By LUKE DECOCK, Staff Writer
Sami Kapanen says it's just coincidence that he's put up his best numbers in seasons when he's also worn the blue-and-white jersey of his native Finland.
The Carolina Hurricanes forward has already been named to Finland's team for the Winter Games in Utah in February.
"People are always telling me that my best seasons were in 1994 and 1998, Olympic years," Kapanen said. "I don't know why. It just seems to click. I'm not doing anything different."
His 1994 season was the best of his four pro seasons in Finland by far. He had 55 points that season, 13 more than his next best.
In 1997-98, his third with the Hurricanes, he scored a career-high 26 goals and tied for the team lead in points, goals and assists.
In both of those seasons, he picked up bronze medals with Finland.
This season, Kapanen has recorded a point in every game he's played in except the one at the New York Islanders in which he hurt his back. He missed two games nursing that injury but has come back from that with a seven-game point streak.
With 16 points in the 12 games he has played, he's putting up some of the best numbers of his career.