World Cup: 2016 World Cup — Team Finland

[MJJ]

We need to remember with Laine at this World Cup that playing with Barkov means he is going against the best players in the World, and no one should expect him to dominate there.

I would think that if Finland can decide, they are going to use Koivu's and Filppula's lines against opponent's best lines.

 

[BB88]

I would think that if Finland can decide, they are going to use Koivu's and Filppula's lines against opponent's best lines.

I'm sure Marjamaki would like that, but everyone knows Barkov is our best player and teams will want their best players against him.

 

[Conspiracy Theorist]

Komarov need to draw penalties so Laine will be on the ice there for the powerplay.

 

[ijuka]

We need to remember with Laine at this World Cup that playing with Barkov means he is going against the best players in the World, and no one should expect him to dominate there.

If he plays on the left wing, he can dominate.

 

[BB88]

If he plays on the left wing, he can dominate.

Laine plays LW and
if we play against Canada he's playing against Bergeron, the best defensive forward in the game, in the u23 group he'd be playing against Scheifele, P.Kane/Wheeler against USA, Kucherov against Russia.

We should not expect him to dominate this time.

 

[vaiski]

Power play lines:

Komarov-Barkov-Jokinen
Laine-Vatanen

Donskoi-Koivu-Granlund
Ristolainen-Määttä

Määttä was my only mistake apparently. It wasn't that hard to call anyway.

 

[ijuka]

Laine plays LW and
if we play against Canada he's playing against Bergeron, the best defensive forward in the game, in the u23 group he'd be playing against Scheifele, P.Kane/Wheeler against USA, Kucherov against Russia.

We should not expect him to dominate this time.

Wingers don't generally defend against wingers, though. If wingers are defending against him they'd be attacking x vs 4 or x vs 5. Assuming stuff like 3 on 3, they're up against the center and the 2 defensemen.

I certainly do expect him to dominate. His play style is dominating.

 

[BB88]

Wingers don't generally defend against wingers, though. If wingers are defending against him they'd be attacking x vs 4 or x vs 5. Assuming stuff like 3 on 3, they're up against the center and the 2 defensemen.

I certainly do expect him to dominate. His play style is dominating.

Those are players he's going to be on the ice at the same time, and Laine is worse than everyone I mentioned currently.
Yes he was dominating in Liiga but he's not a top20 player in the World, he's a rookie in NHL ice and this is tourney with the best players in the World.

It's a shame that we are putting insane expectations on him.

 

[illone84]

Those are players he's going to be on the ice at the same time, and Laine is worse than everyone I mentioned currently.
Yes he was dominating in Liiga but he's not a top20 player in the World, he's a rookie in NHL ice and this is tourney with the best players in the World.

It's a shame that we are putting insane expectations on him.

Laine will shine on the PP, but who knows how good or bad he will play 5 on 5. Only time will tell!
Good thing he gets to play 3 practice contests before the real games begin!

 

[ijuka]

Those are players he's going to be on the ice at the same time, and Laine is worse than everyone I mentioned currently.
Yes he was dominating in Liiga but he's not a top20 player in the World, he's a rookie in NHL ice and this is tourney with the best players in the World.

It's a shame that we are putting insane expectations on him.

A shame? What is? You really don't seem to understand how good he is. Or you don't understand what my definition of "dominate" means.

Dominate = Lindross. And you don't have to be the best player on ice to dominate. However, I'm confident he will be the best player on ice against anyone but perhaps Canada and Team NA(Crosby, McDavid).

 

[BB88]

A shame? What is? You really don't seem to understand how good he is. Or you don't understand what my definition of "dominate" means.

Dominate = Lindross. And you don't have to be the best player on ice to dominate. However, I'm confident he will be the best player on ice against anyone but perhaps Canada and Team NA(Crosby, McDavid).

Yes I know how good he is, and have watched lot of his games and will watch the Jets.
Just explain why is he going to be dominating.

The guy again, still is 18y rookie on new rink, he's nowhere near being the best player on this tourney and the chances for him being the best player on ice against Sweden, Russia and USA are very slim. Even for McDavid& Eichel it took some time to get their game going on their rookie seasons and this is higher level hockey than NHL's 1st half of regular season.

This is getting crazy with him, I want him to look good there, dangerous on pp and get better with every game, but it's not going to be enough, that would be disappointing tourney for Laine with these expectations.

I'd love to see him dominate, but the guy hasn't played a game in the NHL yet.

