Player Discussion Kaapo Kakko: Part III

[GigaChad]

I was only able to watch the 3rd game, so could you describe how Kakko played in comparsion to the regular season?
Was he faster, more poised, stronger?

 

[mrmovies779]

I was only able to watch the 3rd game, so could you describe how Kakko played in comparsion to the regular season?
Was he faster, more poised, stronger?

He was a lot more assertive,quicker and stronger.The break did him a world of good.He was a completely different,confident and engaging player.

 

[Chytilmania]

Now he has even less pressure on him since everyone will have their eyes on Laf. Kakko is going to have a huge impact next season.

 

[WojtekWolski86]

Kaako strikes me as a bit introverted and more actions vs words. Part of that is probably being 18 speaking a second language and NY media beaming on you.

Laf seems more like the vocal engaging type and has had a following for a bit now.

Taking the spotlight off Kaako to "live up to his draft selection" every game will prolly do him a world of good

 

[Amazing Kreiderman]

Kaako strikes me as a bit introverted and more actions vs words. Part of that is probably being 18 speaking a second language and NY media beaming on you.

Laf seems more like the vocal engaging type and has had a following for a bit now.

Taking the spotlight off Kaako to "live up to his draft selection" every game will prolly do him a world of good

I remember reading the same thing about Kravtsov a year ago

 

[Leetch3]

I remember reading the same thing about Kravtsov a year ago

you did and it wasn't untrue either...anytime you add more young talent (to go along with mika and panarin) it takes a little bit of pressure off of everyone of the kids compare to if they were in our system a few years ago and had to be 'the guy'

 

[CasusBelli]

Kaako strikes me as a bit introverted and more actions vs words. Part of that is probably being 18 speaking a second language and NY media beaming on you.

Laf seems more like the vocal engaging type and has had a following for a bit now.

Taking the spotlight off Kaako to "live up to his draft selection" every game will prolly do him a world of good

Would also be nice if there were another Finn on the team. What’s Selanne up to these days?

 

[ElLeetch]

Would also be nice if there were another Finn on the team. What’s Selanne up to these days?

I'd like Tikk to take him under his wing!

 

[The Sweetness]

Agreed, but it sounds like the way Quinn was telling him to do that wasn't very good. His tone gives the impression that he isn't exactly a fan of Quinn. It sounds awfully familiar to how Kravtsov described his communications with Quinn too. For a development coach he sure seems to have issues with how he is communicating with the young guys.

Do you speak Finnish or is this your takeaway from a rough translation on our boards?

If you don’t speak Finnish then your takeaway is worrying to me as I saw a greatly improved Kakko at the end of the year and also a jump in offensive production from several of our players.

 

[haveandare]

I was only able to watch the 3rd game, so could you describe how Kakko played in comparsion to the regular season?
Was he faster, more poised, stronger?

Biggest things I noticed were that he was way more decisive and confident.

In terms of decisiveness, he jumped on loose pucks quicker, passed a lot more quickly and sharply and got shots off his stick and on the net rather than earlier when he was holding on too long and his shots were getting blocked easily. Just less obvious time spent processing the game, looked a lot more instinctual.

Confidence wise, I noticed him wearing d men down a lot more, making quick cuts back and forth and having them try to keep up and chase him unsuccessfully, which was something he seemed to do more frequently in international play and which helped him be effective at that level. It tires his man out and tends to lead to them slipping out of position and him finding a seam from that.

 

[bubba5]

He was better in the 3 games but he still need to improve his speed. He is to easily caught with the puck.

 

[KirkAlbuquerque]

Oh snap forgot about this dude

 

[BB88]

He was better in the 3 games but he still need to improve his speed. He is to easily caught with the puck.

For sure, good thing he knows it and has the work ethic.


Thinking of Kakko due to Corona would it be possible for Kakko to join TPS for training, like these kids can do during offseasons.

Would be a nice advantage if he could spend this offseason training/skating with a Liiga team

 

[Inferno]

He was better in the 3 games but he still need to improve his speed. He is to easily caught with the puck.

I mean...If speed was the only thing that mattered tavares would be in the ahl.

You don't have to be a burner to play.

Strome isn't much faster and put up a lot of points.

 

[GoAwayPanarin]

Lafreniere is going to be the best thing for Kakko.

That pressure and attention is off of him and he'll be much better for it, along with making what ever improvements come along with physical/mental maturation.

 

[Fugazy]

Lafreniere is going to be the best thing for Kakko.

That pressure and attention is off of him and he'll be much better for it, along with making what ever improvements come along with physical/mental maturation.

That's a good point, something I didn't think about. Makes it a lot easier for him to focus on his game and make the leap in Year 2 with everyone focusing on Laf.

 

[ThirdEye]

Lafreniere is going to be the best thing for Kakko.

That pressure and attention is off of him and he'll be much better for it, along with making what ever improvements come along with physical/mental maturation.

I think it was more the fatigue standing in Kakko's way this year and not really pressure... he's been the go-to guy for his teams pretty much throughout his career and has excelled at that role. But it certainly can't hurt, no. They should be one of the more dynamic duo's in the league in a couple of years. Add in Panarin and Zib who area already established top 10 players in the league and... holy crap. I just hope we win a championship before cap hell decimates the team in a couple of years

 

[Captain Monglobster]

Lafreniere is going to be huge for Kakko in alot of ways. Lots of pressure off his shoulders to be 'the man'. Like a poor mans Crosby-Malkin situation.

