I'm not sure if I qualify as a troll or super Kakko fan, but I definitely thought Kakko should be in the conversation after that start. If you look back at my first post on it though, I DID qualify it with "If he keeps this up" or something to that effect. The thing is, it wasn't even the scoring. Kakko looked dangerous in almost every game I saw him play. I don't know if it was just me rooting against him and getting nervous whenever he had the puck, or if he really was that dangerous.
I think he caught people off-guard and especially those who hadnt seen him at all prior. But the way I look at it is like this:
This tournament for both was vastly different. Jack was there to develop and learn from people he admires (especially his hockey hero Kane). get the chance to play against men and NHL talent and practixe with NHL players. Kaapo was there to show what hed worked on the last year and a half and how he was ready to begin tearing into NHL competition. He wanted to prove his worth for the 1st spot as well as be a main contributer for team Finland.
Imagine taking a guy whos worked out for a year and putting him in the gym with a guy who has lifted a few tims over a year. Ones form is better, they can lift more, they know where and what to lift, etc... Its silly to have expected them to produce as equals; and even if they did comments would still reign in like ‘Oh well Jack was getting bodied and wasnt nearly as effective away from the puck’.
And to your first sentence - I have no problem with people saying hes in the conversation (even if I think its obvious he isnt but thats just how I value skating over a lot of other skills). It was the arguments that cited points as reason over Hughes - then his points dissipate - then the points dont even matter anymore and its the rest of his play. Funny how that works
