Canadiens’ Oliver Kapanen, latest progeny of Finland’s first hockey family, forging NHL path his ‘own way’

Like a sauna beside a fresh lake, few things fit more seamlessly together in Finland than the national team’s Lions sweater and a Kapanen.

It’s a tradition that stretches back generations.

Literally.

And while the recent IIHF World Championship might be one that a hockey-crazed nation would just as soon forget, with an eighth-place finish marking Finland’s worst showing in 69 years, the tournament did signal the arrival of the next Kapanen progeny on a big international stage.

That would be 20-year-old Oliver Kapanen, a fast-rising Montreal Canadiens prospect who capped a breakthrough season in his country’s domestic league by scoring a team-leading six goals at the world championship in Prague.

“Just to make it to the team at that age, it takes a lot,” said Sami Kapanen, the former NHLer and Oliver’s uncle. “Being the second-line center and actually right now kind of carrying the Finnish offense, that really takes a lot and it makes me happy.

“I think it’s kind of positively shocking the whole family.”

This isn’t just any family.

The Kapanens are basically the First Family of Finnish hockey, with Oliver’s grandfather Hannu enshrined in the Hall of Fame there following a playing career that took him to the 1976 Olympics and a coaching career that included a gold medal at the 1998 world juniors.

Oliver’s great-uncle, Jari, had an extensive career in the SM-liiga while his father, Kimmo, was a goaltender who played professionally in Sweden, Finland and Germany and is now general manager of Timrå IK in the SHL. His uncle, Sami, played more than 900 NHL games and his cousin, Kasperi, sits at nearly 500 NHL games and counting.

No pressure, kid.

“It was tough for me because of my father,” said Sami Kapanen. “I think it just kind of multiplied to (the next generation).”

For his part, Oliver Kapanen said he tried to find his “own way” while coming up through the KalPa Kuopio system as a branch attached to that famous family tree. Faced with expectations and maybe even some preconceived notions about who he was, he strived to make his own name.

“I just tried to use it like a chance that I wanna prove that I can play hockey, too,” he said.

Shining on the world championship stage is a pretty good place to start, especially since that came after Oliver eclipsed Sami’s single-season playoff scoring records at KalPa with seven goals and 14 points in 13 games.

You never would have known how roughly the year started had you only seen…