Olympics: 2014 — Finland Roster Discussion Part IV

[Past Considerations]

I'd like to see JJ in 1st too. That line just needs more juice.

 

[FiLe]

I don't think there's any need to mix up the currently-balanced lineup. The team plays well enough, and things should only be tinkered if there's clearly an unit that needs to be jump-started. Often when trying to squeeze more marginals out of something that works will only lead to further failure.

Another thing to keep in mind are the matchups. Russia will be stylewise be a wholly different animal from Canada. There's bound to be little less straightforwardness while generating offence, and their d-men rather block lines than get close quick and use their sticks far less aggressively.

Another thing to keep in mind was that yesterday's game was essentially full-on 5-on-5 hockey - only one two minute minor to each team. When you have two teams with as close fives as Finland and Canada, not much is bound to happen when there are no breaks to the standard plan because of penalties. It's almost as if the refs just decided "oh, ffs, let's just let 'em play" after Selänne opened up about that Immonen penalty.

Our guys played well enough on even strength to really warrant any changes. It remains to be seen if something needs to be tweaked on PP, but it's not like there's any way to tell that after yesterday's game. Still, at the very least I'd wait and see how we match up to Russia stylewise before seeing whether on-the-fly changes are necessary. After all, the management seems to be fully able to mix'n'match inside the game as well if need be, as made evident by the Korpikoski-JJ swap. It was a good move, IMO, the 2nd got more skill while Konna and JMA got the hustle worker they usually seem to sync well with.

 

[Erikfromfin]

Next game brings Erkka Westerlund Finlands tournaments biggest decicion. Rask or Lehtonen. Lehtonen was solid in his game and Tuukka Rask has been so and so. Having best goalkeepers at this tournament this is the match you have to get it right.


and on other note it really bugs me that we have now gone 2 olympics withouth utilizing our best scorer in both of them Jussi Jokinen. Hottest player in 2010 not chosen and now his being babysitter for kontiola aaltonen getting absolutely nothing going offensivily and we are talking about our number 1 sniper.

 

[QnebO]

Actually if we go into details, if you are talking about the shot that was not done during the OT, Salo shot it on the boards on purpose, because there was too much traffic in front of the net. So he turned it into a pass or hoped to get a lucky bounce in front of the net. Smart player. I remember that moment very well.

I might be some times dumb but not idiot, I didin't talk about that. It went out of the zone from the boards, that was whole different situation. That billiard shot went into front of the net from the end plate, I agree it was good play, too

 

[Sleeptalker*]

Kick to kill Finland!

There's only a Red Army o' hockeyplayers to beat this time around!

Rising power in Finland:

1. Teemu Selänne.
Who said that's no country for ol' men in Sotji?
Selänne is already The King of the Hill.
Flashback talk big and bad time against Sid the Kid fom the ol' captain Finland one. Wunderbaum!

2. Ossi Väänänen/Lasse Kukkonen.
Back to basics. Nuthin' fancy. The backbone o' Finland. Even if they might act like dinosaurs on skates from time to time.

3. Leo Komarov/Antti Pihlström.
Speed kills - ans speed skills. 'nuff said.

4. Tuukka Rask.
Rask means quick (Quick?) in Swedish, and oh boy! Aint that Rask guy a quick one!

5. Mikael Granlund.
A maestro and already a guy-to-go-guy in Finland hockey and in the future to come!
'ard rock Hallelujah and Amen to that.

 

[ugrimugri*]

Finns taming the russians anno 2014

This is what the doctor should order regarding forwards (if the russians don't lose vs the norwegians, of course):

Korpikoski-Immonen-Granlund
JJ-OJ-Ruutu
Selänne/Salminen-Kontiola-Aaltonen
Komarov-Lehterä-Pihlström

Selänne will probably be struggling a bit in this game and he should be taking ca 40% of the shifts off (Salminen replaces).
If Korpikoski-Immonen-Granlund doesn't seem to click, make a change after 25-30 minutes of play and simply change Korpikoski and Komarov.

So... what about the goalies then...
Rask played OK, but a red hot Finnish goalie would have stopped even those 2, or at least one of them. It's true that Rask also did make a couple of saves that were really borderline impossible. But a loss is a loss and Erkka should probably start Lehtonen, at the moment he is the hottest out of those two.

