Offensive threat becomes defensive roadblock

[diacope 1,696]

     It's been over three seasons since Kasper Kankkunen hurt his shoulder in a collision with Thomas Landry II which left his highly touted goal scoring ability in question but with a lot of determination Kasper was able to ring in some nice goals during his time with the United and we totally forgot about the injury. Recently it seems the pain has been coming back while playing on a more physical style hockey club in Seattle, early on we wondered why the shots weren't coming and expected to see a flurry by the end of the season, in a recent interview whenever he finally scored against the Titans not long ago, defenseman Kankkunen finally let the fans know why he hasn't been launching as many shots at the net..

 

What a period! Why haven't we seen so many shots from you this season?

"I didn't want to say anything after getting eliminated from the playoffs last season but the change of scenery mostly rooted from my need to play a little less minutes in a more complete defensive unit, kudos to the manager for giving me what I wanted but my shoulder started hurting again at the midway point after I've been put in more scramble scenarios where I stupidly went for the hit. Big props to the training and coaching staff for their help all season because it taught and motivated me to make adjustments and become a more useful player behind the scenes, knowing how to block the puck with my equipment and staying away from the scrums with long passes from our end."

 

     Although his numbers have went down he ended the interview with a positive attitude and it seems like the potential lifetime injury wont stop the youngster from excelling his game and taking it to new heights, all season we've seen his name plenty of times whenever we discuss the league leaders and he's been at the top of the charts all season for assists again but a new technique while shot blocking creates a new edge to his game he hopes will help his team to another final and a career still filled with highlights, just on the other side of the rink.

Edited June 24, 2021 by 16z