Detroit Red Wings’ Marco Kasper on the secret to his success
Detroit Red Wings’ Marco Kasper, April 19, 2025 in Detroit.
Marco Kasper is showing he delivers when it matters – a great sign for the Detroit Red Wings as they try to once again become a playoff team.
They blew it for a ninth straight time this year, but what that did was free up Kasper to join his native Austria at the second-best springtime hockey tournament, the World Championship, which is nearing the end.
Kasper had an assist in Austria’s last game of the preliminary round, May 20, leading to a 6-1 victory over Latvia in Stockholm, Sweden. Neither team is a hockey powerhouse, but it was only two years ago that Latvia upset Sweden in the quarterfinals en route to a bronze medal.
For Austria, this is their first playoff appearance since 1994.
The Austrians’ next challenge is taking on central European neighbor Switzerland, which claimed the top spot in Group B. Canada claimed Group A on the strength of taking down Sweden, 5-3, and will meet Denmark.
The Danes, playing at Jyske Bank Boxen in Herning, Denmark, rallied from a 1-0 deficit against Germany to win, 2-1 in a penalty shootout. That bounces Wings’ defenseman Seider and his Germans from the tournament. Denmark heads to the quarterfinals for the first time since 2016.
The Danes won their last three games, while the Germans lost for a fourth consecutive game. The teams came into the match tied at nine points in the standings, meaning the last quarterfinal spot in Group B would be settled between the two.
In other quarterfinals, the Swedes, whose roster includes Wings Lucas Raymond and Erik Gustafsson, faces Czechia, and the U.S. will play Finland. Raymond had an assist in the loss to Canada to pick up his eighth point in seven preliminary games.
The tournament, split between Stockholm and Herning through the quarterfinals, holds the semifinals on May 24, and the medal games on May 25. Weekend games will all be in Stockholm.
It has been an excellent tournament for Kasper, who has four goals and three assists in seven games in the round-robin format. Austria was in Group A along with powerhouses Sweden, Canada and Finland.
Originally drafted at No. 8 in 2022, Kasper used his rookie season to earn a regular role in the lineup, finishing with 19 goals and 18 assists in 77 games.
Contact Helene St. James at hstjames@freepress.com. Follow her on Twitter @helenestjames.
Read more on the Detroit Red Wings and sign up for our Red Wings newsletter. Her latest book, “The Franchise: Detroit Red Wings, A Curated History of the Red Wings,” was released October 2024. Her books, “On the Clock: Behind the Scenes with the Detroit Red Wings at the NHL Draft,” and “The Big 50: The Men and Moments that made the Detroit Red Wings” are available from Amazon, Barnes & Noble and Triumph Books. Personalized copies available via her e-mail.