Laine will shine on the PP, but who knows how good or bad he will play 5 on 5. Only time will tell!
Good thing he gets to play 3 practice contests before the real games begin!

Yep, but only one of them is in NHL rink.

I like this tourney for Laine and I think it will give his rookie season a nice boost.

 

[ijuka]

I just want Laine to play his own game and look like himself. I really am not going to turn on him and consider a failure even if he doesn't look great in this tournament.

Yes I know how good he is, and have watched lot of his games and will watch the Jets.
Just explain why is he going to be dominating.

So now as for this... his style of play just is like that. He controls the play a lot, on and off the puck and he plays physical. That's a "dominating" playstyle to me. In his prime I expect him to be absolutely vicious if he develops as I foresee.

In an ideal world, my actual expectations:

I'd like to see a visible improvement in his skating.

I'd like to see him being able to get open to receive passes, actually receiving those passes isn't as important but it'd be great seeing him take nice shots as well.

I'd like to see him play physical, show good defensive awareness and positioning, being responsible defensively.

I want him to challenge 1v1 against an NHL caliber defenseman and hopefully have it work a couple of times. Some turnovers will likely happen but I don't mind that at all, I'd just like to see an incredible, successful play like this. The mistakes will be able to be removed over time.

I'd like to see some varied offense with backhand and forehand passes and puck protection on zone entry.

I'd like to see him doing stickhandling things that require slow-mo to see what he is doing.

I'd like to see him being even better at knocking pucks out of the air than he has been thus far.



The thing I'm hoping to see by far the most is him challenging an NHL defenseman from the left side with some dangle that I know he has the ability to do and that ending up in a goal(Or a sick save that would have been a goal most of the time). Just something where he shows that his game isn't all about sitting on the blue line waiting to one time shots.



But anyway, considering Team Finland's material, the history of Team Finland with material differences and the level of coaching(The best Team Finland has ever had), even if Laine individually isn't the best player in the match, I expect him in a Finnish system to be better than everyone apart from the very few specific ones.


And please understand that me "expecting" something doesn't mean I'm going to crucify him and call him a failure if he doesn't accomplish it. If you are afraid of disappointment you will never actually succeed. Having confidence in him is much better than saying "Well he'll fail anyway" and it would make him much happier as well. Heck, he has the same approach to his game as I do expectation-wise.

 

[Mestaruus]

Two more days boys. I can tell that a lot of people here are getting excited about this tournament now. Other than Finland's games there are a lot of other good preparation games to watch like Team Europe vs NA U23 on Thursday by the way. Full schedule, prep games included can be found here:

https://www.nhl.com/news/world-cup-of-hockey-pre-tournament-training-camp-schedules/c-793114

 

[MMANumminen]

Admit it Ijuka, you'd like to have his babies too lol

But I hope you are right. We'll see soon

 

[BB88]

I just want Laine to play his own game and look like himself. I really am not going to turn on him and consider a failure even if he doesn't look great in this tournament.



So now as for this... his style of play just is like that. He controls the play a lot, on and off the puck and he plays physical. That's a "dominating" playstyle to me. In his prime I expect him to be absolutely vicious if he develops as I foresee.

In an ideal world, my actual expectations:

I'd like to see a visible improvement in his skating.

I'd like to see him being able to get open to receive passes, actually receiving those passes isn't as important but it'd be great seeing him take nice shots as well.

I'd like to see him play physical, show good defensive awareness and positioning, being responsible defensively.

I want him to challenge 1v1 against an NHL caliber defenseman and hopefully have it work a couple of times. Some turnovers will likely happen but I don't mind that at all, I'd just like to see an incredible, successful play like this. The mistakes will be able to be removed over time.

I'd like to see some varied offense with backhand and forehand passes and puck protection on zone entry.

I'd like to see him doing stickhandling things that require slow-mo to see what he is doing.

I'd like to see him being even better at knocking pucks out of the air than he has been thus far.



The thing I'm hoping to see by far the most is him challenging an NHL defenseman from the left side with some dangle that I know he has the ability to do and that ending up in a goal(Or a sick save that would have been a goal most of the time). Just something where he shows that his game isn't all about sitting on the blue line waiting to one time shots.



But anyway, considering Team Finland's material, the history of Team Finland with material differences and the level of coaching(The best Team Finland has ever had), even if Laine individually isn't the best player in the match, I expect him in a Finnish system to be better than everyone apart from the very few specific ones.


