Player Discussion Kaapo Kakko: Part IV

[Inferno]

Our assistant coaches.

Well...what we changed in light of our struggles was to not have one of our best players suck real bad after he finally recovered from covid.


Power plays are always best when they have the best players on a team use their talents as long as possible.

You'll never hear the capitals say..you know what we need? Less ovechkin.

So why should we want less panarin?

I'm sorry but a balanced approach is foolish for a limited time chance to score. From beer league to the nhl you always want your best offensive players out in power play situations.

It's like 3 v 3. You don't want Colton Orr Ryan hollweg and jed ortmeyer out there.

 

[SA16]

Balanced power play units are bad power play units. Here would be my PP usage breakdown during normal circumstances:

PP1 - 100%
PP2 - 0%

 

[Levitate]

Was it “they” or was it “Quinn”. Will be interesting to see. It’d be one thing if the team had a really effective fourth line, but they had nothing close to that. Really maddening usage from my perspective.

And I agree FWIW. Don’t necessarily need to see KK or VK with Panarin as long as they’re getting reasonable ice time period.

I think a lot of it was that on many nights the 4th line is the only one that would consistently play an aggressive push the pace north/south game that Quinn wanted while the other lines stumbled with their pace and trying to be too fancy
BUt the fourth line was bad defensively and while they could forecheck they didn't often result in goals.

 

[jay from jersey]

Balanced power play units are bad power play units. Here would be my PP usage breakdown during normal circumstances:

PP1 - 100%
PP2 - 0%

I agree, you pay your high dollar guys to light the lamp. They are on the man advantage 1st unit because they have elite shot, vision, passing etc

it’s fine 5v5 if you want to spread out the offense a bit between 2-3 lines but even at even strength thEy are getting the bulk of the minutes because you want your playmakers to create plays.
It’s different if your protecting a lead or have a specific use for a specific line during certain points in the game, but IMO you 100% want panarin, Fox, Zibby etc out on the ice for as much time as humanly possible to put the game away, increase the lead, or comeback from a hole. The only reason 2PP would sniff anytime

 

[JCProdigy]

Regulation NHL hockey game is 60 minutes long. A goal scored in the 1st minute counts just as much as the last minute and every minute in-between. If you are telling me that I'm getting, on average, 4-6 of those minutes with a distinct advantage to provide my team more offense, well, I want the best five offensive players I have (within team structure) for as many of those minutes as possible.

Rangers down 3-2 in the last minute of regulation with goalie pulled. Do we really want the team to spread the wealth at that point or do we want the six best players on the ice every single time?

Note: this doesn't take into account players sucking in a game and others playing great resulting in an in-game promotion/demotion scenario.

 

[Harbour Dog]

I don't think that Gallant is going to trip over himself to play the kids on PP1 or to force feed them minutes.

But it does sound like his version of 'accountability' (a word that he seems to genuinely dislike, BTW), is going to be much more in line with what we want to see as fans.

A guy is having a poor game? Okay, who can cover some of his ice time. A guy is creating dangerous chances every second shift? Okay, let's get him more shifts.

I'm fully expecting both Kakko and Lafreniere to be getting top6 TOI after just a handful of games. They aren't going to come into camp looking like complimentary pieces; they're both going to be play drivers that want to have the puck on their sticks.

 

[Igor Shestyorkin]

Laf should be on the PP1 because it would simply enable a better setup than the 4 righties. Panarin's cross-seam passing ability is just wasted with no right wall one timer. Then again, I don't think Laf is a one timer guy. Regardless, that lefty shot is much more ideal and Laf should be on PP1. Dude played like no PP time this season.

