World Cup: 2016 World Cup — Team Finland

[teravaineSAROS]

translation:
"Marjamäki said I'm on the left and Jussi (Jokinen) is on the right so there wasn't much to question after that"

 

[kunekune]

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.

I haven't ever said that he will dominate the game in worldcup. I do expect him getting a few (pp)goals and showing that he can stay in the tempo.

Playing like it's a console game is not going to happen and most realize it.

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.

It's already confirmed that Laine will play 1st line LW and 1pp LD in the world cup. "Off wing" is a strange word when some RHD wingers natural side is LW.

 

[ijuka]

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).

Jagr is just about the slowest skater in NHL and he seems to do fine. Tarasenko has many world-class attributes but I wouldn't say his skating is one.

It's about skill, not skating.

 

[BusQuets]

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.

Finland has never lived or died due to one player's scoring ability and certainly isn't going to now by 18 year old Laine. I wouldn't even find it surprising if Laine and Aho switch places during tournament.

 

[ijuka]

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

However, in both games against Canada, he generated the most scoring chances for his team. In the match during groups, he generated the most scoring chances of anyone on either team.

It's ironic how you guys talk about the insignificance of short tournaments and then bring up a 4-match sample of a tournament Laine won MVP and his team's scoring title in while playing on the wing he cannot play.

Finland has never lived or died due to one player's scoring ability and certainly isn't going to now by 18 year old Laine. I wouldn't even find it surprising if Laine and Aho switch places during tournament.

Actually, Finland has died due to no one being able to score dozens of times. It's historically been one of Finland's biggest issues.

 

[Canuckistani]

Such a huge opportunity for Laine. Playing at the ACC for Finland just before launching his NHL career.

 

[Hagged]

Finland has never lived or died due to one player's scoring ability and certainly isn't going to now by 18 year old Laine. I wouldn't even find it surprising if Laine and Aho switch places during tournament.

The 18 year old Laine will score most of team Finland goals even if he fails to deliver like he did at the WHC. He better not be replaced by Aho or Finland loses the last chance at a medal.

 

[Lennu32]

Please confirm Laine at LW at 1st ice practice. It's more important than you think!

Yes he is

 

[BusQuets]

The 18 year old Laine will score most of team Finland goals even if he fails to deliver like he did at the WHC. He better not be replaced by Aho or Finland loses the last chance at a medal.

The best chance for Finland to reach medal games is being the best team in the tournament. Every top country has better scorers than Laine. If Aho makes Finland better as a team he's going to replace Laine and Finland has better chance to make finals.

 

[Conspiracy Theorist]

It's a sad day when Laine retires. Who will take his place?

 

[Hagged]

The best chance for Finland to reach medal games is being the best team in the tournament. Every top country has better scorers than Laine. If Aho makes Finland better as a team he's going to replace Laine and Finland has better chance to make finals.

Now that's the biggest if I've ever heard. Barkov and Laine are irreplaceable without Bergeron and Ovechkin as the extra forwards.

 

[ijuka]

The best chance for Finland to reach medal games is being the best team in the tournament. Every top country has better scorers than Laine. If Aho makes Finland better as a team he's going to replace Laine and Finland has better chance to make finals.

Ovechkin at WHCs: 1+1=2 in 6 gp. The worse goal scorer Laine scored 7 times as many goals.

These games aren't played on paper.

The ONLY best-on-best tournament where you could argue that Finland had the best material was in olympics 2006. Even there, they lost the finals due to, yes, lack of goal-scoring.

In spite of this, Finland is the most successful team in olympics in the past 20 years.


Again, Finland has always been the underdog in material. Finland wins with commitment, coaching and effort. And when you combine that with someone like Laine, that can make a difference.

 

[GoldiFox]

The 18 year old Laine will score most of team Finland goals even if he fails to deliver like he did at the WHC. He better not be replaced by Aho or Finland loses the last chance at a medal.

