WJC: 2022 Team Finland roster talk

[molotce]

Huge test tonight agaisnt the canadian, sadly I dont think finland can deal with the depth (the bottom 6 match up goes hands down to the canadians) but given how sweden almost cameback who knows !

The thing i really want to see is how the raty line does ! They'll probably match up against McT/Bedard, so we'll see how that holds in the D and if the offense still can come through at 5v5. good game !

 

[gritdash60]

Räty vs McTavish will be interesting matchup indeed. I just hope we don't over coach and try to focus too much on certain players, that's a recipe for disaster IMO.

 

[Mestaruus]

Huge test tonight agaisnt the canadian, sadly I dont think finland can deal with the depth (the bottom 6 match up goes hands down to the canadians) but given how sweden almost cameback who knows !

The thing i really want to see is how the raty line does ! They'll probably match up against McT/Bedard, so we'll see how that holds in the D and if the offense still can come through at 5v5. good game !

I'm thinking maybe 1 goal margin win for Canada with their rest advantage, since Finland played yesterday against Slovakia. Luckily it's a rather meaningless game. It's same to me if Finland faces Germany or Switzerland next and it's same to me if Finland faces Sweden or USA in the semis if Finland gets that far.

Those reasons kind of kill the interest for me for this game because there's nothing on the line for this game, but I'll watch the game of course. It's like a practice game.

 

[BusQuets]

Well, let hockey be our judge - I'm pretty confident that he will have an excellent NHL career. He has plenty of tools for that.

I'm confident Lambert will have long NHL career and a guy like Hirvonen won't.

 

[ijuka]

I'm confident Lambert will have long NHL career and a guy like Hirvonen won't.

Really have to wonder about this...

 

[bebl]

Puutio is so f***ing bad

 

[BusQuets]

Really have to wonder about this...

Small and slow is a death sentence regarding NHL. You really hve to be exceptional in some other areas like Granlund to over come that.

You could see it against Canada with their NHL like tempo Hirvonen couldn't do anything and was probably one of the worst players on ice. Just isn't athletically gifted enough.

Lambert was more noticiable and could actually make plays in that tempo.

Really the only times Hirvonen has "impressed" is when he has tons of space. Great player in Europe but NHL player he's not.

 

[karhukissa]

I have to watch the highlights but result was pretty much as expected and i couldn't care less about this result.

This tournament starts during QF's and then it's about winning the right games, something we're good at. Canada is a good team but i hope that they get knocked out by Sweden or US because i can't deal with their fans.

 

[jonlin]

I have to watch the highlights but result was pretty much as expected and i couldn't care less about this result.

This tournament starts during QF's and then it's about winning the right games, something we're good at. Canada is a good team but i hope that they get knocked out by Sweden or US because i can't deal with their fans.

Ooh, isnt it Canada-Swiss and Finland-Germany? I thought the winners of theese will meet again?

 

[karhukissa]

Ooh, isnt it Canada-Swiss and Finland-Germany? I thought the winners of theese will meet again?

Well damn ..

 

[jonlin]

Well damn ..

I remember they go by points, so unfortunately we will meet Canada. If not some Latvia upsets Sweden or Czechs USA. I doubt they do, so we will meet again in quarters.

1.Canada 12
2.USA 12
3.Sweden 9
4.Finland 8

 

[teravaineSAROS]

I'm still happy that Finland kept trying (after awhile) despite how frustrating it must've been to go from playing perfectly in the first 5 minutes to suddenly giving up a bunch of goals.

I wish Niemelä was playing better. The defense isn't good enough to compensate for the bad goaltending meanwhile Blomqvist might've been good enough to occasionally compensate for bad defense. I don't know how good he would've been, but what's frustrating is that we won't find out.

What's Niemelä's ceiling at this point? A Vatanen-esque career?

 

[Svedu]

I agree a lot with teravainenSAROS post.

Meriläinen is one of the worst goaltenders in this tournament so far. Both Canada and especially Sweden have better goalies and Slovakias goalie were a lot better against us than Meriläinen has been in any game.
Jatkola looked a bit to small in his net.
To me, he seemed to overplay situations and went too far out of his goal for my liking.
I don't have any confidence in our goalies at this moment, especially Meriläinen.
When you consider the tragical and most BS-reason ever to cut Blomqvist out? I'm even more mad now than before the tournament started. I was hoping that Pennanen and the others knew something we didn't but let's bet honest here? That has clearly not been the case so far.
Meriläinen is one of the worst netminders in this tournament so far even if we've won 3 out of 4 games? That says plenty about his performance so far.

