WC: 2021 Finland Roster Talk

[Mestaruus]

Looks like same lines. Just goalie changed to Säteri.

I can't say I like it, because the tournament schedule is tight and they should get some fresh players in so players don't get tired later on in the tournament. Perhaps they should've let one full 5 man line rest for a game and take 3+2 fresh players into the line up. Higher chance to avoid injuries on more important players that way and at the same time could get everyone feeling for tournament play. That's how I would've done it at least. I don't think we would lose to KAZ if we substitute 5 players and don't touch any other lines.

 

[mattihp]

If the game would have looked better the lines would be different. After that effort several players might be unsure of themselves.

Let them show what they can do for real.

 

[FiLe]

Covid quarantines after traveling make it a bit harder as well and it's not very exciting for many players to come from North-America to be in a hotel room for 2-3 weeks after the season. Those 56 regular season games were played in quite short span so it may have given players all kinds of injuries and perhaps exhausted them.

And in the case of the Stars, especially so. A fair number of their early-to-mid-season games had to postponed because of several Covid outbreaks within the team and also the Texas power outages. Once they got back on track after those, they really had one of the most taxing late-season schedules, even if they were able to wrap the season in time, unlike the Canucks up north.

If you play four games a week over the final two months of the season, it's kind of understandable that a trip to Latvia is not the first thing your mind when that show is done for.

 

[Mestaruus]

We need some new lines.

Sallinen-Lundell-Turunen
Ojamäki-Ruohomaa-Pakarinen
Ruotsalainen-Tiivola--Puustinen
Mäenalanen-Björninen-Anttila

I'm open for any changes, even for major changes, but Björninen's line should remain, Lundell should go to center, Ruotsalainen needs to go to wing. It's same to me if it's Tiivola or Kontiola as 3C, but I don't think that Jalonen will remove Kontiola out of the active lineup. He gave him assistant captaincy and brought few of his friends from HPK over as well. It's like putting all eggs on the Kontiola basket.

 

[FiLe]

We need some new lines.

Agreed.

Our best and most valuable forward so far - and this is also taking the EHT into account - has been Pakarinen. Any line he's been a part of seems to be getting something going. It's a pity we can't just create a clone or two of him - it would likely solve a plenty of issues. But since that can't be done, Jalonen's first priority should be to somehow get more out of Ruotsalainen. He should be our biggest offensive threat, but so far he's been completely invisible. It's time to disband the Mickey Mouse club.

Because the Kontiola unit seems to work somewhat - as stated, Pakarinen has been great and Innala also has done some right things and shown some speed, I doubt Jalonen is willing to break them up, at least just yet. So:

Innala-Kontiola-Pakarinen
Sallinen-Lundell-Ruotsalainen
Turunen-Ruohomaa-Karjalainen
Mäenalanen-Björninen-Anttila

The second line could also be Sallinen-Ruotsalainen-Lundell, if Jalonen still wants Ruotsalainen down the middle over Lundell. The important thing would be getting Lundell and Ruotsalainen together and see if that gets more out of the both of them. Bringing Ojamäki into the fold to add some size to the third line could also be something worth considering.

The good news is that while the loss to Kazakhstan was kind of embarrassing, it didn't really derail things that much in the big picture. We have four points out of the first two games, and if we'd gotten them with any other way save this (lose to USA in OT and win Kazakhstan cleanly or win both USA and Kazakhstan in OT), things would look a lot better than they are. Even losing to USA but then winning Kazakhstan cleanly - a performance only worth three points - wouldn't send people into a panic mode. So if there's a silver lining here, it's that Jalonen should have gotten the message: this isn't working - but the price of that message wasn't awfully high.

One last observation: Säteri is not a good shootout goalie.

 

[Eye of Ra]

Are finns angry at Alatalo for choosing to play for Switzerland?

 

[Mestaruus]

Agreed.

