Image: APA/Minas Panagiotakis
Wearing the number 92 shirt, the forward made his debut in the world’s strongest ice hockey league on Sunday in the Detroit Red Wings’ 5-2 away win over the Toronto Maple Leafs.
Kasper was used by head coach Derek Lalonde as a center with wings Andrew Copp and Lucas Raymond and was given 14:59 minutes of ice time.
“It’s great to have played my first match and to have won my first win with the team,” emphasized Kasper. The man from Klagenfurt fired a shot on goal in Detroit’s first appearance by an 18-year-old in over 30 years and recorded three hits.
At a score of 1:1, he was also responsible for an ultimately inconsequential penalty by covering the puck in the goal area with his hand during a scuffle. Captain Dylan Larkin with a hat-trick and goalkeeper Alex Nedeljkovic, who saved 42 shots on goal, were the match-winners for the visitors in front of a crowd of 18,675 at the Scotiabank Arena.
Father was there
Detroit picked Kasper eighth in the 2022 NHL draft and loaned him to Swedish top club Rögle.
After dropping out in the quarter-finals of the Swedish league a week ago, the former KAC youth player was ordered to North America by the Red Wings.
On Friday in Winnipeg, the son of former national team defender Peter Kasper was still missing due to a minor injury. On Sunday he was able to experience the next highlight of his meteoric career. His father cheered live in Toronto.
The ninth Austrian
Kasper is the ninth Austrian to play in the NHL after Reinhard Divis, Christoph Brandner, Thomas Pöck, Thomas Vanek, Andreas Nödl, Michael Grabner, Michael Raffl and Marco Rossi, and by far the youngest debutant. Marco Rossi was just over 20 years and three months old when he played his first NHL game on January 6, 2022.
Detroit continues in Montreal on Tuesday. The Red Wings still have six games to play in the NHL regular season and only theoretical chances of promotion to the playoffs.
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I am Pierce Boyd, a driven and ambitious professional working in the news industry. I have been writing for 24 Hours Worlds for over five years, specializing in sports section coverage. During my tenure at the publication, I have built an impressive portfolio of articles that has earned me a reputation as an experienced journalist and content creator.
