RW Kaapo Kakko - TPS, Liiga (2019 Draft) Part 3

[Visul]

Sorry for being out of touch here.

Will Turku be in the playoffs this year? (seems like they will be looking at the standings). If so, when will the 1st round begin?

I will be visiting Finland later this month and wondering whether I'll be able to catch this guy live!

You can find playoffs schedule here: Schedule | Liiga

TPS will most likely finish 2nd, 3rd or 4th in the final regular season standings so they will get bye through the "First round" and start their playoffs in the quarterfinals with home advantage.

 

[Hokinaittii]

His puck control and stickhandling in tight is probably the best we've ever seen from Finland. His hands are right there with Hughes and among other top stickhandlers in NHL.

 

[Subway Schenn]

21st of March will most likely be their first playoff game, if they finish 3rd where they are now. If not, then 22nd. So yeah, they'll be in the playoffs.

You can find playoffs schedule here: Schedule | Liiga

TPS will most likely finish 2nd, 3rd or 4th in the final regular season standings so they will get bye through the "First round" and start their playoffs in the quarterfinals with home advantage.

Amazing, thank you. So I'll be in Turku on Saturday 23rd and can probably even get there on the 22nd if needed - I assume schedules will be finalized after the regular season is complete next week?

What's the format? Home game to start, away game next?

And where can I get a ticket?

 

[Make]

Playing devil's advocate here, but I wonder if the stick lenght is going to be an issue in the NHL. It's two entirely different things to stickhandle against Liiga players than against NHL players. You can get away with a lot in Liiga, but in the NHL players are obviously better at either plastering you against the boards or just pokechecking the puck away from you. Having a longer reach in these situations could be very useful.

How short exactly is his stick anyway? I noticed Crosby uses a bit shorter stick too and he's fine with it.

 

[Kaako Kappo]

Amazing, thank you. So I'll be in Turku on Saturday 23rd and can probably even get there on the 22nd if needed - I assume schedules will be finalized after the regular season is complete next week?

What's the format? Home game to start, away game next?

And where can I get a ticket?

I'm too lazy to explain it myself so here's a Wikipedia quote:

Playoffs: The six best teams at the conclusion of regular season proceed directly to quarter-finals. Teams placing between seventh and tenth (inclusive) will play preliminary play-offs best-out-of-three – the two winners take the last two slots to quarter-finals. Starting from the season 2007–2008 all series since then are best-of-seven. Losers of the semi-finals play a bronze medal match.

Schedules are in place, it's just about who's going to finish and where. Here's the playoff schedule Schedule | Liiga (Runkosarja = Regular season)

Tickets uhh...I'll let a TPS fan answer.

Playing devil's advocate here, but I wonder if the stick lenght is going to be an issue in the NHL. It's two entirely different things to stickhandle against Liiga players than against NHL players. You can get away with a lot in Liiga, but in the NHL players are obviously better at either plastering you against the boards or just pokechecking the puck away from you. Having a longer reach in these situations could be very useful.

How short exactly is his stick anyway? I noticed Crosby uses a bit shorter stick too and he's fine with it.

Apparently Crosby's stick is around 54 inches which is 137 cm, really short. With some googling i found out that Duchene copied Crosby's stick length and uses it. "6 inches below your chin" is how he describes the length.



Here's Kakko showing his stick. He uses 65 flex which is actually quite low even compared to other players who use short sticks.




I'd say Matthews has his stick at around the same length

 

[Visul]

Amazing, thank you. So I'll be in Turku on Saturday 23rd and can probably even get there on the 22nd if needed - I assume schedules will be finalized after the regular season is complete next week?

What's the format? Home game to start, away game next?

And where can I get a ticket?

Correct, they'll play by turns home game - away game - home game - away game and so on. So TPS will probably start at home on 21st or 22nd and play away game on 23rd. Regular season is finalized on next week's Thursday so we'll learn that by then. TPS tickets can be bought from Ticketmaster or from the arena. I don't think their first playoff games are sold-out.

 

[Hokinaittii]

Playing devil's advocate here, but I wonder if the stick lenght is going to be an issue in the NHL. It's two entirely different things to stickhandle against Liiga players than against NHL players. You can get away with a lot in Liiga, but in the NHL players are obviously better at either plastering you against the boards or just pokechecking the puck away from you. Having a longer reach in these situations could be very useful.

How short exactly is his stick anyway? I noticed Crosby uses a bit shorter stick too and he's fine with it.

That's a fair point but I think this concern is similar to the concern people had about Laine not being able to score against NHL goalies like he did in Liiga with his elite shot. It's very rare to see players as good as Kakko when it comes to board play and puck control in general. When you have those kind of attributes already at 18, it's only matter of time when you start to dominate near the boards in the NHL.

I personally think that a short stick can have as many advantages as having a long stick when it comes to holding onto the puck near boards. Not to mention how clumsy players with 3 meters long stick sometimes look in tight spaces. I wish more people would use short sticks because it makes them control the puck with less trouble and quite franky in my opinion the dekes with short sticks are always more eye pleasing than the dekes with long sticks.

 

[Habs76]

Most players now use a fairly short stick, goes up to around the bottom of their neck/top of their shoulders when on skates. Makes it a lot easier to control the puck, pick up passes in tight to your body, etc. It's actually a lot easier to pokecheck with a longer stick because the puck is so far away from their body and every motion is longer, more drawn out and less deceptive.

