The forward was fined $117,000 on Thursday.
St. Louis Blues forward Kasperi Kapanen will be fined $117,000 for drunk driving in his native Finland in 2023.
“Last month I made an unacceptable mistake. I take full responsibility for my actions. I apologize to my family, the Blues organization, my teammates and the fans,” the 27-year-old previously said in a statement. mentioned in. “I understand the seriousness of my actions and will do everything in my power to regain trust.”
Finnish news agency Ilta=Sanomat reported that prosecutors had asked for a 45-day prison sentence, but the settlement was settled with a fine. The newspaper also wrote that Kapanen “fell in Silinjärvi on August 1, 2023.”
Police said Kapanen was on his way home from the airport around 2 a.m. when he was pulled over for driving 67 km/h in a 50 km/h zone. The device was injected with a concentration of 0.56 milligrams of alcohol per liter, which is 0.03 above the legal limit,” wrote Al Sciorra of Daily Hive.
“During interrogation, the NHLer, who watched the Leafs and Pittsburgh Penguins play, claimed he had one beer before boarding a 12:30 a.m. flight at the Helsinki airport. According to his story, he I had celebrated my birthday the night before and had consumed alcohol.”
Kapanen is currently injured but has struggled when healthy.
The former Pittsburgh Penguins was placed on waivers by the team in February of last year and was acquired by the Blues shortly thereafter. However, Kapanen suffered a lower-body injury on January 15, and he has not played since being placed on injured reserve.
Kapanen played in 42 games with St. Louis in 2023-24, scoring four goals and 13 points. He hasn’t been very good at Penn State the past few seasons, scoring just 29 goals and 63 assists in 162 games over three seasons.
Selected 22nd overall by the Pens in the 2014 NHL Draft, Kapanen made his NHL debut in 2015-16 and played four years with Toronto before being re-acquired by Pittsburgh in August 2020.
It will be interesting to see if he can get healthy and help the Blues push toward the playoffs over the next few months.