World Cup: 2016 World Cup-Team Finland II

[Dris]

Perhaps it isn't the management? Perhaps it is, you know, lack of talent in the roster?

Having said that, Finland always deliver at 110% when up against Sweden, so I expect a hell of a close game, possibly OT.

Lack of talent and experience in the defense...the difference in the forwards group is incremental (except for the depth that Sweden has)

 

[ijuka]

After the fiasco I have no faith left in the management. My best guess is we go on like nothing happened, nothing (of importance) will be changed and the kids that now seem to include our best center, get sheltered. It will be over after the next two games. After the World Cup I hope to never see Marjamäki again. Wishful thinking? Yeah I know.

On this topic of sheltering, McDavid's top 3 5v5 ice time against:

1. Sebastian Aho
2. Aleksander Barkov
3. Patrik Laine

And they all were actually better in corsi than the rest of their team. Take Patrik Laine, for example. Connor McDavid had 72.22% Corsi when he was on the ice and 81.82% Corsi when he wasn't. Sebastian Aho's corsi is the best of this bunch.

Then we dig a little deeper and look at defensemen and well, this is pretty alarming right here... Rasmus Ristolainen had the second-most play time against McDavid(After Lindell) and McDavid had 92.31% Corsi when Ristolainen was on the ice and 62.50% when he wasn't.


Hence, I'm starting to feel like the forward line wasn't the biggest issue here(Even though I think that changes should be made)... And also that this line didn't get sheltered. It actually played the toughest minutes. It just inexplicably played very few minutes.

 

[Dris]

This would me my team tonight

Laine Barkov Komarov
Granlund Filppula Donskoi
Aho Koivu Teravainen
Lehtera Haula Jokinen

Olli Maatta Rasmus Ristolainen
Esa Lindell Sami Vatanen
Sami Lepisto Ville Pokka

Rask

 

[Tulipunaruusu*]

Maybe you should be there with the NT now, on the soil of Ontario, you or your "friend", the "leading one" - but you ain't and it is not my business to speculate the reasons why you are not.

If we were there, occupied as Team Finland's GM and Leading One, first of all we would headhunt the best professionals for every role in the management and coaching staff. We would keep 'leading one' as an oracle of the future with whom the coaching staff could bounce ideas around. After all, we have his power... why not use it against the Enemy? Now that 'advisor to coaching' position is filled with an absolute beginner in Saku Koivu who has zero coaching experience.

Meanwhile in this alternative reality we live in it is likely that if Jesse Puljujärvi had not been busy with Edmonton's rookie camp he would have been selected as Team Finland's official interpreter for the tournament. Good? Bad?

 

[Loffer]

If we were there, occupied as Team Finland's GM and Leading One, first of all we would headhunt the best professionals for every role in the management and coaching staff. We would keep 'leading one' as an oracle of the future with whom the coaching staff could bounce ideas around. After all, we have his power... why not use it against the Enemy? Now that 'advisor to coaching' position is filled with an absolute beginner in Saku Koivu who has zero coaching experience.

Meanwhile in this alternative reality we live in it is likely that if Jesse Puljujärvi had not been busy with Edmonton's rookie camp he would have been selected as Team Finland's official interpreter for the tournament. Good? Bad?

Pulju ... Okay, that was funny. Lol. But not quite convinced the analogue was fair one. Hahah.

 

[Michael Hockey]

If we could we should just forfeit our one remaining game against Russia. No point in risking player injuries in a meaningless game.

 

[crowi]

If we could we should just forfeit our one remaining game against Russia. No point in risking player injuries in a meaningless game.

Should have forfeited the entire tourney. I wonder if even 200k people watch these games here.

 

[BB88]

So disappointed in Marjamaki, so disappointed in our vets.

Hopefully we hit the bottom in this tourney and can enjoy in the next one.

 

[DoubleGold]

So disappointed in Marjamaki, so disappointed in our vets.

Hopefully we hit the bottom in this tourney and can enjoy in the next one.

Marjamäki is so slow to react, it drove me nuts.

 

[FVM]

Finland created plenty of chances and played very structured and tight team defense against Sweden. I don't know what else can you ask from the coach. After the NA game I had my doubts about Marjamäki, but he redeemed himself in my eyes. He even reacted to the play putting Teräväinen with Granlund and Koivu and they were the best line for us in the 3rd period.

We simply lacked the talent to be truly competitive this year. It's not Marjamäki's fault that our junior development sucked from 2002 to 2010.

 

[BusQuets]

Finland created plenty of chances and played very structured and tight team defense against Sweden. I don't know what else can you ask from the coach. After the NA game I had my doubts about Marjamäki, but he redeemed himself in my eyes. He even reacted to the play putting Teräväinen with Granlund and Koivu and they were the best line for us in the 3rd period.

We simply lacked the talent to be truly competitive this year. It's not Marjamäki's fault that our junior development sucked from 2002 to 2010.

Yeah i don't get why some blame Marjamaki. Finland had chances to score 5 or more goals and scored 0. That's on players not on coach.

 

[Loffer]

1 goal total in two hockey games, scored by Filp when NA let him score for pity and decency. (A nice gesture by the young top guns.)

Can they double their goal total against Russia -that is the last question of interest left for Team Finland and its followers in this tournament.

"Key" player ratings:

Barky: decent but invisible if not worthless offensively, a disappointment
Koivu: timber! this season must be the last one for him in the bigs
Granny: energetic buzzing as usual, nothing to show for it as usual save for a couple of defensive lapses and a comic missed hit on Stralman
Risto: the best player of the team AINEC
Laine: he will get there
Aho: will he ever be better than Granny? Johnny Hockey vol. 2 he will be not
TT: I dunno; a ****ing enigma. the kid looks still like a floor player which amuses me
Lehtera: he couldn have done more but line mates sucked
Filppula: worse than Drouin AINEC. disappointment.
Jokinen: get a wheelchair.

