Austria's Marco Kasper shoots the puck while USA’s Henry Thrun defends during the 2021 IIHF World Junior Championship.
photo: Andrea Cardin / HHOF-IIHF Images
Last Tuesday, Rogle Angelholm travelled to the Czech Republic and beat Sparta Prague 5-2 in the first leg of the Champions Hockey League quarter-finals, giving the Swedish club a three-goal advantage on aggregate when the two teams reconvene this Tuesday.
“It was a good team win and it’s important to win the first game and go back to Angelholm with the victory,” said 17-year-old centre Marco Kasper, who dressed as the team’s 13th forward and had only three shifts for a total of 1:30 in the game.
That hasn’t been the norm for the projected first-round pick from Austria, though. Kasper has played in eight of Rogle’s nine CHL games to date and has accumulated two goals and four assists, along with six penalty minutes and nine shots on goal. He also has six points in 24 SHL games.
“We’ve had a lot of hockey games lately, so we had some guys we wanted to rotate back in,” Rogle general manager Chris Abbott said about the line-up management. “I’m sure he’ll be playing more next week, and he’s certainly been a big part of our team through the start of the year.”
“It’s been really cool playing in the CHL and competing with the best teams in all of Europe,” said Kasper. “Getting to the quarter-finals and trying to get into the semi-finals in the first year is really good for the club.”
Originally from Klagenfurt, in the federal state of Corinthia in southern Austria, Marco is the son of Peter Kasper, a former pro hockey defenceman who spent most of his career in Austria but also played the 1999/2000 season with the ECHL’s Florida Everblades. The senior Kasper represented Austria in five IIHF World Championships and the 2002 Winter Olympics in Salt Lake City.
“He knows a thing or two and my whole life, he’s helped me a lot in hockey, and he still helps me,” Marco said of his father. “I always try to listen to him when he tells me what I can do better, whether it’s skating or whatever.”
Now a coach in the KAC Klagenfurt club, Peter was an assistant on Marco’s team two years ago in Austria’s top U18 league. After Marco amassed 81 points in 27 games as a 15-year-old in 2019/20, both father and son knew that it was time for him to go elsewhere to take his game to the next level, and decided the Rogle Angelholm club was the right place.
“I’d been to several camps in Sweden and I really liked it there because you can really develop your skills, skating and everything,” said Kasper. “I think this organization does a good job of developing players and it’s a good team so I think I made a good decision to come here.”
Among players who have gone to the NHL by way of Rogle in recent years are Toronto Maple Leafs defenceman Timothy Liljegren and Detroit Red Wings dynamite German rookie rearguard Moritz Seider. Goaltender Calle Clang, a Pittsburgh Penguins prospect, is currently on the team and will be going to the World Junior Championship to play for Sweden.
Last season, his first with Rogle, Kasper was limited to seven games at the U18 level, six at U20 and 10 in the SHL.
“Last season was obviously a tough season for everybody with Covid and everything, but I got to practise hard and meet Moritz,” said Kasper. “He’s a great guy and we could speak to each other in German, so that was cool.”
On making the jump to playing pro full time this year, the 185-cm, 83-kg Kasper said: “I just tried to work really hard in the summer getting stronger and getting faster, especially, and now that I’ve got the chance I think I’m doing a good job and it’s always great getting the chance to play.”
“Physically he’s prepared to handle the game against men and he’s obviously a very intelligent hockey player, and that allows him to be a positive impact on our team,” said GM Abbott, whose brother Cam is Rogle’s head coach. “I’m really impressed with the way he’s grown in the last 18 months we’ve been working with him and I know he’s got a lot of developing left to do.”
In addition to playing hockey, 17-year-old Kasper also goes to school in Angelholm, which provides additional challenges.
“It’s difficult because we usually practise in the mornings and so I have to miss classes, but I just try to go whenever I have time and do a good job there too,” said Kasper, who has picked up the Swedish language remarkably fast.
“The guys on the team have helped me learn pretty fast, speaking Swedish with me off the ice and showing me things on the ice,” said Kasper. As for players who have helped him on the ice, he mentioned: “(Adam) Tambellini with his shot; from him I can learn how to shoot those one-timers.”
