First off I could give two shits if we won or not tonight as all this was was a tuneup for Saturday. Was hoping and praying no on got hurt but looks like Staalsie aint looking too good. Anyways, I said in the pre game thread that I was looking for one thing and one thing only and I pretty much got what I wanted.
I wanted to see if the rumors in camp about Kakko looking nothing like pre-covid Kakko were true or not.
Well we got a pretty good answer tonight. Kakko too me looks like he's in better shape. He looks like he might have bulked up a bit with some weight training. He just looks a bit beefier which I was hoping and praying he'd do over the offseason. For Kakko, this covid break came at perfect time for him. He just looked gassed everytime out there other than at time on the PP when he could play off the half wall and didn't need to skate too much.
Anyways that's the first thing I noticed was that Kakko looks like he bulked up a bit. Secondly and just as important as this was a major criticism of him that I had, he not only kept up with his linemates tonight and didn't look gassed at all, whether it be Bread or Chytil, Kakko looked like he had some burst to the puck. He looked quicker and faster too me out there.
Third and final thing, Kakko looked like a guy who could be the sniper we all think he'll become as he was shooting the puck on net at pretty much every opportunity something he never did pre-covid. He was dangling the puck and looked dangerous out there. This Kakko is a guy who could and should turn into a perennial 30-35 goal 75-80 point guy down the road.
So yeah too me, this was the biggest thing that happened tonight and what I wanted too see. This impostor who wore #24 pre-covid has been given the boot. The "real" #24 is going to be awfully fun to watch going forward as he's going to keep getting better and better. I would not be surprised whatsoever if Kakko is a big factor in the Canes series and scores an important goal or two. Can't wait too find out!!