The D should carry on as they did vs CAN, I think Hietanen will be much more comfortable in this game, since the opposing team is not CAN or USA.

 

[Mestaruus]

I felt that line had a spark all game, even with Korpikoski messing it up nearly every time. Drop Korpedo out of that line and it works with nearly anyone (except Salminen)

I really wanted Korpikoski to perform like Pihlström in the Canada game, but he didn't and I was little bit disappointed and I do blame his line mates for that a little. So could send Korpikoski back to #2, but JJ is needed there because OJ is always getting sent off of the face off, so we need a second face off guy in that line. So it's tricky.

I think Erkka isn't going to change anything and I guess it's fine and probably the right thing to do, because we did almost keep Canada scoreless, so that means there are good odds that our D will work against Russia too with the current lines and Russia has been a good match up for Finland in the recent years. Got a feeling Finland is going to win that game. Only the refs can screw it up. I think Russia will get some questionable/free powerplays. I can already picture Kovalchuk diving... BTW there's no way he's injured.

I might be some times dumb but not idiot, I didin't talk about that. It went out of the zone from the boards, that was whole different situation. That billiard shot went into front of the net from the end plate, I agree it was good play, too

Ah okay. Maybe I missed that then. Just remember his shot on the OT and that board pass thing . Thought those were his only shots so, my bad.

 

[Kibe]

I'm bit consered about Granlund - Selänne not working. I know it was first game without Barkov, and Immonen - Granlund chemistry wasn't quite there. Still i can't see Erkka changing that since the second line is likely set in stone. And to be honest there really is no good way to seperate Teemu and Mikke and still make the lineup work, only one that comes in mind would bee Lehterä/Kontiola 1st with JJ and Selänne.

So something like this:

J.Jokinen - Lehterä - Selänne
Granlund - O.Jokinen - Ruutu
Korpikoski - Kontiola - Komarov
Pihlström - Immonen - Salminen


Would bee fun to see if Lehterä could finally produce on NT after given team's 2 best scoring wingers, could work but maybe just too risky.
I would prefer Granlund centering the first and JJ/Korpedo moving up to his wing.

 

[Gh24]

There was a significant improvement to the second line when Korpikoski and J. Jokinen were swapped, so I'd keep it that way.

Jussi Jokinen would also make a good addition to Granlund - Selänne in the 1st line. Granlund (as a winger) will get to play more to his strengths against Russia and Jokinen would bring in some needed puck control.

So either way it goes, I think Lehterä would make a good addition to the other.

3rd line also played better after Korpikoski's added physicality and should remain intact.

Granlund - JJ/Lehterä - Selänne
JJ/Lehterä - O. Jokinen - Ruutu
Korpikoski - Kontiola - Aaltonen
Komarov - Immonen - Pihlström

Edit. Giving Salminen another go and benching Aaltonen is NOT out of the question.

 

[aloonda*]

Next game brings Erkka Westerlund Finlands tournaments biggest decicion. Rask or Lehtonen. Lehtonen was solid in his game and Tuukka Rask has been so and so. Having best goalkeepers at this tournament this is the match you have to get it right.


and on other note it really bugs me that we have now gone 2 olympics withouth utilizing our best scorer in both of them Jussi Jokinen. Hottest player in 2010 not chosen and now his being babysitter for kontiola aaltonen getting absolutely nothing going offensivily and we are talking about our number 1 sniper.

I love tukka

but Kari is better

 

[Nino Noderreiter]

Granlund plays well when he keeps his feet moving...playing Center allows him to always keep his feet moving while circling and supporting his teammates. That's his best skill. When you play wing in the offensive zone you usually play defense in more of stand still position and hover along the wall to the slot and out to the point in that triangle...therefore you get the puck in more of a stand still position more of the time...Granlund is fast, but takes a little bit to reach that speed. He needs to play center so he can receive the puck with speed and be successful.

 

[MMANumminen]

Yeah Granny to center and Korpedo to his wing. 1st line needs more grit

 

[Raimo Sillanpää]

I really wanted Korpikoski to perform like Pihlström in the Canada game, but he didn't and I was little bit disappointed and I do blame his line mates for that a little.

