Kasperi Kapanen is at the World Championships on a sports assignment.
Tampere
NHL hockey player Kasperi Kapanen, 26, signed up for military service in late April. However, the man who is part of the Lions’ World Cup squad was immediately drawn to the sports commission, which he is currently doing on the ice of the World Cup in Tampere.
In between games, an order was sent to Kapanen to clean his face in line with military discipline.
– There was a message from some great God that Kapenen and Matinpalo should shave off their beards, says Kapenen, referring to the Lions’ Nicolas Matinpalo, who is also on the sports commission.
– I also have such a stupid beard when it grows out there that apparently it can even be seen on TV. From there the order came, and now it is shown like this, Kapanen continued.
However, Kapnan did not want to say from whom or what rank of soldier the order came from.
– There was no message from Saul of Neniston, but there was from someone higher up. I won’t start taking names.
– It just turned out that “shave a beard and go in for sports”.
After all, Kapanen doesn’t need to show his face the razor every morning.
– Luckily, I don’t have to. Kapanen speculates that there will probably be a message for when you need to drive again.
Kapanen poses for a photo at Thursday’s media event. Photo: Vesa Moilainen / Lehtikuva
The soldier, who faced Silo, opened his World Cup goalscoring account on Friday as Lizonat beat Hungary 7-1.
– A little during the first two sets, you could already feel the pain. But you just have to stay positive and keep up the workload of the third set.
Nothing is gained from individual performances here, except perhaps for Rane (Mikko Rantanen). Otherwise, breakthroughs will come through the five, Kapanen said.
Jukka Jalonen leveled the series after two sets. Kapanen was moved to the second series along with Antti Suomela and Kapo Kako.
– it felt good. There is also a strict Pelimihet. That was just one batch. It’s hard to say exactly what it will be like. But at least based on that, it looks good.
In the third set of the Hungary match, Kapanen was moved to the second row alongside Suomela and Kako. He immediately scored a goal there as well. Photo: Eva Valtokari/Amulehti
In the third period, the Lions scored at least five goals in the Hungarian net. Kapanen thinks that breaking a ketchup bottle is a good sign for the future.
– Yes, mentally it is a big deal for everyone. “Throughout the tournament, we had a lot of chances, but we didn’t go in,” Kappenen said.
Finland continues its World Cup campaign on Saturday against Austria at 16:20.
