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World Cup: 2016 World Cup — Team Finland

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I've considered Lindell a shoo-in to any hypothetical best-on-best team since his superb display at the WHC last spring. Add to that his solid showings in the AHL, and that alone would have been enough, even without the call upstairs.
 
I wouldn't consider Lindell a shoo-in due to the age of most of our top D. He's certainly a serious candidate, but the only ones I see as shoo-ins at this stage are Vatanen, Määttä and RR. My personal guess is that 2 veteran D from Europe will make it, one of them being Kukkonen and the other Lepistö or Hietanen. After those 5, we've only got one more D spot left, right? Unless we take 7 D and 12 F. Anyway, the 6th guy might be Lindell, or Jokipakka or Lindbohm. We'll see.

EDIT: then there's of course the biggest wild card of all: Pitkänen. He can't be named to the team at this stage but if he makes a comeback sometime during the spring and plays a good WHC, he's going to be a very viable option. Risky due to his injury, but a candidate nevertheless.
 
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Gaps said:
I wouldn't consider Lindell a shoo-in due to the age of most of our top D. He's certainly a serious candidate, but the only ones I see as shoo-ins at this stage are Vatanen, Määttä and RR. My personal guess is that 2 veteran D from Europe will make it, one of them being Kukkonen and the other Lepistö or Hietanen. After those 5, we've only got one more D spot left, right? Unless we take 7 D and 12 F. Anyway, the 6th guy might be Lindell, or Jokipakka or Lindbohm. We'll see.

EDIT: then there's of course the biggest wild card of all: Pitkänen. He can't be named to the team at this stage but if he makes a comeback sometime during the spring and plays a good WHC, he's going to be a very viable option. Risky due to his injury, but a candidate nevertheless.
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I'd say Lindell has a very good chance to make it but you are right, it's not guaranteed.
However, that being said, let's hope that Lindell impresses the heck out of the Dallas coaching staff and finds a way to get himself on the roster full time. Or at least for as long as possible.
One thing is for sure, he has played amazing in the AHL, and luckily this tournament is played in Toronto, so he will be a highly considered candidate to play for Finland on the smaller ice surface.

Also, I'm pretty darn sure we will have 7Dmen, and also one of them will be Kukkonen/Lepistö/Hietanen.
 
Gaps said:
I wouldn't consider Lindell a shoo-in due to the age of most of our top D. He's certainly a serious candidate, but the only ones I see as shoo-ins at this stage are Vatanen, Määttä and RR. My personal guess is that 2 veteran D from Europe will make it, one of them being Kukkonen and the other Lepistö or Hietanen. After those 5, we've only got one more D spot left, right? Unless we take 7 D and 12 F. Anyway, the 6th guy might be Lindell, or Jokipakka or Lindbohm. We'll see.
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Six? It's a standard 23-man roster. Three goalies plus 20 skaters. So likely the regular 13+7 combo.

And yes, I still think Lindell is a non-questionable part of our current best seven. There might be debate about Jokipakka and/or Lindbohm being replaced in favor of some veteran Euros, for now, but Lindell shouldn't be shunned simply because he's not a full-time NHLer yet. That's mere status on paper. Which means he's also good enough to make his age irrelevant. I'll be seriously questioning the mental faculties of any pro coach who can't see past those things.

Of course, if he somehow ends up getting snubbed here regardless, it's no big deal, given the nature of this gong show. However, no one will question his shoo-in status by 2018. That being said, it's still going to miff me a little if they just send what they think is the best possible lineup at the time. After all, it'd be a great opportunity to hone things for more prestigious events. I'm not saying they should take Laine, Puljujärvi and Juolevi, but our core d-men will be 24-25 years old come 2018, making the age question irrelevant by then. Probably vain hope, but let them start the work towards that here rather than haul in vets in an effort to win a tournament no one in Finland gives a rat's backside about.
 
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Jokinen - Barkov - Komarov
Teravainen - Koivu - Donskoi
Filppula - Granlund - Pulkkinen
Korpikoski - Lehtera - Rantanen
Granlund - Haula

Maatta - Ristolainen
Jokipakka - Vatanen
Lindell - Pokka
Lindbohm - Honka

Rask
Rinne
Neimi
 
Kukkonen was perfectly good at his role in the 2014 Olympics and his level of play hasn't regressed since then. Also he has played hundreds of games in the NHL so he's not a stranger to NA-sized ice either.

I would be more than happy if we'd have better defensemen in better leagues but right now Lasse is pretty much the best we have for that role.

Btw, there's some pretty strong and reliable rumours that Joni Pitkänen is healthy and ready to play.

https://twitter.com/JoniPiirainen/status/690941006490030080
 
Update: Joni Pitkänen pelaa CHL-finaalissa Frölundaa vastaan. Puolustaja rekisteröity joukkueen mukaan.

