DAVE
KASCH
Canisius
Sr. | F | Sault Ste. Marie, Ontario
Kasch had 12 points in his final 16 games of 2006-07.
Key Statistics: It’s
all about extremes with Dave Kasch. Standing 6-foot-5,
Kasch is the tallest skater in Atlantic Hockey –
only five players in all of Division I hockey are taller.
At 24 years, four months, he is the seventh-oldest player
in the league. Kasch is a fifth-year player, the recipient
of a medical redshirt for dislocating his shoulder and
playing just eight games during his junior academic
year. All but six of his 43 career points have come
in league play. He scored six goals in his sophomore
and redshirt junior seasons, and posted a career-high
13 assists last season.
What He Does: Kasch figures
he has spent enough time in the training room the past
two seasons – he missed 27 games as a junior following
left shoulder surgery after suffering three dislocations
and he missed eight games last season with a second-degree
knee sprain. When healthy, Kasch plays center for one
of Canisius’ top two lines. His puck-handling
is a plus, and Kasch can be very effective as a screen
when he camps out in front of the crease.
The Bigger Picture:
Kasch says it feels weird to have graduated and still
have eligibility remaining, but his presence is a bonus
for a club which lost six seniors, including four forwards.
Kasch will center one of the top lines and bring experience
to the penalty kill unit.
Dave Kasch on whether he felt
the hockey gods were against him: “Definitely.
There was no doubt in my mind. Everything crossed my
mind, from ‘Is hockey for me?’ and ‘What’s
going on?’ I was graduating at the end of the
year. I thought, ‘Do I want to come back? Can
I get over the knee injury?’ You can’t make
decisions when your mind is troubled. I worked hard
and got back into it. I am glad that I did.”