Hyperbole. Aho played better against top competition in the WHC. I see both having great tournaments, but to say Aho vs. Laine is the difference between no-medal vs. medal is silliness considering Aho was the one who literally propelled Finland to a medal in the WHC (2 goals of 3 in the Semifinals vs. Russia - Laine had only 1 assist).

 

[catnip]

Finland will be in big trouble if Laine scores most of their goals. Just saying.

 

[GoldiFox]

Ovechkin at WHCs: 1+1=2 in 6 gp. The worse goal scorer Laine scored 7 times as many goals.

These games aren't played on paper.

The ONLY best-on-best tournament where you could argue that Finland had the best material was in olympics 2006. Even there, they lost the finals due to, yes, lack of goal-scoring.

In spite of this, Finland is the most successful team in olympics in the past 20 years.


Again, Finland has always been the underdog in material. Finland wins with commitment, coaching and effort. And when you combine that with someone like Laine, that can make a difference.

The only historical context that exists between Laine vs. Aho when a medal is on the line is Aho scoring 2 goals to Laines 0 goals in the Semifinals vs. Russia at the WHC.

It appears that Finland needs Aho to put up those key goals. Laine's ability to score goals against the likes of Belarus, Germany, and France was impressive, just not as impactful.

 

[kunekune]

The only historical context that exists between Laine vs. Aho when a medal is on the line is Aho scoring 2 goals to Laines 0 goals in the Semifinals vs. Russia at the WHC.

It appears that Finland needs Aho to put up those key goals. Laine's ability to score goals against the likes of Belarus, Germany, and France was impressive, just not as impactful.

And still Aho is 13th forward and most likely wont see gametime in the WorldCup.

Edit: They played against each other in FEL semifinals. Go check it out and youll get some historical context.

 

[Conspiracy Theorist]

The only historical context that exists between Laine vs. Aho when a medal is on the line is Aho scoring 2 goals to Laines 0 goals in the Semifinals vs. Russia at the WHC.

It appears that Finland needs Aho to put up those key goals. Laine's ability to score goals against the likes of Belarus, Germany, and France was impressive, just not as impactful.

Laine scored the important goal against Denmark in the QF. Finland could have experienced what Sweden did in 2002. He also assisted the game winning goal against Russia.

 

[Booster*]

Is the discussion really Laine or Aho?

Laine is the teams best goal-scorer and number one finishing weapon. That´s why he plays with Barkov. Aho IMO is such a great intelligent player who i see can go ahead of TT, Lehterä or Korpedo. 13th forward is understandable still and i´m sure he will get ice-time anyhow.

 

[GoldiFox]

And still Aho is 13th forward and most likely wont see gametime in the WorldCup.

Edit: They played against each other in FEL semifinals. Go check it out and youll get some historical context.

I was responding to a post that suggested that swapping Aho for Laine would cause Finland to lose any medal chances. This is simply not grounded in history. If you want further FEL context you can check the FEL MVP voting to see who was considered more valuable to their team.

I find it unlikely that Aho "most likely wont see gametime in the WorldCup". Again, that is simple conjecture. The Hurricanes allowed him to go instead of missing a very important training camp and Pre-Season for a reason, it wasn't to let him sit in a press box. Considering Marjamaki is the coach, I'm guessing that Aho will get a fair shot at the roster. What he shows up to the start of the tournament will decide whether he plays or not. It's impossible to say right now that he won't see gametime.

 

[GoldiFox]

Is the discussion really Laine or Aho?

Laine is the teams best goal-scorer and number one finishing weapon. That´s why he plays with Barkov. Aho IMO is such a great intelligent player who i see can go ahead of TT, Lehterä or Korpedo. 13th forward is understandable still and i´m sure he will get ice-time anyhow.

It isn't. Both will likely see playing time and both should play well. Just defensive Laine fans making overblown generalizations about the importance of Laine vs. Aho. Both are incredibly important to the present and future of Finland's National teams.

