When Joel Armia is ahead of Oliver Kapanen in practice

Jonathan Di Gregorio
When Joel Armia is ahead of Oliver Kapanen in practice
Credit: Second center: Grant McCagg was the only one who believed in Oliver Kapanen's candidacy.

Is Oliver Kapanen a true second-line center, or is he benefiting from the talent of Ivan Demidov (and more recently Juraj Slafkovsky) to enjoy a surprising rookie season with 31 points, including 18 goals, in 57 games?

It's a question that many fans and journalists have been asking since the start of the season.

And it seems that Finnish officials are not convinced either, despite his success, as Kapanen was one of two extra forwards during Finland's first practice earlier today.

This is only a preliminary lineup, but in a short tournament like the Olympics, teams have little time to experiment, and this is likely the lineup we will see for Finland's first game.

As we can see in the post, only three players have scored more goals than the habs forward this season: Mikko Rantanen, Sebastian Aho, and Artturi Lehkonen.

I understand that Kapanen has less experience than several players on the roster, but he has still shown that he can fill the net if he's surrounded by the right players.

But above all, it's surprising to see that a player like Joel Armia is preferred over him. Armia is an excellent fourth-line player, but he's definitely not the one I want to rely on to score the game-winning or tying goal in the third period.

It's as if Kapanen isn't good enough for the first two lines and not responsible enough for the last two.

One might also wonder if the recent slump experienced by the Habs center, who has only four points in his last thirteen games, influenced coach Antti Pennanen's decision.

In fact, he recently praised the experience of the team that the Finnish management has put together, and it seems that Pennanen wants to rely on this formula for the Olympics.

In short, this decision could reignite the debate over Kapanen's role as the habs' second-line center.

We can only hope that this decision will not affect the young player's confidence going forward with the Habs.


Overtime

– 9-0 at halftime.

– A good experience for Nick Suzuki.

– He moves up one spot.

– The ice is ready.

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