Since Oliver Setzinger was taken to Germany by Ron Kennedy at the age of 17 years and nine months for the 2001 World Cup, no Austrian has been younger than Kasper at a World Cup. The son of former team defender Peter Kasper has made a name for himself with strong performances in the Swedish Hockey League (SHL, 7 goals, 4 assists in the regular season, 3 goals and 3 assists in the play-off) and in the CHL (2 goals, 4 assists) for the National team pushed. Now he wants to show his talent in his World Cup debut against Sweden on Saturday.
“The anticipation is great. I’m not nervous, I’m just happy,” said Kasper in an interview with APA. In Tampere he wants to put himself entirely at the service of the team. “I want to follow up on how I played in the playoffs, put the pace in, play venomously to help the team,” he said. The Swedish legionnaire can assess what awaits him and his colleagues at the start of the World Cup. “They are very good skaters and technically very good. We have to skate a lot, be defensively compact, work hard, go into duels and on the rebounds,” said Kasper before his fifth international match.
Missed CHL final as an incentive
The teenager experienced many highlights in Rögle, but he had to watch as an extra striker in the CHL final of all places. “The CHL final was a shame, but it’s incredible for Rögle that we won. After that I thought to myself, I have to train even harder to get another chance,” said Kasper.
Kasper, who was mostly used as a center but also as a wing, played a lot in the third line and even got power play time. The feedback from the trainers was correspondingly positive. He brought in energy, played play-off hockey, was tough in tackles and went in front of goal, he said of the praise.
NHL first-round draft candidate
The scouts from the National Hockey League (NHL) have had Kasper on their list for a long time because of his qualities. The Carinthian is a candidate for the first round of the NHL draft on July 7th and 8th in Montreal. With a good World Championship, he can further increase his “market value”, and he also has the chance to convince the talent scouts in the Combine at the end of May/beginning of June in Buffalo. Between Combine and Draft, Kasper returns to Rögle to finish the school year.