Defense then? Well, let's just say this is one of the worst defending u-20 teams from Finland that i've witnessed for the last 5 years, actually the worst and there is no way around it.
Rafkin has absolutely nothing to do at this level. I have nothing against him other than the fact that he's not good enough. Just look at his defending against Canada, one goal is on him.
Nurmi? Seeing him in our first pair at times makes me laugh at Pennanen. How the hell is he getting that confidence from the coaches? He has not shown anything, absolutely anything to earn his role in a finnish u-20 team.
He's not that good in his own zone, not that creative, not an above average skater and last but not least, from time to time he looks really shaky and stressed with the puck.

All in all? You can only blame Pennanen and not the players because he's responsible for the selections and everything.

For Karhukissa and others claiming us to "Trust the system". Please, sh*t up already.
Pennanen had a prospect pool with talent enough to take at least the silver medal this year. If he fails this is all on him.
Because if our system is that good, we should win gold no matter how much better Canada, USA or Sweden is on the paper.
Don't trust me? Let me shout out some names:
Aatu Räty, together with Bedard the best player in this whole tournament.
Niemelä, should be the best defender in the whole tournament.
Kemell should also be one of the best wingers in this tournament and Koivunen not that much worse.
Lambert, say what you wan't about him but he's the best skater in this whole tournament and he has talent enough to be more than okay at this level at least. It's Pennanens f*cking job to build some chemistry and find players that can match his abilities, especially when he selected him at the first place.
Järventie, a talent who has been shit before but actually been one of our better players this tournament, i mean come on. There are plenty of players able to achieve something in this roster, again, it's on you Pennanen. Järventie has looked confident out there, keeping cool and trying to deke his defenders at times. Even if i think he lacks intensity.
Simontaival is already experienced as hell at this level and would probably take a spot both in the US and Sweden.
Last but not least! Joel Blomqvist, would have been the best goaltender together with Wallstedt but Pennanen f*cked up badly with a childish and shit reasoning. Like please, "He has been too focused on his personal career". Does our d*mbf*ck of a coach honestly believe that anyone will buy that explanation? It's the whole point with their careers, to aim high and work even harder for it. If Joel will reach success on a personal level? Then it's more likely that he will contribute more for Finland both in a short term but especially in the long term. I mean... Tuukka Rask anyone? Rinne?
The guy had what last year? 94,0 in save percentage in Liiga?
B*tch please.

I'm so disappointed at Pennanen right now and the only way he can shut my big mouth is to either take us to the final, or win the bronze. The latter will only be understandable and acceptable if we play against Canada in the semifinal because they are the favorites.
This is far from the best US team we've seen and Sweden (even if they're really good) miss players like Raymond etc.

 

[Svedu]

With all this said, i would give another goalie the opportunity against Germany.
Simply because Meriläinen has been so bad that there is no trust for him what so ever.

 

[David OSullivan]

Merilainen is clear no. 1 goalie on this roster. Czech game was a bad one but the Canada goals were not on him. He played decent and great against Latvia.

Biggest problem right now is defense. Decent puck movers but the most passive defending of all time. Get some aggression already. Rafkin upped it and Viro a little too in the latter half of Canada game. They have to keep that up from here on in. They have to get a lot more physical with the big teams or there's no chance. I hope the playoff atmosphere will really up the agression and desire in defence. It usually does.

I'd go back to forward lines against Latvia except keep luikas in fourth line in place of karvinen.
Koivunen must come back in. That koivunen helenius Lambert line needs another look.

 

[Emrasie]

Merilainen is clear no. 1 goalie on this roster. Czech game was a bad one but the Canada goals were not on him. He played decent and great against Latvia.

Biggest problem right now is defense. Decent puck movers but the most passive defending of all time. Get some aggression already. Rafkin upped it and Viro a little too in the latter half of Canada game. They have to keep that up from here on in. They have to get a lot more physical with the big teams or there's no chance. I hope the playoff atmosphere will really up the agression and desire in defence. It usually does.

I'd go back to forward lines against Latvia except keep luikas in fourth line in place of karvinen.
Koivunen must come back in. That koivunen helenius Lambert line needs another look.

One goal is on Merilainen, the Greig one but the others? It's easy to blame him but where is the D? Too passive.

