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WC: 2015 — Team Finland

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Well, duh. It was and is more likely than not. He's always welcome, but on the other hand not a piece that adds anything crucial.


By the way, if the pieces were at the end of the NHL regular season as they are right now, and every player available was willing to come, it'd give us a pretty damn nice team.
 
Practice games start this week with two games vs Switzerland. Katsomo / MTV Sport will show all the games as usual.

Full schedule:

01.04 20:45 Switzerland- Finland

03.04 16:45 Switzerland - Finland

09.04 18:30 Finland - Germany, Isku-areena, Lahti

10.04 18:30 Finland - Germany, Barona Areena, Espoo

16.04 18:30 Finland- Russia, Hakametsä, Tampere

18.04 14:00 Finland - Russia, Hartwall Arena, Helsinki

22.04 18:30 Czech Republic - Finland

24.04 19:00 Czech Republic - Finland
 
teddy83 said:
I hope Melart plays himself on to the final roster, we need his kinda of player. Somebody who is ready to defend his teammates
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He still isn't all that good at reading the situations.. But if he plays on a defensive pairing with a really smart d-man I wouldn't mind him at all..

I don't want him to be the defensive conscious of his pairing though.
 
JJTT said:
Looks like Rantanen didn't get any icetime?
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Nope. The lineup was rather grind-heavy overall. Also, there were some odd roling choices like Kontiola, Lepistö and Hietanen on PK. They were clearly experimenting on things. And if Jalonen is smart, he'll now at least know what doesn't work. Overall, wouldn't read too much into it.

Only individual whom I feel a bit inclined to criticize is Engren. A goalie can't be excused for not looking sharp because the team in front of him doesn't.
 
Today Saros will start.

I think today it would be a better game for Finland.

I hope Saros plays well today.
 
Finland was clearly better organized and more ready today. Still, it was a pretty lukewarm game overall.


Saros didn't have to do anything truly special to clinch a win, but he still clearly put up a better show than Engren. Like last year, getting to be the reserve goalie is certainly a possibility.

I'd say that over these two games Hartikainen was our best skater. If he keeps this up, he should make it.

Rantanen was brisk. Not a bad debut at all, but he did not truly dazzle either. While we had more flegmatic characters on ice, I suspect he will still be among the first cuts when new players are added.

Kontiola's struggles seem to continue. He's still miles below of his normal level. It's hard to say though if that's all on him or somewhat incompatible linemates. He was playing with a pair of grinders most of the time, after all.


It'll be interesting to see who gets to stay and who gets to go when they add players. Technically any and all from those bottom two units are pieces we could do well without.
 
I haven't really kept up with NT team building but if we get many of the names possible the team does look promising. Getting Barkov would be awesome, let's just hope Florida brass lets him come, they were probably quite upset about the Olympics injury. Then getting JJ would mean getting always much-needed scoring punch. And seeing Ristolainen on the men's team would increase the interest as well.

I'm hoping Rantanen somehow makes it, even if it seems quite unrealistic.

I haven't seen Kontiola play this season, but he had one goal(!) the whole season, suffered from a back injury...are there reasons for him even being invited to camp this year other than past merits?
 
I am hoping Kontiola either starts looking solid again or is left off... And that a couple of the Kärpät guys can make their world champ debuts...
 
Group for next week:

G Atte Engren, Atlant Mytištši, KHL
G Juuse Saros, HPK Hämeenlinna

RD Juuso Hietanen, Torpedo Nizhni Novgorod, KHL
LD Topi Jaakola, Jokerit, KHL
LD Tommi Kivistö, Ilves Tampere
RD Ville Lajunen, Jokerit Helsinki, KHL
LD Sami Lepistö, Avtomobilist Jekaterinburg, KHL
LD Esa Lindell, Ässät Pori
LD Tuukka Mäntylä, Amur Habarovsk, KHL
LD Atte Ohtamaa, Jokerit, KHL
LD Anssi Salmela, Färjestad BK, SHL

