On Saturday night, Leafs forward Kasperi Kapanen was a well noted healthy scratch versus the Ottawa Senators. The news had many people speculating what the reasoning may be. It didn't seem likely that it was a performance issue, as Kapanen has been a good secondary scorer for the Leafs with 28 points in 51 games.
All questions regarding Kapanen being scratched were answered Monday morning. The 23-year-old forward met with the media and said the reasoning behind being scratched was that he overslept and was late for Friday's practice.
“It's not me not caring. It's just an honest mistake and it happens. I just gotta own up to it,” said Kapanen.
Kapanen did also note that this same scenario has happened before during his time in the AHL, however he made it clear he did not want to talk further about the issue.
“Listen guys, if you guys want to talk about hockey I'm all for it. Talk about today or the future that's fine but I overslept and that's that,” Kapanen told reporters.
Although head coach Sheldon Keefe sent a message by making Kapanen a scratch, it appears there is no bad blood between the two. Kapanen mentioned he does not believe this incident affects how the club views him, and Keefe made sure to mention that this was a “one-time thing.”
The Leafs are back in action Monday night as they take on the Florida Panthers. It is expected Kapanen will be back in the lineup. Although impossible to say for sure, it appears Kapanen is taking full responsibility for the situation and will not likely have it occur again.
Source: TSN
