WC: 2015 — Team Finland

[Mestaruus]

Besides, let's keep in mind the words of the previous Jalonen: "In modern hockey, games are decided on special teams." This squad needs enough guys to run two PP units, and unless we get another centerman from the NHL, Kontiola is our best bet at helming one of those.

Kontiola is great at PP, but I do question is this his year and for that Kemppainen-Donskoi could be the better choice to run that PP now.

I'm also not too sure about Jalonen's plan to revive Kontiola to life with these "practise" games. It may work or it may not, Kontiola still has a chance to convince me otherwise in the Czech games though. He'll probably be in the playing lineup in the tournament regardless of how he plays in the Czech games. I'm also not hating on Kontiola, but Kemppainen-Donskoi might be equal option to run the the other PP unit now because they are on fire.

Kontiola could play in the 3rd line and be brought in as a extra forward for the PP in either the Barkov or Kemppainen line. A backup center there would also increase the chances to win the face off. So for that, better to put him in Kemppainen-Donskoi line because Barkov line has JJ as a backup face offer.

For a fan it makes little difference, but Jalonen would have to explain both to himself and the players why he's sending these good players home and picking these seemingly equally good players from outside the team.

Well yeah realistically you are right, but going for perfection and the best line up possible he should just go through that explaining to players that they are getting replaced if there's even a slightly better option. Okay Janne Pesonen might be closer to Louhivaara as a player I believe and that could be harder to explain, but I do think Palola is the kind of specialist sniper we need a lot more than Louhivaara and it would be worth it to get him. Besides Palola was there last year winning silver, but you probably said what you said mostly because i mentioned Janne Pesonen.

Your point was, what will Jalonen realistically do here. Well Jalonen mentioned Janne Pesonen only few days ago so he might still be thinking about getting him, however Louhivaara and Huhtala might have changed KJ's idea about that with their recent efforts, so maybe he doesn't think about getting J.Pesonen anymore, but it's hard to know what he's thinking since J.Pesonen and KJ have had some history together. All comes down to how much does KJ favor his old homeboys as a national team head coach over others. Can really only know that after the Czech games when he announces the roster, because he's making the selections for the first time for this size of a tournament. Telling Petrell he had to go already was a sign that he doesn't favor his homeboys that much, time will tell about J.Pesonen & Wirtanen.

 

[FiLe]

Kontiola is great at PP, but I do question is this his year and for that Kemppainen-Donskoi could be the better choice to run that PP now.

The thing is exactly that - Kemppainen "could" run that second PP, but there is no guarantee that he'd actually be better at it than Kontiola. He's not even part of Kärpät's first PP unit. Esa Pirnes takes his place there, so he would actually be a stab in the dark if given the helm of one. Kontiola with his current showings is not. I wouldn't complain if Kemppainen was given his shot, but when we think about it from the coach's perspective, that becomes unlikely.

Matter of fact, if we're to think about PP prominence, there's one guy more likely to feature before Kemppainen even if Kontiola was sidelined. That's Immonen.

So yeah, that's just how the chips fall. It's easy to see Donskoi featuring in an unit, but Kemppainen? Hardly - from a realistical standpoint at least.

Well yeah realistically you are right, but going for perfection and the best line up possible he should just go through that explaining to players that they are getting replaced if there's even a slightly better option. Okay Janne Pesonen might be closer to Louhivaara as a player I believe and that could be harder to explain, but I do think Palola is the kind of specialist sniper we need a lot more than Louhivaara and it would be worth it to get him. Besides Palola was there last year winning silver, but you probably said what you said mostly because i mentioned Janne Pesonen.

You said it yourself - Palola is a specialist, and specialists need a rather narrow niche to operate. In Palola's case that would have to be the top-six, and the big question is... with the current setup, is there room for Palola? JJ-Barkov-plus token power forward is going to be one line and Konna-JMA plus another balancing act is going to be another. Yeah, the obvious argument is to get rid of the second pair, but realistically.

If you were to take Palola for 3rd line, it suddenly becomes far more difficult to explain to Louhivaara why he can't feature there.

Personally, I'd have no issues whatsoever if the Nose decides to oust all the utility pieces he has and replace 'em with seemingly more prominent guys, but I maintain regardless that when we present an argument from the fan's perspective, we should always double check if said argument also makes sense from the coach's perspective. Otherwise it's just a whole lot of hot air and empty talk. Not that there isn't spare room for it in the Internet, but still...


I actually find it a little mental when some fan with zero coaching experience imagines he could instruct a pro coach with dozens of years in the job. Of course, there are cases when the coach is so stuck in his ways that even a complete outsider could provide a perspective more fresh, like, say, Erkka or certain soccer coach. But since we've yet to have exactly zero examples of how KJ's ideas fit to major tournament hockey on international level, I'm more inclined to say that perhaps we should just all take a breath and sit back before we start thinking we could actually provide the guy with something he hasn't thought about already.

