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WC: 2015 — Team Finland

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FiLe said:
If the guy himself calls it "unofficial", I take that's a reason enough for anyone who can read. Didn't think there's a need to underline it.
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He's calling it unofficial because the team hasn't confirmed it yet, not because he thinks that it's not true.

I was just pointing out how plausible it is, considering it's Fialkov we're talking about here.
 
So... the Bruins are eliminated. That means we'll have a selection of three goalies available. Lehtonen, Niemi and Rask. Wonder which one we'll get... if any.


If they're healthy, they all should have some motivation.

Lehtonen could be looking to end his season on a high note. Rask has never had the opportunity, unless you count Sochi. Niemi is out of contract, but he's never got the chance either. Third string in Sochi is as close as he's got.

On the other hand, all three have played quite a bit of games, so I can't blame 'em if they feel exhausted.
 
Minnesota vs St. Louis on the first play off round apparently. We know what this means :). Either Lehterä, OJ or Koivu, Mig, Haula, Bergeinheim will be free'd to join the tournament if they aren't "injured".

So we'll have a lot of good center options.
 
Mestaruus said:
So we'll have a lot of good center options.
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Like we don't have 'em already.

Technically, we have very little need to add to any department. Well, save perhaps for a guy who's guaranteed to pot at least one in every game, but I don't think we have such a guy on the books to begin with.

Out of those, only the ones who clearly add value should be considered. Those are Koivu, MiG and Lehterä.

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In other news, Komarov didn't play last night, after being pulled in the game before due to some kind of upper-body injury. Wonder if that puts his participation in jeopardy. Luckily he's one of those guys, who, despite being nice to have around, are not really critical additions to the squad.
 
Jussi can just as well be a very capable two-way winger. Or if push comes to shove he can be a scoring center (although he should play on the wing).
 
FiLe said:
Out of those, only the ones who clearly add value should be considered. Those are Koivu, MiG and Lehterä.

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In other news, Komarov didn't play last night, after being pulled in the game before due to some kind of upper-body injury. Wonder if that puts his participation in jeopardy. Luckily he's one of those guys, who, despite being nice to have around, are not really critical additions to the squad.
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Agreed. I don't think the others will even be asked in case of elimination. My guess is that once KJ announces the team, 2 forward spots will be 'conditional' until the 1st round ends. One for a center and one for a winger.

Korpikoski hasn't played after his injury either. I don't know whether it's because he still can't consume anything but liquid nutrition or perhaps due to something even more serious than that (i.e. concussion symptoms).
 
About the SM-Liiga semifinal candidates Palola, Kukkonen, Donskoi, Kemppainen. I think KJ will select the ones whose teams are eliminated tomorrow and these guys might already play in next week's games vs Russia.

The SM-Liiga finalists won't be chosen unless Kukkonen really wants to come or one of these forwards are insanely good there and the series ends 4-1 or 4-0. So I think 2 guys is max of the finalists. That's my feeling about it.

Wonder if Tuomo Ruutu could be the captain like MTV3 thought or who should it be? Jussi Jokinen, Komarov, Immonen comes to mind.
 
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Gaps said:
Korpikoski hasn't played after his injury either. I don't know whether it's because he still can't consume anything but liquid nutrition or perhaps due to something even more serious than that (i.e. concussion symptoms).
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The difference is that we haven't even heard anything from Korpikoski. In fact, some domestic outlet or another has pretty much asked all of 'em as soon as their demise has looked certain or at least more than likely, but all this time there hasn't been a peep from Korpedo.

Komarov, however, had openly admitted that he was coming so the injury may have waylaid him. Though the Leafs management didn't talk about it as if it were serious (they called pulling him aside a "precaution"), so it still could be he's healthy by the times the games begin.

Mestaruus said:
About the SM-Liiga semifinal candidates Palola, Kukkonen, Donskoi, Kemppainen. I think KJ will select the ones whose teams are eliminated tomorrow and these guys might already play in next week's games vs Russia.

The SM-Liiga finalists won't be chosen unless Kukkonen really wants to come or one of these forwards are insanely good there and the series ends 4-1 or 4-0. So I think 2 guys is max of the finalists. That's my feeling about it.
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My feeling is that Jalonen wouldn't have mentioned Kemppainen and Donskoi by name if he didn't really want them to feature one way or another. Besides, it's not the first time a coach just pulls a guy from the finals directly into the team. Most famous case is MiG from 2011, and that previous Jalonen also did the same with Jani Tuppurainen (of all people) in 2012 and Savinainen and Raanta in 2013.

Also, let's keep in that the Nose has a direct line to the shenanigans of these guys. Who's standing behind Kärpät bench?

Mestaruus said:
Wonder if Tuomo Ruutu could be the captain like MTV3 thought or who should it be? Jussi Jokinen, Komarov, Immonen comes to mind.
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Ruutu, Immonen, Komarov and Kukkonen are captain material. JJ is less likely. Though I don't know how likely Immonen is either, since he's already on the camp but has not worn the C. The letter's actually been on Lepistö.

So based on that evidence, I'd say Ruutu, Komarov, Kukkonen and Lepistö are the foursome out of whom the captain will be sorted out. Unless of course Minny gets eliminated and the no-brainer pick becomes available.
 
