The NHL Entry Draft 2018 prospect continued to play his best hockey so far and was rewarded with a beautiful
wrist shot goal. Kupari has scored 2+0 in 11 games, adding +5 rating.
Playing for
just 8 minutes Kupari shot only once, early in the first period. He carried the
puck to the middle of the offensive zone, used a KalPa defender as a screen and
snapped a wicked wrister past KalPa's goalie Riku Helenius. Helenius, by the
way, was a first round #15 overall pick by the Tampa Bay Lightning in the NHL
entry draft 2006. Last three seasons he played for Helsingin Jokerit in KHL.
The young
Oulun Kärpät forward was centering the fourth line today as key forward Ville
Leskinen returned to the lineup and took the second line spot. Kupari's
linemates were speedy, experienced, defensively responsible and gritty
checking forwards Jyri Junnila and Juha Koivisto. The line seemed well-balanced,
even though they also were on the ice during one KalPa goal.
Rasmus
Kupari has stepped up his performance during last 3 matches against top Liiga
teams JYP and Tappara and somewhat weaker KalPa. He’s been constantly reliable
with the puck, has created quality chances for himself and his teammates and
has also played a strong two-way game. It was just a matter of time before his promising
performance resulted on the board as well.
Careful
nurturing seems to be a wise plan from Oulun Kärpät coach Mikko Manner, who has
changed his team’s game book a lot during his first year as a head coach. Last
season the regular top team of Finnish Elite League was very disappointing, the
team finished 8th and was eliminated in the first round of the
playoffs. Mikko Manner has changed the course totally: Oulun Kärpät is now
second in the Liiga, top-tier League in the Finnish ice hockey.
However, it
remains to be seen what role Rasmus Kupari will be given in the near future
with Ville Leskinen back in the lineup. There have been rumors that Oulun
Kärpät would be interested to add another scoring center in their roster, but
given Rasmus Kupari’s rapid development, this could be unnecessary.
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