 

[Sisu4ever]

Interview in the Finnish media today.
I ran it through Google Translate, and fixed a few obvious translation errors, not a perfect translation, but pretty close (I have no idea what the steps of Kuuvuori is):

"NHL hockey player Kaapo Kakko lives a normal hockey summer in Turku. There will be some time for vacationing in the coming months, but at the same time preparations are underway for the coming season.
- I go to the gym on weekdays, I run a little and the ice exercises start in a few weeks. Some have already been on the ice, but my gear has not yet arrived. The steps of Kuuvuori (Moon Mountain) are on the program on Fridays. That cannot be avoided, says Kakko.
The season at the New York Rangers was hard due to the corona pandemic. Kakko says that he himself had covid.
- Everyone had covid, and it was exhausting to play against the same teams all the time, says Kakko.
The daily lives of NHL teams were also affected by the quarantine of players and teams from time to time.
Naturally, a lot has been expected from TPS' Kaapo Kakko. Kakko was playing so well in Finland. During the season, Kakko recorded 9 + 8, or 17 points. There was more to be hoped for, but Kakko is happy with his season.
- Of course you would like more points. When I played in Finland, then it worked. Now a few seasons have been a little quieter. I am pleased with last season. I was able to improve my game.
The team will start next season with new coach Gerard Gallant. Kakko hopes he takes the team to the playoffs.
- We have a good bunch of players. Personally, I think that points are starting to come and I'm going to get more responsibility in the top lines, says Kakko."

"Kaikilla oli korona ja puudutti pelata koko ajan samoja joukkueita vastaan" – Kaapo Kakko odottaa tulevalta kaudelta lisää vastuuta ja pisteitä

 

[LOFIN]

I ran it through Google Translate, and fixed a few obvious translation errors, not a perfect translation, but pretty close (I have no idea what the steps of Kuuvuori is):

Kuuvuori, literally "Moon Mountain", it's a hill at Turku. There is a long set of stairs that leads to the top, and it's often used for exercising, even by professional athletes.

 

[ilezia]

Interview in the Finnish media today.
I ran it through Google Translate, and fixed a few obvious translation errors, not a perfect translation, but pretty close (I have no idea what the steps of Kuuvuori is):

"NHL hockey player Kaapo Kakko lives a normal hockey summer in Turku. There will be some time for vacationing in the coming months, but at the same time preparations are underway for the coming season.
- I go to the gym on weekdays, I run a little and the ice exercises start in a few weeks. Some have already been on the ice, but my gear has not yet arrived. The steps of Kuuvuori (Moon Mountain) are on the program on Fridays. That cannot be avoided, says Kakko.
The season at the New York Rangers was hard due to the corona pandemic. Kakko says that he himself had covid.
- Everyone had covid, and it was exhausting to play against the same teams all the time, says Kakko.
The daily lives of NHL teams were also affected by the quarantine of players and teams from time to time.
Naturally, a lot has been expected from TPS' Kaapo Kakko. Kakko was playing so well in Finland. During the season, Kakko recorded 9 + 8, or 17 points. There was more to be hoped for, but Kakko is happy with his season.
- Of course you would like more points. When I played in Finland, then it worked. Now a few seasons have been a little quieter. I am pleased with last season. I was able to improve my game.
The team will start next season with new coach Gerard Gallant. Kakko hopes he takes the team to the playoffs.
- We have a good bunch of players. Personally, I think that points are starting to come and I'm going to get more responsibility in the top lines, says Kakko."

"Kaikilla oli korona ja puudutti pelata koko ajan samoja joukkueita vastaan" – Kaapo Kakko odottaa tulevalta kaudelta lisää vastuuta ja pisteitä

I don't know about Kuuvuori stairs specifically but "exercise" stairs are very common all around Finland. Basically just a long set of steps up a hill which you use to train your stamina. You can see some here in this fake movie trailer from the 90s sketch comedy show classic Studio Julmahuvi

Here's a translation of the voiceover for a laugh:

In tonight's youth movie, "Through Gray Ice", we follow young goalie Jake, whose dream feels out of reach as coach McKinley's training regime seems to be taking all the time he has. How long will girlfriend Jennifer wait for him? The situation isn't being helped by the on going divorce process of Jake's parents. "Through Gray Ice" is the coming-of-age story of a young man on his way from poverty to success.

 

[Sisu4ever]

Kuuvuori, literally "Moon Mountain", it's a hill at Turku. There is a long set of stairs that leads to the top, and it's often used for exercising, even by professional athletes.

I used to live in Turku a number of years, and never knew about this. But there is a lot of things i didn't know about... .

 

[Kords]

Can't wait to watch this kid in year three with a normal NHL schedule and a pro coach. Such a fun player to watch, think we're gonna be in for a treat next season.

