WC: 2016 Team Finland Pt. II

[HockeyHistorian]

funny how hockey player is valued today isn't it? Pulkkinen is missing something maybe.

A good playmaker?

 

[Gaps]

The combination of that D and Koskinen is a recipe for a disaster against Canada. It's just not good enough. If even one of these areas was better (e.g. we had Rinne or even a better defensive game plan), I think we'd take the gold, regardless of Canada. Now? This might be enough for a medal, but barring a miracle it won't be gold.

 

[FiLe]

BTW, the situation in Group A is... interesting. And unexpected. Looks like the Czechs are going to win that group. So if we don't win ours, we'll likely meet either Russia or Sweden in the game of death.

All I say is that I wanna avoid Russia. However... it's not their team that freaks me out, it's this quality IIHF officiating. Consequently, I'd like to see our team take a shape that can get stuff done on ES as well. If the winning formula is built around the idea of lethal PP, it'd be a fickle plan in that environment.

 

[Gaps]

Yep, I'll take Sweden over Russia any day of the week and twice on Sundays, considering where the tournament is being played.

 

[Zamuz]

It's dumb, Barkov should be our #1 C in this tournament and he is playing barely 15 minutes/game.
Laine should play both PP
Hietanen should not be allowed to shoot on the PP

 

[Conspiracy Theorist]

I hope Russia is eliminated before the finals, so officiating in the finals won't be a farce like in 2014.

 

[crowi]

It's dumb, Barkov should be our #1 C in this tournament and he is playing barely 15 minutes/game.
Laine should play both PP
Hietanen should not be allowed to shoot on the PP

Agreed. Koivu does nothing out there.

 

[FiLe]

Agreed. Koivu does nothing out there.

This was sarcasm, I hope.

 

[kabidjan18]

Agreed. Koivu does nothing out there.

Yeah, and Granlund, absolutely invisible.

 

[Periwinkle]

The combination of that D and Koskinen is a recipe for a disaster against Canada. It's just not good enough.

The thing is Koskinen was even relatively good today...as in, good for Koskinen. He has a weirdly nervous style, lots of rebounds and confused about where the puck is, overreactions. Saros should play on Wednesday, not because that game will determine anything but in the event that Koskinen has a meltdown, Saros has some playing touch.

Hietanen should not be allowed to shoot on the PP

Yeah, I don't understand that if they play 4F 1D, with two talented PP forward units, why are Lindell and Hietanen shooting so much? It has resulted in nothing more than some loss of puck control. Hietanen in particular in terrible.

Pulkkinen is useless...I'd try Rantanen as Pihlström has proved he earns a spot despite being a bonehead. Pyörälä has been very solid in a defensive role.

The thing about line-up changes is that Hungary in all likelihood won't offer much of a measuring stick so change the lines or don't change the lines, probably much can't be deduced going forward. But if Rantanen comes in we could try how he works out in PP instead of Pulu. But I guess we might be a bit wiser after the 12th as SJ and StL both can proceed to the next round and there is no one to wait for anymore.

 

[Bruce Granville]

The combination of that D and Koskinen is a recipe for a disaster against Canada. It's just not good enough. If even one of these areas was better (e.g. we had Rinne or even a better defensive game plan), I think we'd take the gold, regardless of Canada. Now? This might be enough for a medal, but barring a miracle it won't be gold.

With Koskinen we even might lose our quarterfinal.
He is 16th in save percentage after 3 weak opponents.

 

[aahola]

Even after three wins, there are so many thing that concern me. It's not even funny. I still feel like the lines weren't optimally constructed to begin with and with us winning against the US, I don't think there will be any changes made either. I just haven't been as comfortable with the performances we've had as I should be given the quality of our roster. All I can do is to wish for the best I guess.

 

[schmiedi]

Finland gives up 5 goals in 3 games and with a Goalie they give up 2 maximum 3 goals.
A Goalie like Rinne or Rask never get 3 of this 5 goals.
Saros for sure also saves 2 of this 5 goals.