RW Juhamatti Aaltonen, Jokerit, KHL
LW Teemu Hartikainen, Salavat Julajev Ufa, KHL
LW Tommi Huhtala, Jokerit Helsinki, KHL
C Juha-Pekka Hytönen, Lausanne HC, NLA
C Jarkko Immonen, Torpedo Nizhni Novgorod, KHL
LW Jesse Joensuu, HC Bern, NLA
C Petri Kontiola, Lokomotiv Jaroslavl, KHL
RW Ossi Louhivaara, Lausanne HC, NLA
LW Oskar Osala, Metallurg Magnitogorsk, KHL
LW Harri Pesonen, Lausanne HC, NLA
LW Lennart Petrell, Luleå Hockey, SHL
LW Antti Pihlström, Salavat Julajev Ufa, KHL
RW Mikko Rantanen, TPS Turku
RW Sakari Salminen, Torpedo Nizhni Novgorod, KHL
C Petteri Wirtanen, Jokerit, KHL

Eronen, Melart, Wärn, Savinainen and Niemi cut.

Still no Väänänen? Hopefully this means he won't come.
 
mattihp said:
I am hoping Kontiola either starts looking solid again or is left off... And that a couple of the Kärpät guys can make their world champ debuts...
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Given how we seem to have plenty of solid options for center, such as Barkov likely available, Immonen in form, Koskiranta and Kemppainen being hot... it'd seem pretty mental if Kontiola made it based on his name alone.

In his defense though, I don't think he was playing with most suitable linemates in those last two games, Huhtala and Pihlström are not the kind of players he usually thrives with. He'll likely be back with JMA going forward, so let's see if that can bring some more step into him.


What gives me a bit of jeebs is how grind-heavy that new forward group seems to be - I only count six pure skill guys in it. Of course, it has players like Hartikainen and Osala who can be very effective in the top units as well, so that evens it out a bit. And could be they're holding out for the likes of Donskoi and Palola. But still. Perhaps it's an indicator of things to come? The management may already know that likes of Komarov, Korpikoski and Ruutu are joining, so they're hanging onto lesser guys of same profile, as placeholders.
 
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Surprised Hirso wasn't invited. Even if he wouldn't make the team imo it would have seemed appropriate to invite him to camp as a reward for the season..

I think Saros has sealed up one of the goalie spots for Skoda Cup, he's been too good to ignore.
 
Raimo Sillanpää said:
Surprised Hirso wasn't invited. Even if he wouldn't make the team imo it would have seemed appropriate to invite him to camp as a reward for the season..
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I guess they had to draw the line somewhere. Even without Barkov, they likely have Immonen, Kontiola, Koskiranta and Kemppainen to contend. Wirtanen is more bottom-six material, but can also be moved upwards in a pinch. So... even without Hirso, they already have 6-7 guys of equal or higher quality. Making the decision between them will be hard enough already.

No doubt he would have been in contention on a leaner year. Of course, then there's the fact that he choked a little in the playoffs. Save for Konna, the rest of these names up there have nothing but upped the ante when the biggest games of the season have been on the line.
 
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FiLe said:
Ruutu says he's willing to go if they'll have him. Guess that's one topic to debate then.

J.Jokinen is also a possibility, but the man says he needs a medical first. Basic awareness or something more concerning?
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I'd be fine with all of Ruutu, Komarov and Korpikoski on the team as long as they are considered part of the grinder quota instead of extra additions to the Euro grinders KJ's planning on bringing along anyway. In other words, it's guys like Osala, Hartikainen, Petrell, Joensuu, etc. who should be left off the team to fit in the aforementioned wingers.
 
Gaps said:
I'd be fine with all of Ruutu, Komarov and Korpikoski on the team as long as they are considered part of the grinder quota instead of extra additions to the Euro grinders KJ's planning on bringing along anyway. In other words, it's guys like Osala, Hartikainen, Petrell, Joensuu, etc. who should be left off the team to fit in the aforementioned wingers.
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Agrees with this, but would rather take Osala, Hartikainen instead of Ruutu.
They haven't been to the games before - thus would expect them to want it more. They still dream of an NHL contract while Ruutu..
 
Raimo Sillanpää said:
Agrees with this, but would rather take Osala, Hartikainen instead of Ruutu.
They haven't been to the games before - thus would expect them to want it more. They still dream of an NHL contract while Ruutu..
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Whether Ruutu belongs on the team over those 2 is a legit topic for a debate, but I don't see them making it over Tuomo.
 
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