 

[NYSPORTS]

Now he has even less pressure on him since everyone will have their eyes on Laf. Kakko is going to have a huge impact next season.

amazing, unless something happens with the NFL season and we see a wild draft lottery this is was off the charts luck. A borderline/likely playoff team gets the top pick.

So true with Kakko. Has there ever been a #2 pick overall with so little light on him come season two? Especially in NY.

 

[LOFIN]

I think it was more the fatigue standing in Kakko's way this year and not really pressure... he's been the go-to guy for his teams pretty much throughout his career and has excelled at that role. But it certainly can't hurt, no.

Absolutely, from the stories I've heard he really wants to be THE guy. He is super competetive. Who knows, maybe the fact that Laf is getting the big expectations over him might push him into another gear.

 

[OrlandK]

Sounds logical but I think its sophistry. Laf will have little impact on Kakko. Kakko's self-induced stress and unhappiness was because he was playing badly, which he never did before. After incredible accolades the year before he saw himself as a failure and he desperately wants to be anything but. He's not looking to be under the radar. He looked better after the hiatus but still didn't produce. He still looked like someone trying to make one on one moves and never seemed part of a functioning line. He certainly had more zip and seemed more confident and noticeable but he didn't solve all his issues.

Undoubtedly he will improve next season. But he really needs to figure out how to play nice with others or he will not reach his full potential.

 

[GoAwayPanarin]

I think it was more the fatigue standing in Kakko's way this year and not really pressure... he's been the go-to guy for his teams pretty much throughout his career and has excelled at that role. But it certainly can't hurt, no. They should be one of the more dynamic duo's in the league in a couple of years. Add in Panarin and Zib who area already established top 10 players in the league and... holy crap. I just hope we win a championship before cap hell decimates the team in a couple of years

He seemed pretty uncomfortable with all the attention though. All of that is going to go away and he can just focus on doing what he does.

We'll survive cap hell. There are teams in MUCH worse positions than the one we are in right now.

 

[FinRanger]

Here is newly released Kakko interview. It is recorded some time last autumn in White Plains area because at some point he mentions that Chytil is in AHL. The interview is in Finnish.



some points:

- Mentions that he was expecting a better start for the season personally but is confident it will get better.

- No surprises in the NHL life for Kakko.

- Lives with a family that cooks him food etc. There has been some other Rangers rookies that have been living with that family before.

- Mentions that he has been hanging out most with Hajek and Chytil (remember this is an old interview though).

- Brendan Smith and Marc Staal have been helping him with some things. They live pretty near Kakko. Other guys live in Manhattan. For example Zibanejad lives in Manhattan so he don't get to speak Finnish so often with him.

- Likes that the Rangers training ice hockey hall is near to where he lives.

- He was asked about Panarin. Kakko really emphasized that Panarin is a very chill and a good guy.

- Before the first game every player had on their jersey their nickname (taped on it?). Someone from the
maintenance staff asked Kakko what is his nickname but Kakko said he did not have any so the maintenance staff came up with their own. The name was "Kappy". Kakko said jokingly that name has not been used a lot and said it is maybe for the better.

- Was asked a question Mantun Grilli or Madison Square Garden. At the time of the interview he would rather go to Mantun grilli (Grill kiosk in Turku Finland) than to Madison Square Garden. (Some questions are from Twitter so these are pretty weird )

- Does not get recognized too much in New York (not a surprise) and thinks it is a pretty good thing because mentions that in some cities players cannot do things outside freely because they get interrupted so often.

- Mentions that there are not too many rookie traditions. Mentions collecting pucks as one tradition. Also he mentions that one time he went in airplane among the first and some other young players were waiting outside for older players to go first. A little bit later they came to say to Kakko that next time he should let older players go first.

- Kakko was asked about the famous line he said a year ago "Wow it's a nice city." Kakko was asked was someone pointing with a gun and forcing Kakko to say the line. Kakko mentioned that the line was not his idea and he was asked to say certain things. Kakko mentioned that the first days after the the draft there were someone with camera on his face around every minute.

- Don't have any superstitions.

- Says he uses CCM B29 stick with normal blade. Mentions also that he wanted to little bit mess around with different sticks during and after the summer 2019 but at the end he returned to use the CCM B29. Mentions that there were maybe some superstition in the decision to go back to that stick.

 

[Kords]

I do think having the spotlight off him will probably let him breath a little easier, but at the same time Kakko is extremely competitive so I think that will drive him to that next level all the same. He want's to be THE guy, he's said as much. Gonna be so fun watching those two grow.

- Kakko was asked about the famous line he said a year ago "Wow it's a nice city." Kakko was asked was someone pointing with a gun and forcing Kakko to say the line. Kakko mentioned that the line was not his idea and he was asked to say certain things. Kakko mentioned that the first days after the the draft there were someone with camera on his face around every minute.

.

Given the circumstances it's unlikely, but they better not pull that crap with Laf

 

[Rangers394]

Lafreniere taking pressure off of Kakko is a really good point. I don't think people realize how much pressure these young kids are under playing for NY. If you're a kid not from here and you arrive in NYC, it's like a totally different planet. People, places, language, attitude, style, cultures, buildings, it's all here and then throw in the media, fans, gossip, these kids must put a lot of pressure on themselves to perform and i'm glad Kakko will have someone to take pressure off of him. They can help each other.

I don't think Kakko's issue was pressure but it definitely helps this team if our guys are a little more comfortable.