 

[MMANumminen]

I haven't seen Kontiola play this year but if he can't get a spot on Leafs, how the hell then on NT. Kemppainen is on fire, I hope he can get in

 

[FiLe]

I haven't seen Kontiola play this year but if he can't get a spot on Leafs, how the hell then on NT.

Because unlike the Leafs, he's actually been somewhat decent in the NT. With the emphasis on "somewhat".

Kemppainen is on fire, I hope he can get in

Me too.

 

[llwyd]

I think we should know by now that being very good in liiga is not excactly the same as being very good in the national team. I can easily see Donskoi there but that's about it, and would not be surprised to see him make only a small impact.

 

[FiLe]

I think we should know by now that being very good in liiga is not excactly the same as being very good in the national team.

It should be no detriment to leaving a player out either.

Therefore, I'd say third line is a good starting point for Kemppainen. If he can show he can play better than one of our designated top-six centres, he's earned a promotion. But right now, there are two, or more accurately, three guys available who have shown they've got what it takes to play in a big role on a stage like this, so there's absolutely nothing fishy with them taking preference.

And while Kontiola hasn't exactly had his most successful season overall, he's actually shown he can still be useful in an offensive role in the NT. If people were actually able to shed their prejudice towards the man even for a moment, they might notice that while he arguably hasn't been superb, he hasn't been a liability either. The fact is that he's been pulling his weight well enough - both now and in the past - to earn the rope given to him before a guy who's still a complete unknown when moved up to the next level.

 

[Mestaruus]

The thing is exactly that - Kemppainen "could" run that second PP, but there is no guarantee that he'd actually be better at it than Kontiola. He's not even part of Kärpät's first PP unit. Esa Pirnes takes his place there, so he would actually be a stab in the dark if given the helm of one. Kontiola with his current showings is not. I wouldn't complain if Kemppainen was given his shot, but when we think about it from the coach's perspective, that becomes unlikely.

If Kärpät wins the series 4-1, we could have them ready for the second Czech game already and could test Donskoi-Kemppainen on the PP. Sideline Barkov's line for the PP and have Kontiola's and Kemppainen's lines play the PP's. It's just a small thing worth trying tho and might not make any difference especially when in some games a team only gets one power play.

 

[FiLe]

If Kärpät wins the series 4-1, we could have them ready for the second Czech game already and could test Donskoi-Kemppainen on the PP. Sideline Barkov's line for the PP and have Kontiola's and Kemppainen's lines play the PP's. It's just a small thing worth trying tho and might not make any difference especially when in some games a team only gets one power play.

I'd have no argument against that, if we disregard the fact that it requires an if in the first place.

Though I can't blame 'em either if they don't try it because they may think they have their units figured out already. After all, it's not like you want to see Kemppainen tried out due to lack of showings on Kontiola's side - but due to personal dislike towards the man. Which may or may not be fully rational.

 

[SoupyFIN]

The NHLers didn't really play bad together so much as they played bad individually. They were all playing pretty timid and missing a step or two(except Ruutu, who had a little too much energy). It'll get better with time. I do think that Barkov needs some more speed on the wings though. J.Pesonen could be a good option there if he makes the cut.

This is my main concern with Jokinen, he's so slow and he doesn't have the skill factor to compensate for that by drawing opposing players to him ála Jagr/Huberdeau.

 

[rduck1]

SKA has won the Gagarin Cup championship, I assume Koskinen will join the team once he's done celebrating. Possibly as early as next week..? No confirmation yet in media though as far as I can see.

 

[Mestaruus]

SKA has won the Gagarin Cup championship, I assume Koskinen will join the team once he's done celebrating. Possibly as early as next week..? No confirmation yet in media though as far as I can see.

I wonder if there's any chance that he would decline the invitation.

Looks like Chicago is about to give Nashville a second loss now. G3 is at 2-4 score for Chigago, 20 minutes left. Series would be 2-1 to Chicago after this game.

 

[rduck1]

I wonder if there's any chance that he would decline the invitation.

Unlikely unless there's some kind of injury. An opportunity like this doesn't present itself very often, and he knows that.

 

[FiLe]

Letters handed out.

C - Jokinen
A - Ruutu
A - Lepistö

I admit, didn't see that coming.

 

[FiLe]

Lineup for tonight's game.

Engren (Saros)

Lepistö - Hietanen
Jaakola - Ristolainen
Lindell - Ohtamaa
Mäntylä - Jokipakka

Ruutu - Kontiola - Aaltonen
Jokinen - Barkov - Komarov
Pihlström - Immonen - Hartikainen
Osala - Hytönen - Pesonen

 

[Artorius Horus T]

off: Kontiola*,Aaltonen*,Osala,Hartikainen,Louhivaara,Ohtamaa,Jaakola,Engren.