Our best and most valuable forward so far - and this is also taking the EHT into account - has been Pakarinen. Any line he's been a part of seems to be getting something going. It's a pity we can't just create a clone or two of him - it would likely solve a plenty of issues. But since that can't be done, Jalonen's first priority should be to somehow get more out of Ruotsalainen. He should be our biggest offensive threat, but so far he's been completely invisible. It's time to disband the Mickey Mouse club.

Björninen has been #1 but Pakarinen is up there for sure. I hope that Jalonen doesn't experiment anymore with Ruotsalainen as a center.

It's probably more realistic the way you put it where Jalonen wouldn't change anymore than 2 lines, however I would considering changing 3 lines. Maybe we need to bring Valtteri Puustinen for Kontiola's other wing. If I understood right, Puustinen didn't play all the time as Kontiola's line mate in liiga, probably more of a PP line mate. I would put them 3 HPK guys together regardless, since they have been selected for the tournament.

I'm hoping that both Ojamäki and Puustinen get to play in the next game against Norway. If they don't impress, then they will be put out, but I got a feeling that at least one of them will be really good.

 

[FiLe]

Are finns angry at Alatalo for choosing to play for Switzerland?

Not in the least. We have scores of d-men who are on the same level or better than him.

 

[Eye of Ra]

Not in the least. We have scores of d-men who are on the same level or better than him.

If Robin Press where from Finland, would he make this team?

 

[Lambo]

Agreed.

Our best and most valuable forward so far - and this is also taking the EHT into account - has been Pakarinen. Any line he's been a part of seems to be getting something going. It's a pity we can't just create a clone or two of him - it would likely solve a plenty of issues. But since that can't be done, Jalonen's first priority should be to somehow get more out of Ruotsalainen. He should be our biggest offensive threat, but so far he's been completely invisible. It's time to disband the Mickey Mouse club.

Because the Kontiola unit seems to work somewhat - as stated, Pakarinen has been great and Innala also has done some right things and shown some speed, I doubt Jalonen is willing to break them up, at least just yet. So:

Innala-Kontiola-Pakarinen
Sallinen-Lundell-Ruotsalainen
Turunen-Ruohomaa-Karjalainen
Mäenalanen-Björninen-Anttila

The second line could also be Sallinen-Ruotsalainen-Lundell, if Jalonen still wants Ruotsalainen down the middle over Lundell. The important thing would be getting Lundell and Ruotsalainen together and see if that gets more out of the both of them. Bringing Ojamäki into the fold to add some size to the third line could also be something worth considering.

The good news is that while the loss to Kazakhstan was kind of embarrassing, it didn't really derail things that much in the big picture. We have four points out of the first two games, and if we'd gotten them with any other way save this (lose to USA in OT and win Kazakhstan cleanly or win both USA and Kazakhstan in OT), things would look a lot better than they are. Even losing to USA but then winning Kazakhstan cleanly - a performance only worth three points - wouldn't send people into a panic mode. So if there's a silver lining here, it's that Jalonen should have gotten the message: this isn't working - but the price of that message wasn't awfully high.

One last observation: Säteri is not a good shootout goalie.

But I see the Finns offensive, not very strong. The shots with poor quality. I didn't feel that Finland could score 3 or 4 goals. Because the goals against USA were also a bit lucky. That doesn't look good at the moment.

 

[FiLe]

If Robin Press where from Finland, would he make this team?

He might. He looked pretty good playing for the absolute best team in Liiga this season, but it's more of a question mark if he'd look equally good in this Finnish lineup - since it looks to me that it was more or less his first season of looking good anywhere. But if we assume he'd be as good as he was in Lukko, he'd be at least a serious contender.

 

[FiLe]

Björninen has been #1 but Pakarinen is up there for sure.

Björninen has been very reliable, perhaps the most reliable overall, but Pakarinen has been the biggest offensive threat we've got so far.

Jalonen already hinted in the post-game interview that changes are coming - both in the form of lineup changes and adding new guys from the taxi squad - so I guess now it just remains to be seen if his takeaways of the game were the same as ours.

 

[Mestaruus]

Björninen has perhaps been very reliable, perhaps the most reliable overall, but Pakarinen has been the biggest offensive threat we've got so far.