And please understand that me "expecting" something doesn't mean I'm going to crucify him and call him a failure if he doesn't accomplish it. If you are afraid of disappointment you will never actually succeed. Having confidence in him is much better than saying "Well he'll fail anyway" and it would make him much happier as well. Heck, he has the same approach to his game as I do expectation-wise.

That's what he can look in the future in the NHL, but we should not expect him to be like that as a rookie.
His strenght coach straight up has said Laine is still raw physically and we don't know if his skating is there yet to keep up with the best players and be able to control the game 5on5.

The media/lot of fans are going after him if he has an okay tourney which is unfair.

 

[BusQuets]

Laine couldn't do anything against Canada in the WHC finals and suddenly he will dominate upgraded(understatement) Canada? Summer does a lot for young players but not that much.

 

[Conspiracy Theorist]

Laine couldn't do anything against Canada in the WHC finals and suddenly he will dominate upgraded(understatement) Canada? Summer does a lot for young players but not that much.

Neither could anyone besides Aho and Granlund. Finland had 0 defensemen from NHL in that tournament.

 

[kunekune]

Laine couldn't do anything against Canada in the WHC finals and suddenly he will dominate upgraded(understatement) Canada? Summer does a lot for young players but not that much.

He still was better and more active than his linesmates Barkov and Jokinen.

Im not expecting too much from Laine this worldcup but blaming or critizing Laine for his play in whc finals one should look how our NHL pros played in that game.

 

[Stoat]

I would think that if Finland can decide, they are going to use Koivu's and Filppula's lines against opponent's best lines.

Marjamäki doesn't match lines. I hoped the last 3 seasons that he would, but he doesn't. I hope that he'll learn it, but I'm a bit sceptical about that.

Other than that, I trust everything that Marjamäki does.He guided my team (Kärpät) to back-to-back titles here in Finland. He's a wizard behind the bench.

- Stoat

 

[teravaineSAROS]

You know you're a special player if you get a Finnish coach to adapt so much after how you excel

 

[Booster*]

You know you're a special player if you get a Finnish coach to adapt so much after how you excel

Anything else would be simply stupid. A PP tailor made for Laines shot is Finlands single best offensive weapon.

 

[BusQuets]

Neither could anyone besides Aho and Granlund. Finland had 0 defensemen from NHL in that tournament.

He still was better and more active than his linesmates Barkov and Jokinen.

Im not expecting too much from Laine this worldcup but blaming or critizing Laine for his play in whc finals one should look how our NHL pros played in that game.

OK.. These don't answer my question though.. Or will Laine be able to dominate now that there are couple NHL-defensemen behind him? Sounds far fetched to me.

 

[X66]

OK.. These don't answer my question though.. Or will Laine be able to dominate now that there are couple NHL-defensemen behind him? Sounds far fetched to me.

You are correct.

He still was better and more active than his linesmates Barkov and Jokinen.

Im not expecting too much from Laine this worldcup but blaming or critizing Laine for his play in whc finals one should look how our NHL pros played in that game.

Neither could anyone besides Aho and Granlund. Finland had 0 defensemen from NHL in that tournament.

Against the top 3 teams in 4 games at the WHC(Canada x2, Russia and USA) Laine had zero goals.

People want Laine to play LW so badly but they simply don't understand that at the highest level, it's very hard for wingers to play their off wings unless they have an elite skating ability(elite acceleration, separation and agility).

Laine will get his chances at LW on the PP most likely, but he's a young guy that more experienced teams were able to contain.

People need to go easy on the expectations.

 

[BB88]

You are correct.





Against the top 3 teams in 4 games at the WHC(Canada x2, Russia and USA) Laine had zero goals.

People want Laine to play LW so badly but they simply don't understand that at the highest level, it's very hard for wingers to play their off wings unless they have an elite skating ability(elite acceleration, separation and agility).

Laine will get his chances at LW on the PP most likely, but he's a young guy that more experienced teams were able to contain.

People need to go easy on the expectations.

To be fair he assisted the game winner against Russia and we don't know if the knee bothered him how much at that point.
Ray thought his best game was the 1st Canada game.

At the Worlds Laine looked at his best when he was on the left side.

 

[Hagged]

OK.. These don't answer my question though.. Or will Laine be able to dominate now that there are couple NHL-defensemen behind him? Sounds far fetched to me.

Laine has adjusted. I think he'll score more than any player on team Canada due to relative team strength. Finland lives or dies on Laine's scoring ability. All success or failure is on Barkov and Laine very similar to Koivu's and Selanne's role at old time best on best tournaments.

There is not gonna be secondary scoring to talk about on team Finland.

PPG or bust for these two guys.