Oliver Kapaselta direct feedback on the viewing command: "It annoyed me"

MILANO.

The Lions play in the Olympic quarter-finals on Wednesday against Switzerland or Italy.

One interesting name on the Finnish team is Oliver Kapanen. The latest NHL player from the hockey family has had a great season with the Montreal Canadiens. 57 games have produced 18 goals and 13 assists.

However, playing time has been scarce in the strong Olympic team. Kapanen sat in the stands during the first match against Slovakia. In the game against Sweden, Kapanen was the 13th forward but did not get to play a shift. He might have had playing time against Italy, but he had to stay in quarantine in his room as a precaution.

– Good feelings, I’ve been waiting a long time to get on the ice. It’s always nice to play. It’s been quite tough to watch from the sidelines and train when I haven’t been able to get out, Kapanen commented after Monday’s practice.

In practice, Kapanen was skating as the center of the third line, as Anton Lundell and Mikael Granlund were absent from practice. The Finnish team has confirmed Lundell’s illness. Now Granlund has also dropped out, although the reason is unknown.

According to head coach Antti Pennanen, both Lundell and Granlund are expected to return to playing condition on Wednesday, so it is still uncertain whether Kapanen will get to play.

– It is frustrating. Frustrating might be the wrong word, but it annoyed me. Still, a good season behind me. The expectations were that I would have played. But I shouldn’t get discouraged. If an opportunity comes, I have to be ready to play, Kapanen stated directly.

What sports would Kapanen like to watch at the Olympics?

On Sunday, Kapanen got to spend a rest day like the rest of the team.

– Well, yesterday went quite well, got to be with family. We went around the city and had dinner. Spent some time together. The day of the Italy game was spent in the room, didn’t really move anywhere.

Players have relatively little to do otherwise. There aren’t many performance venues for other sports in Milan.

– There aren’t really any other interesting ones nearby. Would have to go a bit further, but there’s no time.

– Skiing would be interesting. And curling is nice to watch on TV.

We asked Kapanen if he is aware of the curling controversy in the competitions.

– About the Canadians? I am. Those are the ones I would like to go watch, a bit heated, Kapanen said, referring to the accusations and videos suggesting that the Canadian team has cheated.

“He’s a bit of a goof”

Kapanen also talked about his time in Montreal. The Finnish forward currently forms a strong line with Slovakia’s Juraj Slafkovsky and Russia’s Ivan Demidov.

– He [Slafkovsky] is an amazing player. What development he has shown, especially this season! An important player for us in Montreal. It’s fun to play on his line, Kapanen said.

– He’s a big player, can protect the puck. He wins loose pucks. I just look for my spot and hope he finds my stick so I can shoot and put the puck in. That’s probably why I’ve scored some goals, having two pretty good line mates.

What about Demidov?

– A bit of a goof, but quite nice. We get along well, Kapanen said.

– We’re quite close. We have a young group, with [Lane] Hutson and those guys. We often go out to eat and hang out. Last season when Demidov came, his English was still a bit shaky. But he learned a lot of the language while he was in Montreal over the summer, and now he speaks quite fluently.

We asked Kapanen if he and Demidov discuss sensitive topics, such as Russia not being in the Olympics.

– Yes, it does come up as a topic sometimes. I don’t want to comment on it further. It comes up sometimes, especially with a smaller group, about what if they were… But there’s nothing to be done now, Kapanen said.

Finally, he was asked how disappointed Demidov is that Russia is not in the tournament.

– He always talks about it in a tone that shows he is disappointed and that it would be nice to get to play and see how they would do.

Jaakko Perttilä
X: @JaakkoPerttila