---

G: Koskinen(KHL),Saros(LIIGA),Hovinen

D: Ristolainen(NHL),Jokipakka(NHL),Lepistö(KHL),Hietanen(KHL)
Näkyvä(SHL),ViLajunen(SHL),Lindell(LIIGA/AHL),Väänänen(KHL)

F: Komarov(NHL),Barkov(NHL)Jokinen(NHL),JaPesonen(SHL),
Immonen(KHL),Ruutu(NHL),Kiiskinen(SHL),Kemppainen(LIIGA),
Donskoi(LIIGA),Pihsltröm(KHL),JaLajunen(SHL),
Hytönen(NLA),HaPesonen(NLA).


* Kontiola is too slow and his defensive side
of the game is terrible.

* Aaltonen is fast,can score goals(mostly misses a chance).
like Kontiola,cant play own end.

 

[Artorius Horus T]

My team finland wc forwards line-up

1. Komarov-Barkov-Jokinen
2. JaPesonen-Immonen-Ruutu
3. Kiiskinen-Kemppainen-Donskoi
4. Pihlström-Hytönen-HaPesonen

JaLajunen

not sure about D-pairings.

 

[Artorius Horus T]

Of all pre tournament games and of all line's
Kontiola's line have gotten most scoring chances against.

I believe thats been the biggest worry of
finn hockey experts,i remember aravirta saying
about that after almost every period,well at least
after every game. and mostly "Konna" has
played with Aaltonen so,thats why i wish neither
was in for team finland.

what comes to kontiola and PP,
well, finland have plenty of players that
can play pp,so kontiola is not missed.

 

[Mestaruus]

@GeorgeLeafer12
The idea of not having Aaltonen and Kontiola are fine with me but quite unrealistic. Jalonen will choose them both. The players you chose seem good too but I can't help but notice the absence of Hartikainen.

Letters handed out.

C - Jokinen
A - Ruutu
A - Lepistö

I admit, didn't see that coming.

Yup. I had a small hunch about J.Jokinen but expected Tuomo Ruutu to take it. I guess Tuomo didn't get it because his season hasn't been perfect and maybe there's a small chance Jalonen will give him a smaller role if he isn't good in the first games of the tournament, unlikely though.

I wonder what's up with Komarov not playing. I guess safety precaution (if there is a small injury)?

Too bad Jagr doesn't play today. Does anyone know if Voracek is playing? I wanted Finland to feel their PP with Jagr+Voracek.

 

[QnebO]

If Barkov - Jokinen doesn't work at all again, it should be seperated.. It has been checked in florida already.

 

[FiLe]

D: Ristolainen(NHL),Jokipakka(NHL),Lepistö(KHL),Hietanen(KHL)
Näkyvä(SHL),ViLajunen(SHL),Lindell(LIIGA/AHL),Väänänen(KHL)

Näkyvä and Väänänen obviously aren't available or they'd be with the team already.

The rest... well, as the old adage goes, we all have opinions and bungholes.

 

[QnebO]

JJ is changed to Aaltonen

-> Barkov scores 30 seconds in the game after Aaltonens rebound shot.

->-> = Profit.

 

[QnebO]

JJ is back on the 1st line and they can't get anything done, can't receive passes.. That must also be partly coincidence but could they just please seperate them.

E:
Powerplay is looking horrible. I don't like guys like JJ and JMA at blue line.. They'll cost couple of SH goals. Also handenesses didin't make it possible to shoot any one timers.. And there was no plan how to play the PP neither it seemed.

E2:
I don't remember this bad Team Finland in long time. Our game is mess. And it's not about material.

 

[matzz]

JJ is back on the 1st line and they can't get anything done, can't receive passes.. That must also be partly coincidence but could they just please seperate them.

E:
Powerplay is looking horrible. I don't like guys like JJ and JMA at blue line.. They'll cost couple of SH goals. Also handenesses didin't make it possible to shoot any one timers.. And there was no plan how to play the PP neither it seemed.

E2:
I don't remember this bad Team Finland in long time. Our game is mess. And it's not about material.

Indeed, the play sucks...like you said,cant recieve passes or get anything done. Also they have no speed at all. A lot work on for Jalonen before WC starts

 

[Gaps]

Letters handed out.

C - Jokinen
A - Ruutu
A - Lepistö

I admit, didn't see that coming.

I don't find the choices themselves all that odd, but it is a little unconventional to name the captains before the team itself has been officially named. It is early for this announcement in more ways than one. For KJ's sake I would hope that everyone who this issue may concern had been informed beforehand.

 

[QnebO]

Russian refs are best in international hockey. Yeah, there have been few farces in history, but in general they are. KHL reffing is also really underrated with all the *****ing about it.