He has a full plate in Sweden right now, but Kasper also keeps an eye on what’s happening in Austria, particularly regarding KAC Klagenfurt, the 32-time Austrian champion that also competed in the CHL this season.
“Of course I also looked at the Klagenfurt results and unfortunately they lost against Leksand (in the round of 16), but they did a really good job too.”
A second World Junior Championship coming up
Kasper’s near future will be in Edmonton where he will fly to tomorrow with the Austrian U20 national team for the 2022 IIHF World Junior Championship.
Despite his age, Kasper is headed into his second World Junior Championship. Last year, he was part of an overmatched Austrian team that was outscored 29-1 over four games. Kasper assisted on Austria’s lone goal of the tournament, which was scored by Rogle then-teammate Senna Peeters in a 7-1 loss to Russia.
“Unfortunately, we had to be in a bubble and there were no fans but it was still really cool to play there,” Kasper said about the experience. “It was a really big honour to represent Austria at the World Juniors last year and it’s going to be again this year too.”
Kasper and Peeters, who now plays for the QMJHL’s Halifax Mooseheads, are two of 11 returnees from last year’s squad. Austria plays pre-tournament games against Slovakia and Sweden before beginning the World Juniors on 27 December against Finland.
“I always hope that we’re gonna do better and I think we can do better,” he said. “Last year was tough for us with some players getting sick before the tournament, but I think we can do better this year and I think we’re capable as a team.”
Last year there was the afforded luxury of no relegation from the top group, but that won’t be the case this year. The Austrians will play in Group A in Edmonton with Canada, Finland, the Czech Republic and Germany, and they know they will be in tough to stay up, but they will try their best.
“It doesn’t really matter who we play against, we’ve just got to play our very best every game,” said Kasper. “We know it’s going to be really hard to compete against those teams, but if we work hard every game, who knows what’s possible for us?”
And who knows what’s possible for Kasper personally? A strong showing in the World Juniors and the second half of the SHL season could go a long way in determining where he gets drafted next summer, with current projections having him going somewhere late in the first round. Kasper doesn’t know where he will be drafted or when he will go overseas but playing in the NHL is a childhood dream that’s never been stronger.
“My father, of course,” Kasper said when asked about his favourite player as a child. “But my heroes were always more guys from the NHL, like Nathan McKinnon and Jonathan Toews.”
“It was a good team win and it’s important to win the first game and go back to Angelholm with the victory,” said 17-year-old centre Marco Kasper, who dressed as the team’s 13th forward and had only three shifts for a total of 1:30 in the game.
That hasn’t been the norm for the projected first-round pick from Austria, though. Kasper has played in eight of Rogle’s nine CHL games to date and has accumulated two goals and four assists, along with six penalty minutes and nine shots on goal. He also has six points in 24 SHL games.
“We’ve had a lot of hockey games lately, so we had some guys we wanted to rotate back in,” Rogle general manager Chris Abbott said about the line-up management. “I’m sure he’ll be playing more next week, and he’s certainly been a big part of our team through the start of the year.”
“It’s been really cool playing in the CHL and competing with the best teams in all of Europe,” said Kasper. “Getting to the quarter-finals and trying to get into the semi-finals in the first year is really good for the club.”
Originally from Klagenfurt, in the federal state of Corinthia in southern Austria, Marco is the son of Peter Kasper, a former pro hockey defenceman who spent most of his career in Austria but also played the 1999/2000 season with the ECHL’s Florida Everblades. The senior Kasper represented Austria in five IIHF World Championships and the 2002 Winter Olympics in Salt Lake City.
“He knows a thing or two and my whole life, he’s helped me a lot in hockey, and he still helps me,” Marco said of his father. “I always try to listen to him when he tells me what I can do better, whether it’s skating or whatever.”
Now a coach in the KAC Klagenfurt club, Peter was an assistant on Marco’s team two years ago in Austria’s top U18 league. After Marco amassed 81 points in 27 games as a 15-year-old in 2019/20, both father and son knew that it was time for him to go elsewhere to take his game to the next level, and decided the Rogle Angelholm club was the right place.
“I’d been to several camps in Sweden and I really liked it there because you can really develop your skills, skating and everything,” said Kasper. “I think this organization does a good job of developing players and it’s a good team so I think I made a good decision to come here.”