 

[Statsy]

I have to come to the defence of Merilainen here. I’ve watched him for several games and he seems like a solid goaltender. HOWEVER, like all young goalies, there are times when he can get overwhelmed by the moment and when Canada really turns it on, the pressure can be crushing. In this game he looked pretty shaky for a while then settled down nicely in the last half of the game. He‘s definitely NOT one of the weaker goalies in this tournament.

The team put Jatkola in against Slovakia to give him a look and it didn’t work out. If he were in vs Canada, he would get eaten alive. As for Blomquist, he’s not coming. Would he have been up to the challenge? We’ll never know. Sure he has a .940 save % with Karpat this year, but how did he do with his other U20 appearances with Finland? Well, he posted an underwhelming .889 through 6 games. THOSE are the games that are more analogous to what he would be facing here, not with some veteran Liiga team in front of him.

 

[Svedu]

I have to come to the defence of Merilainen here. I’ve watched him for several games and he seems like a solid goaltender. HOWEVER, like all young goalies, there are times when he can get overwhelmed by the moment and when Canada really turns it on, the pressure can be crushing. In this game he looked pretty shaky for a while then settled down nicely in the last half of the game. He‘s definitely NOT one of the weaker goalies in this tournament.

The team put Jatkola in against Slovakia to give him a look and it didn’t work out. If he were in vs Canada, he would get eaten alive. As for Blomquist, he’s not coming. Would he have been up to the challenge? We’ll never know. Sure he has a .940 save % with Karpat this year, but how did he do with his other U20 appearances with Finland? Well, he posted an underwhelming .889 through 6 games. THOSE are the games that are more analogous to what he would be facing here, not with some veteran Liiga team in front of him.

Disagreed.

Your point was what? Meriläinen has 89,0 % in this tournament where only one game where against a medal contender.
So, Meriläinens number are suddenly totally irrelevant for you? And he had 89,1 % in the OHL. There is nothing, absolutely nothing, no valid argument speaking for Meriläinen against Blomqvist. So lets end that discussion.
Even if the defense is horrendous, so is Meriläinen. End of story. He's let in at least 4 softies this tournament, if not even more. That says it all.

Yes, the defense has been passive but it's clear that they have no or little trust in him. Meriläinens rebound control has been a total disaster and in all honesty, how was Meriläinen better than Jatkola? In precisely what? Please let me know.

 

[Statsy]

Disagreed.

Your point was what? Meriläinen has 89,0 % in this tournament where only one game where against a medal contender.
So, Meriläinens number are suddenly totally irrelevant for you? And he had 89,1 % in the OHL. There is nothing, absolutely nothing, no valid argument speaking for Meriläinen against Blomqvist. So lets end that discussion.
Even if the defense is horrendous, so is Meriläinen. End of story. He's let in at least 4 softies this tournament, if not even more. That says it all.

Yes, the defense has been passive but it's clear that they have no or little trust in him. Meriläinens rebound control has been a total disaster and in all honesty, how was Meriläinen better than Jatkola? In precisely what? Please let me know.

Well for one thing Merilainen played against Canada, under intense pressure, while Jatkola played against Slovakia. Since numbers are your thing I guess we should point out that Jatkola is sporting an .812 at the moment.

 

[Svedu]

Well for one thing Merilainen played against Canada, under intense pressure, while Jatkola played against Slovakia. Since numbers are your thing I guess we should point out that Jatkola is sporting an .812 at the moment.

No, numbers aren't my thing, read again.
My point was that Meriläinen has been horrendous no matter what. Was that too difficult to understand?
Keep on mentioning Canada and just forget his two other games, i understand your tactics

But then again, 3 goals per game and 89,0 percent is good for you?
And not Blomqvist 94,0%, i guess numbers aren't your thing at least. Now i know.

 

[Statsy]

No, numbers aren't my thing, read again.
My point was that Meriläinen has been horrendous no matter what. Was that to difficult to understand?

But then again, 3 goals per game and 89,0 percent is good for you?
And not Blomqvist 94,0%, i guess numbers aren't your thing at least. Now i know.

My point was that we SHOULDN’T be looking just at the numbers. Merilainen has been better than you’ve given him credit for.

As for Blomquist, he didn’t get the call so we’ll never know.

 

[Svedu]

My point was that we SHOULDN’T be looking just at the numbers. Merilainen has been better than you’ve given him credit for.

As for Blomquist, he didn’t get the call so we’ll never know.

He has simply not and you're wrong.

Let's just hope he does get better in the playoffs.