 

[VainGretzky]

Brutal Johnson brutal

 

[BB88]

Yeah i don't get why some blame Marjamaki. Finland had chances to score 5 or more goals and scored 0. That's on players not on coach.

Really?

- Vatanen has been a bad fit this whole time on that Barkov pp unit, did he do any changes?
- Koivu unit has been missing a right hand shooter on the left circle this whole time.
-He's treated Barkov like #3C when he's our best player.
-Why does he think Koivu is our best offensive weapon?
- What's the reasoning of icing the "2nd" line when it's a must win game 5mins left and you have to score?
-Why is Jokinen-Filppula-Komarov the 2nd line?
-What is this transition game?

 

[llwyd]

I don't know, Finland, land of over reaction. This tournament just came in bad time for us, wait a couple of years and we shall be very strong indeed.

 

[Tulipunaruusu*]

Yeah i don't get why some blame Marjamaki. Finland had chances to score 5 or more goals and scored 0. That's on players not on coach.

I think there is usually a reason if no goals happen. Neither Lundqvist nor Rask were easily surprised with those sloppy chances created, mainly outside the warzones. Those were awfully dead zones hence no goals scoren in the open play.

J. Jalonen and K. Jalonen both also had difficult starts in their eras due to not being honest to the only significant strength Finland has had this decade: puck control.

 

[Dropkick Murphy]

I think the best solution for next tournament is to apply for Team Europe. We had to win, we were against very slow Team Sweden and we had one good scoring chance in whole game (TT). That change was created by lucky bounce

 

[llwyd]

I think the best solution for next tournament is to apply for Team Europe. We had to win, we were against very slow Team Sweden and we had one good scoring chance in whole game (TT). That change was created by lucky bounce

I take it you didn't watch the game? Ffs.

 

[llwyd]

I hate this Finnish over the top mentality - lose a couple of games and we at the level of Albania, win a couple and we are the best ever. Why can't we be more measured and rational?

 

[catnip]

I guess we're so used to Team Finland always punching above their weight that we don't know how to react when they suddenly don't. To my untrained eye, this outcome is pretty much what you'd expect from that roster so I'm finding it really difficult to be overly critical or disappointed.

 

[llwyd]

I guess we're so used to Team Finland always punching above their weight that we don't know how to react when they suddenly don't. To my untrained eye, this outcome is pretty much what you'd expect from that roster so I'm finding it really difficult to be overly critical or disappointed.

Yeah, that's a good observation - this time we played pretty much how you would expect from this roster. Though I think yesterday showed that we probably could have done better once again given more time to gel - and of course Marjamäki had a really ridiculously tough start to his nt career: from scratch to coach our best team on small ice with 3 practice games and then off to the trenches... I think this has been pretty ok for us, a good preparation for the better years to come!

 

[chauron]

http://www.thehockeynews.com/news/a...in-world-cup-but-they-ll-be-back-in-a-big-way

Give them time to complete the generation transition, Finland's future is going to be more brighter if all goes as it is projected

 

[BusQuets]

Really?

- Vatanen has been a bad fit this whole time on that Barkov pp unit, did he do any changes?
- Koivu unit has been missing a right hand shooter on the left circle this whole time.
-He's treated Barkov like #3C when he's our best player.
-Why does he think Koivu is our best offensive weapon?
- What's the reasoning of icing the "2nd" line when it's a must win game 5mins left and you have to score?
-Why is Jokinen-Filppula-Komarov the 2nd line?
-What is this transition game?

Yet despite all that Finland outshot and created more scoring chances than Sweden. Again, there are times when players have to take the responsibility.

 

[ijuka]

Yet despite all that Finland outshot and created more scoring chances than Sweden. Again, there are times when players have to take the responsibility.

It's well known that Finland has no goal-scorers. That's why it's especially bad that players like Barkov(By far our most proven goal-scorer at the NHL level) are so crippled. Imagine if it was Barkov who got all the chances someone like Koivu got this tournament, things might look different.

You can't have the only 2 Finnish players with serious finishing potential(Barkov, Laine) playing on bottom 6, on a line that's not functioning properly. In my opinion, both should get full support. If you don't build your gameplan around your goal-scorers, this game is what happens. And I have seen Finland have games like this far, far too often.


I know players like Koivu, Granlund, Teräväinen etc. failed to score goals but that's their level.

 

[Tulipunaruusu*]

Yet despite all that Finland outshot and created more scoring chances than Sweden. Again, there are times when players have to take the responsibility.

Sweden was guarding their lead for 30 minutes in the game...

I think it says enough when a player with Granlund's offensive talent is left to binoculars in this tournament's fatal games. Of course NA and Sweden have the material advantage but it ain't like Finland found some recipe for future success finishing with zero goals! Next someone will remind how Filppula's lone goal's promise will carry Finnish ice hockey fanatics over the sudden dry spell. Hopefully someone kept the puck.

I think the ridiculous team management set-up, extremely young roster (it ain't like you couldn't bring KHL or in Europe playing veterans who would allow for a more controlled defence) and Marjamäki's bizarre playbook melting down contributed to this mess. Maybe some issues will correct themselves in 2, 4 (!) or 8 (!) years of time but I don't share the Finnish mainstream media's 'great struggle, only without prize' assestment or really want to have the mentality of waiting for future, only to see Finnish national team scoring goals again.

Finland coming into this tournament for example never has had better situation with options for centre which is huge aid for puck control. Our goaltender (apparently second choice to a soap-glove Laser-Ermine...) is best in the world, in my books. All the tools were there score that honest goal at least.