Oliver Kapaselle a huge opportunity in the NHL – the head coach revealed the reasons
Finnish forward Oliver Kapanen of the Montreal Canadiens has received a significant opportunity in the NHL.
Kapanen has risen to become the center of Montreal’s top line due to the injury of team captain Nick Suzuki. The Finnish center is playing alongside star forwards Cole Caufield and Juraj Slafkovsky.
Suzuki is suffering from an upper body injury, and he is expected to be sidelined for 2–4 weeks.
Kapanen got to play his first game in his new role early Saturday morning Finnish time, as Montreal defeated the Chicago Blackhawks 4–1. The Finn received about 15 minutes of ice time but did not register any points.
Canadiens head coach Martin St. Louis explained before the game why he is willing to give Kapanen responsibility in the team’s top line. The head coach praised particularly the Finnish player’s teamwork and ability to make the right decisions on the ice.
– Oliver understands that hockey is not played one-on-one. It’s a team game that involves momentary battles. Kapanen is not the kind of guy who looks for those one-on-one moments; rather, he respects the laws of playing as a collective on both sides of the puck, St. Louis said according to NHL’s Finnish website.
St. Louis also sees Kapanen as a player whose actions are easy to predict.
– From his teammates’ perspective, he is very predictable. When he is on the ice, I always know what he is going to do when I watch from the bench because he understands the rules of our game.
The head coach also highlighted the similarities in play between Kapanen and Suzuki.
– The puck is often on Suzuki’s stick during power plays, but he is not the kind of player who needs the puck on his stick all the time. He plays the game according to the situation, and Kapanen does the same, St. Louis said.
Kapanen has appeared in three games this NHL season without registering any points. His season started late due to a lower body injury that kept the Finn out of Montreal’s first seven games.
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