Following a disappointing final’s loss, Kaapo Kampainen went back to his native Finland thinking he could have done better in the playoffs to help the Anaheim Outlaws. After all, he ended up scoring only two goals and four assists for six points in six points in twenty-one games. Although he would’ve loved to get more points, he was particularly proud of his defensive game, going plus-8 with a positive takeaway to giveaway ratio and blocking about one shot per game. 

However, he was particularly proud of his regular season. It’s no secret Kampainen’s rookie season was a disaster from start to finish, scoring only two goals and one assist over twenty-eight games, with a -9 differential. He had less than a shot per game and his shot percentage was below ten percent, which isn’t really good. He had more giveaways than takeaways, and he blocked less than one shot per game. His “game rating”, used by people to evaluate his performance, was on average a 55, which is a pretty bad rating if you ask me. All in all, his rookie season was disastrous and he made a promise to himself to come back better for S57 and boy did he deliver. His offensive game was much stronger, scoring thirteen goals and twenty-one assists, good for thirty-four points over sixty-six games. His differential was still negative, but it was still similar to what he had last season with minus eleven. He had more takeaways than giveaways in S57 and he blocked well over a shot per game. His shot percentage improved to over ten percent and he had way more shots per game, up to almost two per game. His game rating, was up to 62, which is way better. If we take a further look at advanced statistics, all stats but one improved significantly, only furthering the proof that Kampainen is a much better player than he was last season. Following these improvements, Kaapo was sure he’d be a shoe-in for the Most Improved Player award, the numbers speak for themselves. Let’s say that it was a tough pill to swallow when he found out that his improvement wasn’t recognized by the awards committee.

The competition was stiff in that category, with right winger Anton Mihailov of the Detroit Falcons, goaltender Bigga Foryu from the Maine Timber (he will be left out of this analysis, as it’s harder to compare goaltenders to forwards), left winger Jarmo Kekalainen of the Colorado Raptors and center Zdenko Beranek of the Quebec City Citadelles. All three forwards are recreated, so this isn’t their first rodeo.
 
Mihailov had a similarly bad season in S56, scoring only one goal and seven assists in fourty-eight games. His S57 season was way better offensively, scoring fifty points with a positive differential. Mihailov is a worthy opponent in the most improved player, but looking at the game ratings, Kampainen comes out on top, with a 62, compared to Mihailov’s 61. His takeaway to giveaway ratio worsened. Kampainen’s shot percentage was also better. At even strength, Mihailov had 32 points in an average time of ice of 15 minutes and 33 seconds and scored 34 points. Kampainen’s even strength stats were . He had 31 points in fifteen minutes and three seconds. Thirty seconds per game may not look like much, but over the course of a season, it adds up to a little more than half an hour and there’s only a two point difference at even strength between the two players. Mihailov’s advanced statistics improvements are quite similar to Kampainen’s. It’s a close call between the two, but Mihailov and Kampainen’s improvement are quite similar.
 
Next up is fellow Finnish player Jarmo Kekalainen. Honestly, Kekalainen’s rookie season was pretty good as he ended up with 18 points in 49 games and a positive differential of 9. This season he had sixty points in 66 games, which is pretty good. If you look at even strength points, he had 42 points in an average time of ice of 14 minutes and 50 seconds, which is again, quite good. For Kekalainen it goes down to the definition of the most improved player. As I said earlier, Kekalainen’s rookie season was pretty good compared to other rookies, so you can say he was a good player in S56 and he’s still a good player in S57, but he had a good natural progression. Compared to Mihailov and Kampainen who had horrible rookie seasons, almost liabilities for their teams to useful players, whereas Kekalainen’s was and still is a useful player.
 
The last forward nominated in this category is Zdenko Beranek, the league leader in points and goals. Of course Beranek had an incredible season, but he was still an incredible player in S56. He was a great player who kicked it up a notch in S57 with his teammates. He’ll probably end up winning a lot of awards at the ceremony on top of his Jared Hanson and Roberto Martucci awards. It could’ve been nice to see another deserving player up for the award.
 
Of course, all the players mentioned above improved, but aside from Kampainen went from one of the worst player in S56 to a regular contributor at even strength who can help his team win and he saw pretty much all his statistics improve significantly. With all of that said, I think Kaapo Kampainen should’ve been considered for the Most Improved Player award, given how dramatic his improvement was compared to his dismal rookie season. This is in no way a diss towards any of the players listed above or the awards committee in any way, but I was just disappointed that Kampainen wasn’t noticed, much like most of his Outlaws teammates who were mostly unrepresented aside from Kampainen’s line mate Asclepius Perseus Flitterwind, even if the team reached the finals.

Despite the disappointment, Kampainen is ready to come back stronger than ever in his new leadership role with the Outlaws and help the young core achieve their goals. It’s a tough season ahead of us with the new management, but Kaapo is up for the task. Let’s go Outlaws!    

1,023 words, ready to be graded.