Among players who have gone to the NHL by way of Rogle in recent years are Toronto Maple Leafs defenceman Timothy Liljegren and Detroit Red Wings dynamite German rookie rearguard Moritz Seider. Goaltender Calle Clang, a Pittsburgh Penguins prospect, is currently on the team and will be going to the World Junior Championship to play for Sweden.
Last season, his first with Rogle, Kasper was limited to seven games at the U18 level, six at U20 and 10 in the SHL.
“Last season was obviously a tough season for everybody with Covid and everything, but I got to practise hard and meet Moritz,” said Kasper. “He’s a great guy and we could speak to each other in German, so that was cool.”
On making the jump to playing pro full time this year, the 185-cm, 83-kg Kasper said: “I just tried to work really hard in the summer getting stronger and getting faster, especially, and now that I’ve got the chance I think I’m doing a good job and it’s always great getting the chance to play.”
“Physically he’s prepared to handle the game against men and he’s obviously a very intelligent hockey player, and that allows him to be a positive impact on our team,” said GM Abbott, whose brother Cam is Rogle’s head coach. “I’m really impressed with the way he’s grown in the last 18 months we’ve been working with him and I know he’s got a lot of developing left to do.”
In addition to playing hockey, 17-year-old Kasper also goes to school in Angelholm, which provides additional challenges.
“It’s difficult because we usually practise in the mornings and so I have to miss classes, but I just try to go whenever I have time and do a good job there too,” said Kasper, who has picked up the Swedish language remarkably fast.
“The guys on the team have helped me learn pretty fast, speaking Swedish with me off the ice and showing me things on the ice,” said Kasper. As for players who have helped him on the ice, he mentioned: “(Adam) Tambellini with his shot; from him I can learn how to shoot those one-timers.”
He has a full plate in Sweden right now, but Kasper also keeps an eye on what’s happening in Austria, particularly regarding KAC Klagenfurt, the 32-time Austrian champion that also competed in the CHL this season.
“Of course I also looked at the Klagenfurt results and unfortunately they lost against Leksand (in the round of 16), but they did a really good job too.”
A second World Junior Championship coming up
Kasper’s near future will be in Edmonton where he will fly to tomorrow with the Austrian U20 national team for the 2022 IIHF World Junior Championship.
Despite his age, Kasper is headed into his second World Junior Championship. Last year, he was part of an overmatched Austrian team that was outscored 29-1 over four games. Kasper assisted on Austria’s lone goal of the tournament, which was scored by Rogle then-teammate Senna Peeters in a 7-1 loss to Russia.
“Unfortunately, we had to be in a bubble and there were no fans but it was still really cool to play there,” Kasper said about the experience. “It was a really big honour to represent Austria at the World Juniors last year and it’s going to be again this year too.”
Kasper and Peeters, who now plays for the QMJHL’s Halifax Mooseheads, are two of 11 returnees from last year’s squad. Austria plays pre-tournament games against Slovakia and Sweden before beginning the World Juniors on 27 December against Finland.
“I always hope that we’re gonna do better and I think we can do better,” he said. “Last year was tough for us with some players getting sick before the tournament, but I think we can do better this year and I think we’re capable as a team.”
Last year there was the afforded luxury of no relegation from the top group, but that won’t be the case this year. The Austrians will play in Group A in Edmonton with Canada, Finland, the Czech Republic and Germany, and they know they will be in tough to stay up, but they will try their best.
“It doesn’t really matter who we play against, we’ve just got to play our very best every game,” said Kasper. “We know it’s going to be really hard to compete against those teams, but if we work hard every game, who knows what’s possible for us?”
And who knows what’s possible for Kasper personally? A strong showing in the World Juniors and the second half of the SHL season could go a long way in determining where he gets drafted next summer, with current projections having him going somewhere late in the first round. Kasper doesn’t know where he will be drafted or when he will go overseas but playing in the NHL is a childhood dream that’s never been stronger.
“My father, of course,” Kasper said when asked about his favourite player as a child. “But my heroes were always more guys from the NHL, like Nathan McKinnon and Jonathan Toews.”