Toronto Maple Leafs Have 2 Special Father-Son Connections

With Fathers Day looming this Sunday, the Toronto Maple Leafs have two players that have a lot in common with their dad’s.

William Nylander and Kasperi Kapanen are two Toronto Maple Leafs players that were fortunate to grow up in an NHL dressing room thanks to the success of their father’s.

In a New York Times article by Dhiren Mahiban, Nylander spoke about growing up with an NHL dad.

"“We’d be all over the place; we’d come down there and do whatever.We liked going down there. We were just kids. We didn’t really know how big it was. That’s the way we grew up, in locker rooms.”"

The ability to grow up in an NHL rink has so many advantages. You get the best hand-me-down equipment of all-time and opportunity to hone your skills from professional hockey players everyday.

Most minor hockey players are learning from their dad or friend’s dad who never played high-level hockey, so having that ability to learn at such a young level is imminent in their future success.

Not only do they get to learn from one of the best hockey players on earth, but the spotlight becomes lessened once they make the NHL themselves.

Skating on a professional ice surface becomes second nature and so does the behind-the-scenes of media interviews, playing in the playoffs in high pressure moments and the grind of an NHL season. So, by the time the child makes the NHL and is in those big moments, it’s almost commonplace for him.

One of the funniest stories about Michael Nylander, who had a great NHL career playing 920 games finishing with 209 goals and 679 points was how both Michael’s and William’s career intersected through Brooks Laich.

Based on Laich’s age, he not only had the opportunity to play with both William and Michael, but he assisted on Michael’s last goal in the NHL and William’s first goal in the NHL. The odds of that happening is incredibly bizarre and it’s such a fun memory that the three of them can share forever.

Michael spoke to that experience in that same New York Times article.

"“It’s amazing that happened. It’s just funny how that ends up. It’s a great memory, hopefully for him, and also for me and William.”"

Kasperi Kapanen is another player on the Toronto Maple Leafs that had a successful NHL player as a dad.

His father Sami, played 831 NHL games and finished with 458 career points, but his not-so-fondest memory was one that comes full circle with his son getting drafted to the Toronto Maple Leafs.

During the 2004 NHL playoffs when Sami played for the Flyers, Darcy Tucker delivered one of the biggest hits in team history, which sent Air Canada Center into a frenzy. Kapanen got the last laugh though as Jeremy Roenick scored a few minutes later to beat the Leafs 4-2 in the series, but that hit will always be remembered.

Although Michael and William’s career arch and connection to Laich is pretty awesome, they have an even cooler story to tell, because the two of them got to play professional hockey together.

Although it wasn’t in the NHL, the father-son connection played on the same line in the 2013-14 season with KalPa Kuopio of the SM-liiga. Kasperi got the last laugh having 14 points in the season, compared to Sami’s 13 points, but the two of them had a blast playing together, as Sami alludes to in a Yahoo Sports column by Sunaya Sapurji.

"“It was the reason I kept pushing myself to give it one more year to have a chance to play with him.It’s special and it’s hard to put into exact words. You feel so proud that your son is on the ice at the age of 16, 17 and that he’s capable of playing with men on a professional level of hockey.”"

Kasperi joked about playing with his dad, but he understood how much fun this opportunity was and something you shouldn’t take for granted, as discussed in the Yahoo Sports article. 

"“At first it was a little bit weird having your dad on the same line….It’s the same guy you just had breakfast with in the morning – so it’s weird. But you get used to it and I really enjoyed it. It’s probably one of the best things that ever happened to me.”"

Although both Michael Nylander and Sami Kapanen have lived out their dreams of playing in the NHL,  I’m sure they’d trade it all away to see their son’s have just a little bit more success than they did.

Happy Fathers Day, everyone.