 and St. Louis claimed him.
They re-signed him last July, but after a poor start, in November he was back on waivers. The Oilers claimed him, taking a shot on him because they badly needed a shot of speed after losing forward Dylan Holloway to those St. Louis to an unmatched offer sheet this summer.
“These are the best days of my life right now, just coming to the rink and playing these (playoff),” said Kapanen.
“Listen, my blood pressure is really high and it is nerve-wracking. But I’m just enjoying this…I mean everybody is nervous at this time. Playoff hockey is the best.
“This is what you dream of as a little kid, to be right here (Stanley Cup Final). I’m cherishing every moment.”
Where his father Sami once was, back in 2002.
“Watching my dad and knowing how hard it is,” said Kasperi.
“He was with Carolina against Detroit. Detroit had a pretty good team back then. I don’t blame them for losing.
“It was a dream for him, and it’s a dream for me. I can talk to you for 10 minutes about it. I’m just overwhelmed.”
Kapanen did play 57 games for the Oilers after the waiver claim but only had five goals and 13 points in the regular-season, going the last 31 games without a goal.
Predictably, he was one of the healthy scratches to start the playoffs , busting his hump in practice only to sit in the press box until the fourth game of the second-round Vegas series.
Now, he is playing the best hockey of his life over the last month. When he broke through the Florida defence seven minutes into OT, he looked like the best player in the world, according to his goalie Stuart Skinner.
“Looked like Davo (Connor McDavid),” raved Skinner.
Hero City, almost. But compared to his captain?
“Let’s not get into that,” he laughed.
A bit of exaggeration? “Yeah.”
Not so much, according to McDavid.
“That would have been a pretty special goal for Kap if he had put that breakaway in. A beautiful rush,” said McDavid.
What was Kapanen thinking there, as the puck banged off the iron?
“Uh, just score. I don’t think I got enough wood on it. Would have been cool to score there, but we scored later,” said Kapanen.
Over the last few games, Kapanen has found himself playing with Draisaitl and Kane, until Draisaitl was moved to play with McDavid when they fell behind, but Kapanen has continued to contribute in whichever role is being asked of him.
“He seems to be a player you can plug into any spot,” said Draisaitl. “He kills penalties when you need him to and obviously his speed creates a lot of confusion for the opposition. When he’s confident and playing the way he is, he’s tough to handle.”
Same story from coach Kris Knoblauch, who watched as Kapanen’s rebound of a Jake Walman shot bounced off Bobrovsky’s glove and fell to Draisaitl who swept it past Bob to open the scoring.
“We were actually interested in him last summer (free-agent) because of his speed and tenacity,” said Knoblauch.
“He can play with skill players but he just never had a really good fit. Through regular-season he had some ups and downs and wasn’t able to play well enough to gain momentum… we always wanted more from him.
“But since we inserted him into the lineup in the Vegas series he has been exactly what we needed. He’s got all the tools, tremendous shot, strong, very fast. He’s made plays, he’s scored goals… he’s making all the hits and we’ve had him on the ice in the last minute of games.”
If Kapanen was muttering to himself after his close call on his marvellous effort in OT, his eyes were as big as saucers when he saw Draisaitl all alone and ripping his 10-footer past Bobrovsky’s glove for the winner on the powerplay with 31 seconds left in the first OT. Tomas Nosek was in the penalty box after the puck flipped on him on a clearing attempt and it sailed over the glass?
What was he feeling when Draisaitl put it away?
“Just relief,” he said.
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