 

[aufheben]

Balanced power play units are bad power play units. Here would be my PP usage breakdown during normal circumstances:

PP1 - 100%
PP2 - 0%

Check:

PP1 - 25%
PP2 - 25%
PP3 - 25%
PP4 - 25%

…and mate.

Are the PK units balanced too?

 

[aufheben]

Kuuvuori, literally "Moon Mountain", it's a hill at Turku. There is a long set of stairs that leads to the top, and it's often used for exercising, even by professional athletes.

They have one of these Hell-stairs in Banff. I remember the Canucks were doing it (or one of the other thousands of hockey teams in that general area).

 

[aufheben]

I think the main issue is they play the fourth line too much. You can play the top six a typical amount but then give L3 more ice time by severely cutting down the L4 ice time.

Lafreniere and Kakko played so much in the top six anyway…arguably even more than they should have.

Their best stretch of the season was on L3 with Chytil.

 

[Synergy27]

Regulation NHL hockey game is 60 minutes long. A goal scored in the 1st minute counts just as much as the last minute and every minute in-between. If you are telling me that I'm getting, on average, 4-6 of those minutes with a distinct advantage to provide my team more offense, well, I want the best five offensive players I have (within team structure) for as many of those minutes as possible.

Rangers down 3-2 in the last minute of regulation with goalie pulled. Do we really want the team to spread the wealth at that point or do we want the six best players on the ice every single time?

Note: this doesn't take into account players sucking in a game and others playing great resulting in an in-game promotion/demotion scenario.

No one is talking about spreading the wealth evenly on the PP. Of course the top unit should get most of the time.

That said, they shouldn’t be playing the full two minutes every time. They shouldn’t be starting a PP if most of the first unit was on the ice when the penalty was drawn.

This team has boatloads of elite offensive talent and it behooves us to get the most we can out of all of it.

 

[Levitate]

Lafreniere and Kakko played so much in the top six anyway…arguably even more than they should have.

Their best stretch of the season was on L3 with Chytil.

I don't really believe this.

Looking at Kakko's icetime through the season he normally got under 15 minutes per game.

They had a few good games as a "kid line" but would get caved in defensively. Quinn would also bench them in the third almost every game.

At any rate, while his scoring didn't come along quickly last season I think people really need to look at the improvement in his game from rookie year to last year. He became a puck hound and was excellent at takeaways and being far more aggressive with his decision making. He was basically excellent in almost all areas except taking that last step to put the puck in the net. It was a huge step and while yes, you gotta get the scoring, he was a very good NHL player even without the scoring.

 

[IDvsEGO]

I don't really believe this.

Looking at Kakko's icetime through the season he normally got under 15 minutes per game.

They had a few good games as a "kid line" but would get caved in defensively. Quinn would also bench them in the third almost every game.

At any rate, while his scoring didn't come along quickly last season I think people really need to look at the improvement in his game from rookie year to last year. He became a puck hound and was excellent at takeaways and being far more aggressive with his decision making. He was basically excellent in almost all areas except taking that last step to put the puck in the net. It was a huge step and while yes, you gotta get the scoring, he was a very good NHL player even without the scoring.

Early in the season we started w/ both Kakko and Laf in the top 6.
Almost immediately things were moved around as Mika struggled (covid but we didnt know it at the time) and Panarin struggled (due to Strome's struggles). This caused a cascade where Quinn constantly shuffled lines to generate offense.
Once Panarin started generating offense again, Quinn still kept laf and kakko out of the top 6 with the exception of injuries and penalties.
Kakko was one of our better players on almost every line he played on simply due to his pure puck dominance and his ability to regain possession in the offensive zone. The problem is that (and ive been saying this for a year + ) his play style doesn't mesh well with panarin. Panarin wants a right handed shot who doesn't play with it, who retrieves pucks and who finds the empty ice and shoots. Kakko is not a rhs, he doesn't chase in the way panarin wants and he definitely holds the puck. Its one reason I think Strome is better winger for Panarin than a center.

Kakko would play well with Kreider + Mika or Kreider + Chytil fast,heavy bodies who can cycle, thats where Kakko's possession game shines.