Jalonen already hinted in the post-game interview that changes are coming - both in the form of lineup changes and adding new guys from the taxi squad - so I guess now it just remains to be seen if his takeaways of the game were the same as ours.

Oh I think I missed that interview as I don't have the pay version of the broadcast. I'm pretty sure it wasn't shown on the free broadcast, but that's a good thing to hear. I want to see some new blood and can always revert back if it fails. That would be a win win experiment now when the tournament schedule is structured the way it is.

Taxi squad is for NHL btw but in Latvia we should call it HKL buss squad if you get the joke.

 

[FiLe]

Taxi squad is for NHL btw but in Latvia we should call it HKL buss squad if you get the joke.

We have taxis in Finland too, as I'm sure you know. And we also have players from all over Finland, they're not all from Helsinki.

Across the pond, though, taxis are a quite pedestrian way to move people around, while in Finland they're considered a premium way of moving around and can be quite expensive. Unfortunately, the players in our taxi squad aren't very premium caliber, and some cheaper transportation might suit them better. They could perhaps afford a cheaper, illegal or "dark" taxi, as we call them in Finland. In English, they're called gypsy cabs.

Gypsy taxi squad?

 

[mattihp]

Ruotsalainen needs to play wing, he doesn't get to do the things he does best.

 

[Mestaruus]

double post

 

[Mestaruus]

We have taxis in Finland too, as I'm sure you know. And we also have players from all over Finland, they're not all from Helsinki.

Across the pond, though, taxis are a quite pedestrian way to move people around, while in Finland they're considered a premium way of moving around and can be quite expensive. Unfortunately, the players in our taxi squad aren't very premium caliber, and some cheaper transportation might suit them better. They could perhaps afford a cheaper, illegal or "dark" taxi, as we call them in Finland. In English, they're called gypsy cabs.

Gypsy taxi squad?

Taxis are too good for this team indeed .

In the clips by MTV3, on their website it became evident that they move the team around with busses that look exactly like HKL/HSL busses, so it fits perfectly for that purpose.

 

[Namejs]

Taxis are too good for this team indeed .

In the clips by MTV3, on their website it became evident that they move the team around with busses that look exactly like HKL/HSL busses, so it fits perfectly for that purpose.

These literally are public transportation buses that we have in Riga. They took a few off the network and use them for driving hockey players around now.

 

[mattihp]

I liked that Kaski shot more last game than the entire 2019 champs. The movement in front of the net did seem to annoy him. Pucks were blocked by both teams really. A Holmström type in front of the net would be nice...

 

[FiLe]

A Holmström type in front of the net would be nice...

Perhaps we should forfeit dressing a goalie and just park Mörkö in front of the opposing net for 60 minutes.

 

[Mestaruus]

These literally are public transportation buses that we have in Riga. They took a few off the network and use them for driving hockey players around now.

Yes they are all around in the capital area of Finland and probably elsewhere too. Looks like same model and color (blue) even.

I wonder when we will hear about the practice lines or did they skip the practice for today or did they have optional practice or something since it was 2 days of games back to back.

 

[Jussi]

Are finns angry at Alatalo for choosing to play for Switzerland?

Nobody cares about Alatalo.

 

[Mestaruus]

What do you guys think about Sami Kapanen as the analyst guy or studio guy? I don't understand how they couldn't get a better guy for the job. OJ, Kivi and Kari Jalonen are fantastic though. Kapanen always says the basic thing and never anything interesting like those other guys sometimes do.

 

[Lartsaman]

Are finns angry at Alatalo for choosing to play for Switzerland?

Not a bit. Im more like glad that he got a chance to represent Switzerland. He has earned it.

 

[mattihp]

Are finns angry at Alatalo for choosing to play for Switzerland?

Great that he gets the chance. Not a player type that is lacking for Finland really. There are plenty of Liiga players who are better at the role than him.

It is like asking a swede if they miss Svedberg. Truly pedestrian players for top nations.