Written by Helene Elliott at LA Times.com
The question seemed simple, wondering how Ondrej Kase had managed to maintain his belief in himself while he was shuttling back and forth between the American Hockey League and the Ducks, but the Czech-born forward was puzzled by one unfamiliar word.
“I don’t know what is ‘confidence.’ What is ‘confidence’?” he said.
Confidence is self-assurance, he was told. Thinking you can get the job done before you finally get results, as Kase did Sunday in scoring his first NHL playoff goal. “Oh,” he said, his mystified expression dissolving as he stored that information away in his memory.
Kase’s English education has been a slow process, but his on-ice education has gone rapidly enough for him to be another offensive weapon for the Ducks. Overcoming yet another slow start, they charged back and rode his game-tying goal and Nick Ritchie’s go-ahead goal to a 5-3 victory over the Nashville Predators that tied the Western Conference finals at one game each.
“I think he’s played an unbelievable season so far. I think he’s been doing exactly what we need,” defenseman Sami Vatanen said of his teammate, whose name is pronounced KAW-shah. “He’s skating the puck and making some plays and it helps the team a lot.”
Kase, chosen by the Ducks in the seventh round, 205th overall, in the 2014 draft, became the 16th Ducks player to score a goal in this playoff run. That’s one more goal scorer than can be claimed by the Predators, who have been praised — and rightfully so — for their balanced scoring. And it was the fourth time the Ducks have erased a multi-goal deficit in these playoffs, something that used to be a rarity but has almost been patented by this slow-starting but fast-finishing group. “We don’t have a good start but I think it is a strong team,” Kase said.
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