 

[newfy]

I think people should just not talk about the length of his stick, its so irrelevant. Does 2 inches of stick length really make a difference on how a player will translate to the NHL? Especially when hes already pretty dominant at his age in a pro league

 

[newfy]

I think people should just not talk about the length of his stick, its so irrelevant. Does 2 inches of stick length really make a difference on how a player will translate to the NHL? Especially when hes already pretty dominant at his age in a pro league

 

[Kaako Kappo]

I think people should just not talk about the length of his stick, its so irrelevant. Does 2 inches of stick length really make a difference on how a player will translate to the NHL? Especially when hes already pretty dominant at his age in a pro league

Why shouldn't they? It's an interesting topic.

 

[newfy]

Why shouldn't they? It's an interesting topic.

If you want to say "wow he uses a short stick it helps him control the puck, thats cool" then sure go ahead. But when theres posters in here pretending they know if the length of his stick will hurt him or help him at the NHL level its pretty stupid. The guy is a dominant player, and hes big and strong. A difference of a couple inches on a hockey stick is not going to impact how he plays at the NHL level, so why talk about it? Its people trying to sound smart. If he can be the most dominant 18 year old in Liggaa basically, why would we question if that 2 inch shorter stick is going to hurt him in the NHL?

 

[ijuka]

Playing devil's advocate here, but I wonder if the stick lenght is going to be an issue in the NHL. It's two entirely different things to stickhandle against Liiga players than against NHL players. You can get away with a lot in Liiga, but in the NHL players are obviously better at either plastering you against the boards or just pokechecking the puck away from you. Having a longer reach in these situations could be very useful.

How short exactly is his stick anyway? I noticed Crosby uses a bit shorter stick too and he's fine with it.

A short stick's better for stickhandling. And stickhandling is what prevents poke checks in the first place.

 

[Make]

One thing I've noticed with Kakko is that while he's a good forechecker at times, it sometimes feels like he falls just a bit short on some of his pokechecks. Like he can get near enough to the puck carrier but has to reach an uncomfortable amount while going after the puck. Longer stick could obviously be useful there, but his game is so much built around stickhandling that he's probably better off with the shorter stick.

Judging by the videos posted above, his stick is about chest height which is quite normal for a short stick user. Doesn't seem like a major issue either way, pros & cons just like any other aspect of hockey.

 

[DRW204]

how much C has he been truly playing this year? How does he compare to Kotkaniemi pre draft, notably at C?

If i recall, Kotka hardly played C in pros in Europe and seems to have transitioned quite nicely in the NHL. Same could be said for Aho correct?

 

[RedHawkDown]

this kid is such a beauty, hes my #1 for this year no contest. the more i see of him the more i see an auston matthews with greater drive and tenacity.

 

[julkki]

A short stick's better for stickhandling. And stickhandling is what prevents poke checks in the first place.

CutHockeySticks.com - The truth about cutting kids hockey sticks to the correct length

I just leave this here...But this is very interesting topic. I think when you master the short stick and learn to use your body to protect the puck, you are able to do much more with the puck than with a longer stick. Well, just check the names who have used a rather short stick in their careers from the link I copied.

 

[FinnishSniper]

how much C has he been truly playing this year? How does he compare to Kotkaniemi pre draft, notably at C?

If i recall, Kotka hardly played C in pros in Europe and seems to have transitioned quite nicely in the NHL. Same could be said for Aho correct?

Aho played C in Finland in his draft +1. Kotka didn’t play center at all in Liiga. Kakko has played like 7 games total I think with the mens team this year at center.

 

[hellvetet]

A shorter stick can also be an advantage in board plays when you are "transitioning" quickly between handling the puck and fending off pokes from defenders with protective stick checks.

In my humble opinion the preferred stick length for a particular player is just that, a preference. As long as you can properly cut off passing lanes, shoot with enough velocity et cetera, it is all good. Enjoy the diversity and play to your strengths.

 

[Visul]

Aho played C in Finland in his draft +1. Kotka didn’t play center at all in Liiga. Kakko has played like 7 games total I think with the mens team this year at center.

Aho played only handful of games at center in Kärpät that season. Max 10 games I would say, plus WJC of course. The most of the season he played LW in Mika Niemi's line.

Kakko most definitely has all the tools to become a center but it would go "Aho route" by playing a season or two at wing first. Kotkaniemi is so much of a defense-first-minded player and natural center that his transition from Liiga winger to NHL center looked almost too easy. And after the draft some doubted can he even play at center, lol.

 

[Kobe Armstrong]

It's interesting that the leading scorer in Liiga isn't even a PPG player. Really low scoring season in Liiga which makes his stats look more impressive

 

[DRW204]

Aho played C in Finland in his draft +1. Kotka didn’t play center at all in Liiga. Kakko has played like 7 games total I think with the mens team this year at center.

Thanks. And what about granlund?

 

[Kotkaniemi15]

Imagine if the Habs tanked and got a Finnish duo of KK/Kakko. I wish.

 

[Kaako Kappo]

HIFK-TPS going on right now. Last time they met HIFK players were all over Kaapo and that seems to be the case again. Trying to hurt him and hit him. Sad. I hope he comes out of this game ok.

 

[ijuka]

Imagine if the Habs tanked and got a Finnish duo of KK/Kakko. I wish.

Why is Jesperi Kotkaniemi the KK? If anything, Kaapo Kakko would make much more sense as KK.