 

[Ippenator]

He has simply not and you're wrong.

Let's just hope he does get better in the playoffs.

Sorry to say dude, but how the defence has been playing that 88% save percentage is just acceptable. Not good definitely, but acceptable in the situation. Jatkola was absolutely horrible against Slovakia, so he isn’t an answer, as he is clearly worse than Meriläinen. And as some people have already pointed out, Blomqvist hasn’t had that great record in his last U20 national team games, so it’s a bit dishonest to claim that he would be that much greater with such bad defence that Finland has been playing.

Finland’s problems in my opinion are Pennanen’s coaching and generally bad defence. Also we don’t have enough of offensively gifted players in the team and the centers especially lack badly offensive talent and creativity after Räty. A team with these kinds of weaknesses can easily get beaten by a team like Canada, if Finland doesn’t have their absolute best game and even a bit of luck.

I’m still quite confident that Finland is in the best four. And with their best game and maybe even a bit of luck they might still even upset Canada. And even if they won’t but will after all get bronze medals for example, then they have done well enough with this roster and especially with this coaching.

 

[Svedu]

Sorry to say dude, but how the defence has been playing that 88% save percentage is just acceptable. Not good definitely, but acceptable in the situation. Jatkola was absolutely horrible against Slovakia, so he isn’t an answer, as he is clearly worse than Meriläinen. And as some people have already pointed out, Blomqvist hasn’t had that great record in his last U20 national team games, so it’s a bit dishonest to claim that he would be that much greater with such bad defence that Finland has been playing.

Finland’s problems in my opinion are Pennanen’s coaching and generally bad defence. Also we don’t have enough of offensively gifted players in the team and the centers especially lack badly offensive talent and creativity after Räty. A team with these kinds of weaknesses can easily get beaten by a team like Canada, if Finland doesn’t have their absolute best game and even a bit of luck. I’m still quite confidence that Finland is in the best four. And with their best game and maybe even a bit of luck they might still even upset Canada. And even if they won’t but will after all get bronze medals for example, then they have done well enough with this roster and especially with this coaching.

Okay, all over again...
So Blomqvist having a bad record with the u20's is relevant, even if he would've had a bad defense in front of him?
But suddenly when you name Meriläinen it's what, irrelevant? Is that your argument?
Are you claiming that your argument and conclusion would be more honest? Because your arguments aren't valid and you are not consistent in your reasoning.

Regarding Pennanen i do agree. It's his fault.
The defense is a complete joke.
That's why i adressed Karhukissa already. I don't agree in his claimings stating and believing in our system when the defense has looked terrible.
Almost 10 goals against Canada and Czechia. The latter not even having their best generation among forwards with only Mysak standing out.

But come on, this roster is still supposed to be a medal contender without any doubt, everything less than that is a complete failure. Let's be honest about that.

You're mentioning center depth.
So besides Cooley, is the american depth really that much better? They don't seem to have the best goalie either.
Sweden then? Center depth? They don't even have a center of Rätys caliber and Lekkerimäki hasn't produced as expected, not yet that is.
He was supposed to be their best forward besides Lysell?

Last but not least, your mentioning our forward depth? But the thing is that they've actually produced some what okay, the only aspect that has been decent in our game perhaps, individual brilliance.
Regarding depth? Is this unusual? To have a bit more of anonymous names in our bottom 6?
Should Kapanen be that bad? Helenius etc, compared to other nations and their centers.
You guys are constantly repeating yourselves and only mentioning Canada. What about the US? Sweden?

 

[Ippenator]

Still to the people so much whining about Blomqvist not being in the team. He isn't somekind of a godlike goalie talent. His numbers in Liiga don’t really tell everything, as Liiga is anyway such a defensively tight league where scoring is very much down in general. Kärpät were also playing very defensive hockey last season, and for example Jatkola had there even better saving percentage in those only 2 games that he played for Kärpät last season. And Blomqvist played only 20 games in the regular season, so even his 94% came with a relatively small sample size.

Finland’s problems are with defence and too rigid tactics and a coach that is incapable of reading his opponents and reacting on the basis of the situation and the circumstances. I don’t like Pennanen at all, as he has way too big ego and he definitely isn’t a very smart coach. But we have what we have. We don’t have other coaches at the level of Jukka Jalonen (I think Kari Jalonen would be the next best coach, but he wasn’t available after all), so we aren’t winning everything with the slight talent pool disadvantage that we have compared to especially Canada and the USA.