 

[ijuka]

The only historical context that exists between Laine vs. Aho when a medal is on the line is Aho scoring 2 goals to Laines 0 goals in the Semifinals vs. Russia at the WHC.

It appears that Finland needs Aho to put up those key goals. Laine's ability to score goals against the likes of Belarus, Germany, and France was impressive, just not as impactful.

Lauri Marjamäki was Aho's head coach for the past 2 seasons. I'm pretty sure he knows what he can and can't do better than what you can convey off one game.

Aho is not competing with Laine at all.

 

[kunekune]

The only historical context that exists between Laine vs. Aho when a medal is on the line is Aho scoring 2 goals to Laines 0 goals in the Semifinals vs. Russia at the WHC.

It appears that Finland needs Aho to put up those key goals. Laine's ability to score goals against the likes of Belarus, Germany, and France was impressive, just not as impactful.

If you want further FEL context you can check the FEL MVP voting to see who was considered more valuable to their team.

So here is a breakdown what you said.

1. Finland needs Aho to put up key goals because he can score when it matter.
2. Laine can only score goals in games that don't matter. It's impressive but not impactful
3. Then you said I should check FEL MVP votes, ok, so Aho was 2nd in regular season MVP - Laine won playoffs MVP - I'm not sure which are more important games.

It seems you stepped in your own hyperbole.

 

[GoldiFox]

So here is a breakdown what you said.

1. Finland needs Aho to put up key goals because he can score when it matter.
2. Laine can only score goals in games that don't matter. It's impressive but not impactful
3. Then you said I should check FEL MVP votes, ok, so Aho was 2nd in regular season MVP - Laine won playoffs MVP - I'm not sure which are more important games.

It seems you stepped in your own hyperbole.

I'm just stating the facts of what actually happened to dispute conjecture on what might happen. The only hyperbole here was one stating that "swapping Aho for Laine would cause Finland to lose all medal chances". When, in fact, Aho was a primary reason that Finland secured a medal at the WHC by scoring two of three goals in the Semifinals. There is no opinion to dispute, that is just what happened.

 

[ijuka]

I'm just stating the facts of what actually happened to dispute conjecture on what might happen. The only hyperbole here was one stating that "swapping Aho for Laine would cause Finland to lose all medal chances". When, in fact, Aho was a primary reason that Finland secured a medal at the WHC by scoring two of three goals in the Semifinals. There is no opinion to dispute, that is just what happened.

That same game, Laine generated and assisted on the game-winning goal.

So your argument is that Aho was slightly better in the semis, disregarding most other games and disregarding scoring chance statistics where Laine generated more by a ratio along the lines of 5:1?

Again, Lauri Marjamäki had Aho as the 13. forward and Laine as the first line LW. There likely is a reason for that. Marjamäki had Aho in a leading role for Kärpät last season and Aho was Marjamäki's team's best player. Why do you think he didn't place him on the first line instead? Because of favoritism for the player who caused his team to lose in FEL playoff semis?

 

[illone84]

I'm just stating the facts of what actually happened to dispute conjecture on what might happen. The only hyperbole here was one stating that "swapping Aho for Laine would cause Finland to lose all medal chances". When, in fact, Aho was a primary reason that Finland secured a medal at the WHC by scoring two of three goals in the Semifinals. There is no opinion to dispute, that is just what happened.

Test out Aho in the exhibition game against USA and see how he does on the small ice. If he stands out and plays much better than TT/Korpedo, give him a shot against NA U23 and see how it goes.

Also, for those of you who nit pick against Laine saying he didn't score against Rus and Can, remember that the so called future best player in the world didn't score against Finland and Canada in round robin, and managed to get only 1 assist against USA in the semi, same as Laine in the semi against RUS.

Laine didn't score in the gold medal game but he sure was close a few times. He certainly had a lot more scoring chances than most players other than Granny + Aho.