Oilers' Kapanen's Stanley Cup Final Game 1 performance eerily similar to his dad's

Ottawa Citizen

15 hours ago

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In Game 1 of the 2002 Stanley Cup final, Sami Kapanen had two assists, as his Carolina Hurricanes beat the Detroit Red Wings in overtime.
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Twenty-three years later, his son, Kasperi, put up a two-assist performance for the Edmonton Oilers in a Game 1 triumph over the Florida Panthers.
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Call the numerologist. Cue The X-Files theme music.
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And, there's more to this case of history repeating itself through generations. The coach of that Carolina team in 2002? Paul Maurice, who is now behind the Panthers' bench.
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'I saw that this morning, that he had two assists and two shots like me, the same ice time on the same day,' Kasperi said ahead of Game 2 Friday. 'It's a little spooky.'
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But, Oilers fans will hope the parallels stop there. After that Game 1 win in 2002, the Hurricanes felt the wrath of the super-powered Red Wings roster. Detroit won the series in five.
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Kasperi said his dad will fly to Edmonton in time for Game 5, which falls on June 14. That happens to be Sami's birthday.
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But, does Kasperi remember his early childhood in North Carolina? For the most part, no. He said most of his recollections of his dad's playing days come from when Sami was a Philadelphia Flyer later in his career, and the family lived in the Jersey suburbs.
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While his dad isn't set to get to Edmonton till Game 5 (and we're still at the stage where we need to put in the qualifier 'if necessary'), Kasperi and Sami do regularly chat.
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'We don't talk about hockey as much,' said Kasperi. 'He just wants to see how I'm doing, asking me how I am doing emotionally. Obviously, we've been playing well so it's mostly been positive.'
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And, while Kasperi doesn't remember much from his dad's time in Carolina, his dad has spoken about his relationship with Maurice.
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'I think he loved him,' said Kasperi. 'I think there are so many positive things to say about Paul. Obviously, he's a tremendous coach as well. Nothing but good stuff.'
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Maurice, though, was happy to share his favourite Sami Kapanen story. It came from when the Hurricanes' enforcer was Darren Langdon, back in the early 2000s. Sami, like his son, was a blur on skates. Langdon was not.
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'He took off in front of me, and I'd never seen a guy skate that fast in my life,' Maurice said. 'And I was standing beside Darren Langdon one day… he was a tough lad. And (Sami) took off in front of us, and Darren said, 'Man, just once in my life I'd like to skate like that.' So, I went over and told Sami that. I am not going to pretend that I can do his accent, but he said, 'Yeah, but if I could fight like that once, I'd kill everybody.''