FiLe said:
Besides, it's not the first time a coach just pulls a guy from the finals directly into the team. Most famous case is MiG from 2011, and that previous Jalonen also did the same with Jani Tuppurainen (of all people) in 2012 and Savinainen and Raanta in 2013.
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Don't forget the silver team. :) 2013 also Tuukka Mäntylä and Jarno Koskiranta were invited to the WC roster.
 
FiLe said:
Also, let's keep in that the Nose has a direct line to the shenanigans of these guys. Who's standing behind Kärpät bench?
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That's right. Must admit that I didn't remember about the Marjamäki connection.

FiLe said:
Ruutu, Immonen, Komarov and Kukkonen are captain material. JJ is less likely. Though I don't know how likely Immonen is either, since he's already on the camp but has not worn the C. The letter's actually been on Lepistö.
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Interesting about Immonen. Would imagine he's the silent captain type that leads by example, but I guess there's a reason then that he's never been a captain. Maybe in some tournaments his role was so small that it didn't happen. I guess not that many chances to be the captain also when there was M. Koivu. Well who knows.

Lepistö doesn't fit a captain in my book but maybe more of a assistant capt. I hope Ruutu gets to be it.
 
hyperion said:
2013 also Tuukka Mäntylä and Jarno Koskiranta were invited to the WC roster.
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It wasn't exactly the same thing. Said players were invited out of necessity more than anything. The lack of centres was notoriously bad (I mean, on no other year would Ville Viitaluoma have broken into the final squad) and there wasn't a long line of offensive d-men either (Teemu Laakso was chosen to man the 2nd unit blueline), so extending the invite to those was bit of a foregone conclusion rather than something up for debate.

There, however, were similar options to the names I mentioned yet the previous Jalonen rolled with them anyway. And I don't mean to belittle neither Koskiranta or Mäntylä, as both pulled their weight just fine, but there really wasn't any competition worth mentioning.
 
No Korpikoski nor Rissanen :(.

It says first playoff round ends 30th this month latest (if game 7) and Jalonen said he can wait till that.
 
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^Korpikoski is bit of a bummer, but understandable. Could have been interesting to see how Rissanen fares on camp, but I don't see why anyone would feel bad over his absence.

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http://www.mtv.fi/sport/mm2015/uuti...lmea-nhl-vahvistusta-myos-maalivahtia/4991846

Ruutu, Komarov coming if they clear medical.

And Jalonen pretty much confirmed that there's an NHL goalie coming, name is more or less still open, more than one unlikely though. It's pretty much the situation I described earlier. Those free netminders are sorting out among themselves and the management who goes. KJ & co probably have a list of preference, with Rask most likely on top. If he says yes, the other two will skip.
 
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As an aside... while NHLers are by no means a guarantee of a successful tourney, it still kinda warms the heart to finally see this many not only available, but also willing to come. Between that goalie and Ruutu + Komarov clearing their medicals, we'd already have seven names in total.

If one or two more are added after round one, the number of NHLers in this squad could be as high as 8-9 names. That'd be double the amount we've seen during the last few years, when the average has been around four NHLers per tournament.

Last time their numbers were relatively high was in 2008, when our team had whopping 11 NHLers. The year before was not bad either, since there were nine.

This all can of course be explained by the fact that we finally have a reasonable amount of young players in the NHL again. Young guys are far more likely to come when available than players who've already clocked past thirty and then some.
 
FiLe said:
As an aside... while NHLers are by no means a guarantee of a successful tourney, it still kinda warms the heart to finally see this many not only available, but also willing to come. Between that goalie and Ruutu + Komarov clearing their medicals, we'd already have seven names in total.

If one or two more are added after round one, the number of NHLers in this squad could be as high as 8-9 names. That'd be double the amount we've seen during the last few years, when the average has been around four NHLers per tournament.

Last time their numbers were relatively high was in 2008, when our team had whopping 11 NHLers. The year before was not bad either, since there were nine.

This all can of course be explained by the fact that we finally have a reasonable amount of young players in the NHL again. Young guys are far more likely to come when available than players who've already clocked past thirty and then some.
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IMO the amount of NHLers coming isn't as important, since we have a lot of mid-bottom6 forwards that can be replaced by their KHL counterparts, but getting guys like Barkov and Ristolainen who've played big roles with their NHL teams is huge.

2012 was the last time when we had a legit 1C. It's going to be a treat watch Barkov play.
 
SoupyFIN said:
IMO the amount of NHLers coming isn't as important, since we have a lot of mid-bottom6 forwards that can be replaced by their KHL counterparts, but getting guys like Barkov and Ristolainen who've played big roles with their NHL teams is huge.
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Agreed. Like I said myself, they're not a guarantee to having a successful tourney. Let's say that the heartwarming part does not come from their actual contribution to the squad - which may be big or small - but from their dedication. It's always an extra hassle for an NHLer, even for one playing in a marginal role, to show up when compared to their European colleagues, whom we usually pretty much expect to be available by default.

Therefore, to see this many willing to go through those extra hoops and participate is a reason to feel good, no matter if they're key guys or not.
 
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