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Tuesday, November 30, 1999
Spotlight's nailin' Sami
RALEIGH, N.C. -- The phone jarred Sami Kapanen from sleep mid-afternoon at the Wyndam Harbour Hotel in Tampa last Friday.
The curtains were drawn, the room in darkness and, for a moment, he felt a bit disoriented.
Then he heard the gossip and felt even more disoriented.
"I was in the middle of my pre-game nap, kind of sleepy," recalls Kapanen, having just arrived at the 'Canes practice facility, Iceplex, yesterday. "It was a reporter from Finland, asking if he could call me later to talk about the trade.
"I said 'What trade?'
"And he told me I was going to be traded to Philadelphia with Keith (Primeau) for Eric Lindros. That woke me up pretty quick. I didn't know what to say. All I could think of was 'Wow!' "
The deal never came off. Why? Speculation has it that Carolina GM Jim Rutherford, although obviously anxious to acquire a bonafide star-power draw in Lindros and rid himself of the AWOL Primeau in the process, was adamant about refusing to part with Kapanen.
Flyers GM Bob Clarke countered with: No Sami, no deal.
"If that's so," says the 26-year-old left winger, "I'm glad."
Following up seasons of 26 and 24 goals, the stocky Finn has already scored 13 times and is poised on the brink of breakthrough stardom. But hidden out here in basketball-mad North Carolina, he's lost in the shuffle, a neglected gem, not lavished with near the sort of attention others of his obvious ability receive.
"I kind of like it that way," he admitted. "It must be difficult to play in places like Toronto and Montreal and Ottawa and Calgary, where the spotlight is on you all the time."
Yes, it seems Sami is all for anonymity.
"I like to go home and spend time with my family" -- wife Petra and three-year-old son Kasperi. "It's getting better down here now. People are starting to recognize the players. Why, the other day I was in a store, buying some shoes, and I heard the guy say 'He's with the Hurricanes.' "
That's nice. But in a hockey hotbed like Toronto or New York or Philadelphia, the salesman would've hauled out his instamatic for a cameo keepsake and given Kapanen the oxfords on the house.
"He's a quick guy, explosive," says Flames coach Brian Sutter, who'll likely see far too much of Kapanen tonight. "He reminds me a lot of Val (Bure). They've got a pretty darned good line there, with the savvy old playmaker, the big, strong kid on the right side and Kapanen, the goal scorer, on the left."
Kapanen has teamed with the venerable Ron Francis and combative Bates Battaglia to form the 'Canes major offensive threat. In fact, they rank 1 (Kapanen, 23 points) and 2-3 (Battaglia and Francis, 20 apiece) in team scoring.
And to think, Kapanen began his career back home as a goaltender.
"Ron Francis will be in the Hall of Fame," he says. "He is the perfect centreman for any winger. He passes the puck so well. It is his first option. And Bates Battaglia, there's a guy who doesn't get the credit he deserves."
Little wonder Kapanen seems happy as a clam
"I just want to have fun with my hockey," he pleads. "I want to win. And I think our team is getting better.
"I like to score goals but I don't need headlines."
Need, maybe not. But get, now that's entirely out of his control.
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