Normally you need a good defense to shine but for Koskinen a All-Star-Defense will not be enough to give him a good performance

 

[Gaps]

With Koskinen we even might lose our quarterfinal.
He is 16th in save percentage after 3 weak opponents.

At least he's not as bad as Vehviläinen was. With him, I was scared every time the puck was anywhere near him. Koskinen has actually made some good saves, but at the same time he's let in some softies. A very mediocre performance, I'd say.

 

[Artorius Horus T]

5 on 5... its not working,our game is based on two things;
getting PP's either Laine scoring on them,or PP goals
generally speaking.

Need 5 on 5 goals,our current line ups need to change,
can't win vs big teams,last game showed that,
we barely beat USA.

Bring in Rantanen for the next game vs Hungary,
keep the PP units same,except remove Lindell
from PP unit 2,he is horrible at blue line,
also Rantanen might be good for PP2 too.

Granlund-Koivu-Pulkkinen
Jokinen-Barkov-Rantanen
Laine-Aho-Pihlström
Komarov-Koskiranta-Pyörälä

Jokinen,Barkov with Laine works on PP
but only at times 5 on 5,must brake up
that line,at least for one game.

Rantanen brings size,fresh legs and good overall 5 on 5 play.

Pulkkinen needs to play more offensive role,
also he is our guy who gets us PP,so more ice time for him.

Laine with Aho works,we all know that,Pihlström
has been surprise so far,should bring the same
stuff with these two.

No need to brake Komarov-Koskiranta-Pyörälä
they are great as it is.

Even though Granlund-Koivu-Aho has worked great,
at times Aho has been the odd man out in this line
Granlund-Koivu with sniper Pulkkinen will
give us more goals and Aho will make Laine's
5 on 5 game much better = more goals.

 

[Mestaruus]

BTW, the situation in Group A is... interesting. And unexpected. Looks like the Czechs are going to win that group. So if we don't win ours, we'll likely meet either Russia or Sweden in the game of death.

All I say is that I wanna avoid Russia. However... it's not their team that freaks me out, it's this quality IIHF officiating. Consequently, I'd like to see our team take a shape that can get stuff done on ES as well. If the winning formula is built around the idea of lethal PP, it'd be a fickle plan in that environment.

Agreed. I want to avoid Russia as well if I can choose despite of them sucking so far and I know there will be some ref bias with Russia at their home games in a playoff match. I'm also hoping they get only Malkin instead of Kuznetsov & Ovechkin. I guess we also should hope that St. Louis advances so they don't get Tarasenko but at the same time we don't want Sweden to get stronger if Nashville or Dallas would get eliminated.

So I hope:
San Jose loses vs Nashville
Pittsburgh loses vs Capitals
St. Louis vs Dallas - No preference as either SWE or RUS will get stronger if there are no declines from the big players. Well hoping slightly for Dallas' win I guess.

There's still a chance that Czech won't win their group. Swiss have put themselves in a very bad situation and the very last preliminary day it's Czech vs Swiss, so I wouldn't count out a Swiss surprise win there. Then the very last games of FIN-CAN & SWE-RUS are played at the same time as the very last game so we don't really know the playoff matchups before the very end.

If I had to choose I'd take Sweden out of the 3 big ones. Markström isn't Lundqvist and hasn't impressed me so far is one of the reasons.

 

[snipes]

Good win over the Americans.

It looks like the final game between Canada v Finland will determine 1st in our group.

I'm looking forward to that game, Finland is becoming a hockey superpower. Canada does not underestimate you. I treat the Finns like I view the Russians. Never underestimate them and respect them as your equal.

Let's see it at the Mens level. Connor McDavid is the most talented teenager in this tournament. Period. I can't wait for Finnish fans to see it live.

In fact, Suomi is favoured against Canada. Our backs are against the wall, everyone thinks you will beat Canada and finish 1st in our group.

Can't wait until May 17th.

