Kakko opens up in Finnish interview about his play
Kaapo Kakko has opened up in an interview with Pasi Tuominen of Eastside Media. In the interview, Kakko shares his experiences and opinions on his first few weeks in the NHL. It has not gone as he had hoped and he puts a lot of pressure on himself to change that and succeed.
Hockey isn’t very much fun for me right now. Things haven’t been working out and sometimes I feel like I could be on the ice a bit more. It would be cool to get a chance on the first line at some point. I understand that it hasn’t been realistic so far, since I haven’t really showed much.
Kakko was frustrated with both his own performance and the ice time he is getting. He expected to be on the ice more at times but also understands that it’s a process.
A player wants to play. You want to show that you can play well. After two first games I was already frustrated, especially since my game wasn’t what I was expecting.
Kakko did not sugarcoat his answers which is refreshing to read. Even better is his desire to be “the guy”.
My goal is to have a leading role. I don’t want to hear any talk about how I’m the youngest guy and I need to be given time to get used to the playstyle. I want to be the guy who scores goals and wins games right away.
The long breaks between games don’t sit well with the player and his transition to life in the US is not as easy as some may think.
The days have been a bit boring at times, since we’ve played so little. I’ve mostly been watching shows on the tablet. Now we’ll get to play properly and hopefully I can get more icetime. I think my game will start to roll better too.
The Rangers are playing a lot of games now and Kakko is getting time on the top PP. We look forward to seeing what he can do, especially if gets to play with Panarin and Zibanejad.
More About:NYR Features