Young Rangers forward Kaapo Kakko refreshed after trip home to Finland during All-Star break
Kaapo Kakko of the Rangers skates against the Islanders at NYCB Live's Nassau Coliseum on Thursday, Jan. 16, 2020. Credit: Jim McIsaac
Kaapo Kakko made a last-minute decision to go home to Finland during the All-Star break and according to coach David Quinn it was a good decision.
Quinn said Kakko, the 18-year-old forward the Rangers drafted No. 2 overall last summer, looked like “a very happy 18-year-old,’’ at the Rangers’ first practice after the break on Thursday. “He needed it.’’
About a week before the break, Kakko thought it unlikely he'd go home. He wondered whether the seven-hour time difference between his hometown of Turku and New York would be a problem. But he said he decided about two games before the break to go home.
“I was just thinking, five days, six days in Finland — it’s a long time,’’ he said. “So why not?’’
Kakko, who turns 19 on Feb. 13, played his 45th game of the season Friday. That was as many as he played all last season for his Finnish club, TPS. He insisted the heavy concentration of games in the NHL schedule has not been a problem and he is not tired.
“I like to play hockey so [more games] is good for me,’’ he said.
Kakko started on the third line Friday, with center Filip Chytil and left wing Brendan Lemieux, but Quinn said he was willing to move him up to the first line — as he did against the Islanders in the last game before the break — if Kakko played well and deserved the promotion.
Blue notes
G Alexandar Georgiev and LW Micheal Haley were the two lineup scratches . . . The 15 games on the schedule in February is the most the Rangers have had in February. They’ve had 15 games in February once before, in 1956 . . . Besides Kakko, five other Rangers have birthdays in February: Brendan Smith (31 on Feb. 8), Georgiev (24 on Feb. 10), Ryan Lindgren (22 on Feb. 11), Adam Fox (22 on Feb. 17), and Jacob Trouba (26 on Feb. 26).
Colin Stephenson covers the Rangers for Newsday. He has spent more than two decades covering the NHL and just about every sports team in the New York metropolitan area.
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