Interesting!
 
teravaineSAROS said:
wonder what shape he'll be in. Is there any chance he can be on the WC team?
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If Kärpät is ready to put him on the ice, anything is possible, I guess? A strong finish to the season, leading Kärpät to the Liiga championship and dominating the World Champs would make it quite difficult for Jalonen to not take him. How likely that is is a whole different matter, though.. His comeback has been very hush-hush with only a few interviews (with little substance) here and there, so I don't think anyone outside of Pitkänen himself and the Kärpät coaching staff really knows what to expect.

We'll see, it'll be one of the most interesting stories in Finnish hockey this spring unless Laine finds the gateway to the next level.
 
illone84 said:
Update: Joni Pitkänen pelaa CHL-finaalissa Frölundaa vastaan. Puolustaja rekisteröity joukkueen mukaan.

Interesting!
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To get the record straight, he's been registered as an eligible participant - a precautionary measure. It's by no means a guarantee he'll actually dress for that game.

It seems more than likely though that he'll skate for Kärpät sometime in this season.
 
Even if he gets in shape during the spring, I don't think it's likely that he would be on the World Cup team. I mean, the guy hasn't played in ages. Hopefully he'll get back to his previous level of play, but it's far from likely IMO.
 
As far I know Joni Pitkänen has had a lot of bad luck with injuries in his career can anybody tell me how old he is in the meantime?
 
WhiteLight* said:
Jokinen - Barkov - Komarov
Teravainen - Koivu - Donskoi
Filppula - Granlund - Pulkkinen
Korpikoski - Lehtera - Rantanen
Granlund - Haula

Maatta - Ristolainen
Jokipakka - Vatanen
Lindell - Pokka
Lindbohm - Honka

Rask
Rinne
Neimi
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You are as far as I know only allow to have 23 players, but maybe finland have a deal with NHL?
 
Dismas said:
As far I know Joni Pitkänen has had a lot of bad luck with injuries in his career can anybody tell me how old he is in the meantime?
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Born in September 1983. 32 as of today. If he can get back to shape, has good five seasons in him still.
 
Granlund-Barkov-Pulkkinen
Filppula-Koivu-Donskoi
Teräväinen-Jokinen-Korpikoski
Komarov-Lehterä-Kemppainen

Haula
Rantanen
Aho

Määttä – Ristolainen
Vatanen – Lindell
Jokipakka – Kukkonen
Honka – Pitkänen

Rask
Rinne
 
Granlund-Barkov-Donskoi
Filppula-Koivu-Jokinen
Teräväinen-Lehterä--Komarov
Rantanen-Haula-Korpikoski
Pulkkinen

Määttä – Ristolainen
Vatanen – Lindell
Jokipakka – Lindbohm
Lepistö

Rask
Rinne
 
Ca2--5eWIAEeRgf.jpg


Never heard of them.
 
FinPanda said:
Ca2--5eWIAEeRgf.jpg


Never heard of them.
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Yay, everyone gets their own fancy title!

Not so sure how much some of them have to offer in more practical level. Hopefully at least they have well defined roles and boundaries and no one tries to boss Marjamäki around in things that are his to decide.
 
Marre said:
Yay, everyone gets their own fancy title!

Not so sure how much some of them have to offer in more practical level. Hopefully at least they have well defined roles and boundaries and no one tries to boss Marjamäki around in things that are his to decide.
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I don't think they'll have any kind of massive role in making important decisions. Just hanging around, trying to get the hang of things and maybe help out here and there. The main reason behind this is probably just getting some hype going among casual fans and the main-stream press as well as fast-tracking those esteemed gentlemen into post-player careers. If this was for the Olympics or something, I'd be a bit upset that they keep hiring unqualified people, but for an exhibition tournament it feels almost appropriate.
 
We finally got rid of Kale, but looks like the sauna buddy culture is still alive and thrivin'. :laugh:

Oh well, in the good old days the guys in blatant sinecures actually had "serious" titles, like "General Manager" and "Team Leader". Nowadays it's easier to make them out by title "Advisor", so I guess that's advancement.

For what it's worth, Kekäläinen, Koivu, Timonen and Numminen are only part of the crew for the World Cup. It's GM Lehtinen, Head Coach Marjamäki and coaches Immonen, Kaskinen and Hilli who make up the core group present in later tournaments.
 
Gaps said:
:facepalm:

Oh well, this tournament was ridiculous anyway, so we might as well make it a veteran field trip.
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This. Ain't this funny. Enjoy every penny of it. They could ice a veteran line also to the knock out round. No kidding.
 
Komarov-Barkov-Donskoi
MiGranlund-Koivu-Jokinen
Filppula-Lehterä-Teräväinen
Korpikoski-Haula-Salomäki
MaGranlund

Close: Pulkkinen,Kemppainen,Pakarinen,Armia,Hartikainen,Rantanen

Määttä-Ristolainen
Jokipakka-Vatanen
Lindell-Pokka
Lepistö

Close:Lindbohm,Hietanen, Kukkonen, Honka, (Pitkänen), Jaakola

Rask
Niemi
Lehtonen

Close: Rinne, Korpisalo, Rämö
 
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