 

[Mestaruus]

5 on 5... its not working,our game is based on two things;
getting PP's either Laine scoring on them,or PP goals
generally speaking.

That reminds of Rantanen's ability to draw penalties vs Pulkkinen's. One more reason Rantanen should be above Pulkkinen in the hierarchy.

If we want both Pulkkinen & Rantanen in, Pyörälä has to go since Pihlström has had 2 awesome games.

But I don't think any player will be added for next match since today's NHL games both were extented to G7. The day after Hungary game we will know what will happen with NHL reinforcements etc.

 

[Mestaruus]

It looks like the final game between Canada v Finland will determine 1st in our group.

In fact, Suomi is favoured against Canada. Our backs are against the wall, everyone thinks you will beat Canada and finish 1st in our group.

Can't wait until May 17th.

Don't try that . Canada is the favorite. I feel like if these teams would face multiple times, Finland would win 1 out of 3 games so in a BO1 anything can happen. So I'm going to say Finland has 33%-40% chance to win. Euro ice helps us a little bit. Canada is the official home team of that game so they get little advantage if they want to match up lines. For example to try to shut down Laine.

 

[snipes]

Don't try that . Canada is the favorite. I feel like if these teams would face multiple times, Finland would win 1 out of 3 games so in a BO1 anything can happen. So I'm going to say Finland has 33%-40% chance to win. Euro ice helps us a little bit. Canada is the official home team of that game so they get little advantage if they want to match up lines. For example to try to shut down Laine.

The Finns are the favourite. That's how I see it. You're challenging us at our game. Full respect.

Finland is moving into Russian territory very soon in my view as Canadas most respected rival at the Mens level. Indeed, I view you as the favourite. Canada is the underdog. Hopefully McDavid keeps up with Laine.

We've been on Russian soil in 1972 and had our backs against the wall before. We thrive in it.

Finland is our competition and #1 favourites in Canadas group. Suomi is the favourite, we must battle hard. Wave after wave or Finland will beat us like everyone thinks they will do.

 

[Mestaruus]

Not sure about that. Best on best Sweden is very nice with their defenders and having their only good goalie, Lundqvist . With good coaching and discipline Russia is as well and USA has the second best player material in the world. It is really hard for Finland to be the number one contender to Canada still, but Finland can beat RUS, SWE, USA though because Finland just matches up well with them.

EDIT: I just realized that Canada plays France a day before CAN-FIN happens, while Finnish team eats popcorn on the FRA-CAN day. That's a nice little advantage for Finland. Finland had that disadvantage vs USA but still beat them.

 

[Zamuz]

Agreed. Koivu does nothing out there.

This was probably sarcasm, and I have nothing against Koivu. But Barkov is better player than him by a mile.

 

[safir**]

Take all the undersized rubbish forwards out

During key moments:
Pulkkinen out, Sallinen out, Pyorala out
Rantanen in

Keep Aho, Laine (more to come), Barkov (best), Koivu (good as a big defensive fwd), Koskiranta, Komarov (beast), Granlund (w/e), Jokinen (whatever), Pihlstrom (overrated but fine)

Make 3 lines out of that in whatever permutation you want
Personally I'd separate Granlund-Koivu and Barkov-Jokinen but those f-boys would get all pissy and coaching won't do that cuz they're afraid of hurt emotions

--

Also, why Pulkkinen is crap

In PP vs Germany Koivu et al kept giving him shooting opportunities and he passed on that chance EVERY TIME. For f-sakes shooting the f-ing puck - that's all you're supposedly good at anyways, unless running around like a headless chicken and losing all board battles counts.

Mertaranta with his stick up his arse loves those undersized headless chickens - constantly in motion but never achieve a thing

 

[Ivan13]

Can't understand why Rantanen is sitting.

 

[Mestaruus]

Can't understand why Rantanen is sitting.

Coaches aren't admitting it but they don't want to stamp all players tournament passes and might be looking at NHL reinforcements still. Like Donskoi would be a better winger than Rantanen for example. I would've personally used Rantanen since the tournament started.