Korpikoski's movement is great, with the puck and without.
The problem in the Canada game in my opinion was that what happened next - he made bad passes, give aways that put pressure on the rest of the line

Maybe he was trying too hard, but it was a worse performance than in previous games.

 

[f1nn]

Rask made a couple nice saves in the Canada game but the goals he let in were soft. I think I'd be more comfortable with Lehtonen but have a feeling Rask will be in net

 

[WinTheRightGames]

I love tukka

but Kari is better

You love hair?

 

[Gaps]

I don't see any major lineup changes happening. I think Immonen will stay where he is. The only change that I could see happening is swapping JJ and Korpikoski.

 

[behemolari]

Granlund plays well when he keeps his feet moving...playing Center allows him to always keep his feet moving while circling and supporting his teammates. That's his best skill. When you play wing in the offensive zone you usually play defense in more of stand still position and hover along the wall to the slot and out to the point in that triangle...therefore you get the puck in more of a stand still position more of the time...Granlund is fast, but takes a little bit to reach that speed. He needs to play center so he can receive the puck with speed and be successful.

youre right, unfortunately finnish management has build the team from the day one to use MiG as a winger, so there is no another winger left to fill that spot. they were wrong when putting him to wing, nothing you can do it anymore.

 

[Mestaruus]

Rask made a couple nice saves in the Canada game but the goals he let in were soft. I think I'd be more comfortable with Lehtonen but have a feeling Rask will be in net

No doubt Rask will be in the net after that performance.

 

[FiLe]

I don't see any major lineup changes happening. I think Immonen will stay where he is. The only change that I could see happening is swapping JJ and Korpikoski.

Yeah. I don't really get why the folks here are contemplating changes. Because we lost to Canada on the narrowest possible margin, and now they're wondering if something could be done to turn that narrow loss into a narrow win?

If so, people are again letting the result cloud their judgment. If there was something to be done, the current lineup is fully capable of figuring it out. I'm fairly certain that if that Salo slapper in late 3rd had ended up into the net, nobody would be saying that changes are necessary - despite the game going rest of the way exactly as it did on Sunday.

 

[Lapa]

Lines in practice, per Ilta-Sanomat:

1. Granlund-Immonen-Selänne
2. J. Jokinen-O. Jokinen-Ruutu
3. Korpikoski-Kontiola-Aaltonen
4. Komarov-Lehterä-Pihlström

Timonen-Vatanen
Määttä-Salo
Lepistö-Hietanen
Väänänen-Kukkonen

 

[Gaps]

Yeah. I don't really get why the folks here are contemplating changes. Because we lost to Canada on the narrowest possible margin, and now they're wondering if something could be done to turn that narrow loss into a narrow win?

If so, people are again letting the result cloud their judgment. If there was something to be done, the current lineup is fully capable of figuring it out. I'm fairly certain that if that Salo slapper in late 3rd had ended up into the net, nobody would be saying that changes are necessary - despite the game going rest of the way exactly as it did on Sunday.

Yep. Also, there simply aren't many choices left at this point and playing random line lottery with players who are not particularly familiar with each other won't lead into anything good.

We played most of the game against Canada like some hockey midget hanging on for dear life with little to no offensive game because there was no other choice and that won't change no matter what you do unless Erkka can magically get all our injured players healthy, transport them to Sochi and disguise them as some of the KHLers. The roster looks underwhelming but moving the pieces around won't make it any better. You stick to this and hope it works out.

 

[ugrimugri*]

Yeah. I don't really get why the folks here are contemplating changes.

You don't eat soup with a fork and a knife and you don't eat steak with a spoon (or two spoons). Canada and Russia are almost completely opposite type of teams and I can't believe that it's not smart to make some adjustments.
Not all of Finlands players are swiss army knives, some of them are spoons, some are knives and some are forks.

 

[GreeneRedWings]

Who starts vs Russia?

 

[ShootFromTheHip]

Who starts vs Russia?

It's no doubt going to be Rask. I myself wouldn't mind Lehtonen starting, but I think our management has made it clear who's our nro 1.

 

[mattihp]

If it is a close game it will be a loss. Vinnerborg is suiting up with the stripes