Red Wings forward Marco Kasper spoke with Krone.at’s Albert Kurka regarding last Friday’s draft in Montreal, and being picked 8th overall by the Red Wings.
What follows is roughly translated from German, and it’s the gist of the interview, which indicates that Kasper will be playing for Rogle of the SHL this upcoming season:
Klagenfurt’s Marco Kasper now has Red Wings!
Super! Karnter’s Marco Kasper was drafted 8th overall by Detroit in the NHL Draft! Then it was off for a marathon of interviews.
The dream came true! Ice hockey prospect Marco Kasper was drafted 8th overall in the first round of the NHL Draft in Montreal–out of 224 players from around the world. The 18-year-old from Klagenfurt is only the fourth Austrian to be drafted this high, and second only to Thomas Vanek, who was picked 5th.
He’s experiencing a lot of joy–because the Detroit Red Wings are not just any team. With 11 Stanley Cup victories, the Red Wings are the 3rd-most successful team after the Montreal Canadiens (24) and Toronto Maple Leafs (13).
Interview Marathon and dinner
“It’s insane! It’s a dream that I ended up with a team that’s got such a great tradition,” says Marco, happily. Also, because Detroit is being totally rebuilt by general manager and team legend Steve Yzerman after the last couple of years, which haven’t been so good.
“There is so much talent there. Detroit will definitely be a team to be reckoned with in the future,” explains Kasper, who had to endure a veritable marathon of interviews after the draft.
“It must have taken two-and-a-half hours. A lot of newspapers and TV stations interviewed me.” But the evening was far from over after the interviews. “We were invited to dinner by Mr. Yzerman and the team. I’m totally impressed with the way we were looked after.”
Back to Rogle
The forward should continue to play in Sweden’s top league with Rogle next year.
“It’s 99% determined, we’ve spoken to Detroit about it briefly as well. He still has a contract there,” explains dad and ex-national team player Peter Kasper.
Saturday Marco could enjoy a day off, but on Sunday he’ll be off for the first development camp in Detroit.
“It’s specifically for the young players and lasts five days.”
Fellow Austrian Vinzenz Rohrer was also happy! The native of Rankweiler was picked by Montreal in the 3rd round, 75th overall.