 

[HFsNumber1Heel]

Kuuvuori, literally "Moon Mountain", it's a hill at Turku. There is a long set of stairs that leads to the top, and it's often used for exercising, even by professional athletes.

For Halloween this year I demand Kaako do the Joker staircase scene in NY.

 

[will1066]

They have one of these Hell-stairs in Banff. I remember the Canucks were doing it (or one of the other thousands of hockey teams in that general area).

Pretty sure Sather has never used it.

But the Steps of Kuuvuori sounds Middle Earth mythical.

 

[gravey9]

I don't really believe this.

Looking at Kakko's icetime through the season he normally got under 15 minutes per game.

They had a few good games as a "kid line" but would get caved in defensively. Quinn would also bench them in the third almost every game.

At any rate, while his scoring didn't come along quickly last season I think people really need to look at the improvement in his game from rookie year to last year. He became a puck hound and was excellent at takeaways and being far more aggressive with his decision making. He was basically excellent in almost all areas except taking that last step to put the puck in the net. It was a huge step and while yes, you gotta get the scoring, he was a very good NHL player even without the scoring.

The thing I've come to appreciate about Kakko is that his body has changed so much over the years that he's had to morph his game several times as he's grown and played at different levels. If you watch his earlier world junior highlights, he looks skinny and lanky and he kinda zipped around the ice using aggressiveness and speed. He got a little older, body filled out and his game morphed into something below the circles. In the NHL, he made huge adjustments form year 1 to year 2 in his play style. He needs to keep morphing his game and I think he has the ability to do so which many bigger kids just can't figure out that quickly because they're used to bull-rushing at the lower levels and haven't developed the hockey IQ. But Kakko has that. What he needs is a coach that gives him the right direction because he really seems to take well to coaching. The danger is that he gets bad coaching or someone who really doesn't understand how a kid with his size needs to play to be successful offensively in the league.

From my very novice perspective, he needs to work on four basic things - his first step(s) and explosiveness, his shot (and making quicker decisions to shoot) and his confidence in taking the puck to the net.

 

[molotce]

The thing I've come to appreciate about Kakko is that his body has changed so much over the years that he's had to morph his game several times as he's grown and played at different levels. If you watch his earlier world junior highlights, he looks skinny and lanky and he kinda zipped around the ice using aggressiveness and speed. He got a little older, body filled out and his game morphed into something below the circles. In the NHL, he made huge adjustments form year 1 to year 2 in his play style. He needs to keep morphing his game and I think he has the ability to do so which many bigger kids just can't figure out that quickly because they're used to bull-rushing at the lower levels and haven't developed the hockey IQ. But Kakko has that. What he needs is a coach that gives him the right direction because he really seems to take well to coaching. The danger is that he gets bad coaching or someone who really doesn't understand how a kid with his size needs to play to be successful offensively in the league.

From my very novice perspective, he needs to work on four basic things - his first step(s) and explosiveness, his shot (and making quicker decisions to shoot) and his confidence in taking the puck to the net.

I agree with everythin except i'll just stop at confidence, as i think he was maybe hesitant more in general and even as a person initially

 

[ecemleafs]

They have one of these Hell-stairs in Banff. I remember the Canucks were doing it (or one of the other thousands of hockey teams in that general area).

my friends live in colorado and theyve run the manitou stairs in colorado springs a couple times. looks really intense lol.

Manitou Incline Hike in Colorado

 

[huerter]

This PP talk is bananas. The PP1 should stay on the ice until they should change and the time when they should change is a you know it when you see it situation. There were very few times last season where I thought to myself, "hey that's weird that they didn't change".

 

[IDvsEGO]

This PP talk is bananas. The PP1 should stay on the ice until they should change and the time when they should change is a you know it when you see it situation. There were very few times last season where I thought to myself, "hey that's weird that they didn't change".

Theres a diminishing return on the PP as the first unit gets tired, especially if you have control for a long time and the defense cant change. You also want some PP2 time, just in case the first goes completely cold, the second might start getting hot and you're not left with a completely ineffectual PP.
There should never be a 50-50 split on PP usage, but you do want something like an 80-20, with at least 1-2 pp's where PP2 starts.