WJC: 2022 Team Finland roster talk

[Ippenator]

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 your not consistent in your reasoning.

My point is that Blomqvist hasn’t been really any better in the U20 games that he has played in the past, so it’s kind of weak to claim that he for sure would have been better with this bad defence that Finland has been playing. I’m not claiming he would be better or worse, just that he wouldn’t most likely be a real difference maker with the atrocious defence that Finland has had way too often in this tournament.

 

[Svedu]

My point is that Blomqvist hasn’t been really any better in the U20 games that he has played in the past, so it’s kind of weak to claim that he for sure would have been better with this bad defence that Finland has been playing. I’m not claiming he would be better or worse, just that he wouldn’t most likely be a real difference maker with the atrocious defence that Finland has had way too often in this tournament.

Come on dude, you dont seem to like others speculating? But that's exactly what you're doing yourself.

Well, let's hope for the best for our young lions!

 

[Svedu]

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.

You insist on mentioning Jatkolas two games with Kärpät but think that Blomqvist 20 games are a small sample size, okay.

 

[Ippenator]

Come on dude, you dont seem to like others speculating? But that's exactly what you're doing yourself.

Well, let's hope for the best for our young lions!

Speculating is fine, but I just pointed out that the info from the past doesn’t necessarily prove that Blomqvist would be a clear difference maker. And I still see it so that goaltending hasn’t been Finland’s biggest weakness. Defence and coaching are the real problems.

Also still, about the center depth, USA has in addition to Cooley also Bordeleau who is in fact their number one center and has been one of the best centers in the tournament. And even Red Savage is better than any of Finland’s centers after Räty, so yes, the USA has a lot better center depth than Finland has.

Okay Sweden has practically about as weak or even weaker center depth than Finland has, because they don’t have a center even close to Räty’s class, but I wasn’t anyway thinking of Sweden as one of the really best teams in this tournament. They are overachieving if they get a medal after all.

Yes, let’s hope that Finland plays well today against Germany and then can still upset Canada in the possible semifinals!

 

[Ippenator]

You insist on mentioning Jatkolas two games with Kärpät but think that Blomqvist 20 games are a small sample size, okay.

I pointed out that Jatkola played only 2 games, so that by itself means that I thought even myself that it was a very small sample size, but just additionally pointed out that even Blomqvist’s 20 games in Liiga wasn’t really a very big sample size. Of course bigger than Jatkola’s, that’s for sure.

 

[Jersey Fan 12]

Benching Ville Koivunen instead of Samuel Helenius is so bad.

Not exactly.

 

[FinPanda]

The thing is.. Blonqvist would've never got playing time under this coach even if he made the team since he doesn't like him. What we got what we got.. idk why Pennanen dislikes him so much but his numbers weren't great on U20 games.

Its pointless speculation since even during December tournament Blomqvist was like our 3rd goalie.

 

[Itkonen]

Meriläinen is getting too much hate. Sure he hasn’t been great but not terrible either. He let in a couple softies in the Czech game but the Canada goals were definitely mostly on the defense. He’s also made quite a lot of key saves. Some posters have been saying stuff like ”with Blomqvist we would’ve beat Canada and he would be pretty much the best goalie in the tournament” but I don’t think it’s fair to just assume that he would be our almighty savior. I mean I also think he’s better than Meriläinen but not by so much that I would believe that he would be sporting a 94% in this tournament so far. I watched all of Kärpät’s playoff games where Blomqvist had a 95% sv% and sure he was great but his team played a very tight defensive game that Ilves had barely any high danger chances and most of the shots he faced were harmless shots from far outside the slot. That’s a pretty convenient situation to be in as a goalie compared to what Meriläinen faced versus Canada where the Canadians were just allowed to repeatedly waltz into prime scoring areas and no-one was there to clear the crease.

 

[Jukurit]

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.

Those 6 games were played mostly a year ago last summer. Blomqvist was also poor at Liiga pre-season. Overall, not very good first half of the season. He was way better then in the second half of the season.

 

[WhiskeyYerTheDevils]

I have been pretty disappointed in watching this Finnish team play, as I had them as the strongest team coming in. The systems and player usage both seem to be pretty poor. Pennanen has not done a great job at setting this team up for success, they seem to be getting worse each game. I don't know much about his coaching style, but it doesn't seem to be motivating players or getting results.

They looked great vs Latvia but since then have been pretty terrible. Even the Slovakia blow out wasn't a well played game in my estimation.

 

[llwyd]

They looked great vs Latvia but since then have been pretty terrible. Even the Slovakia blow out wasn't a well played game in my estimation.

Well, traditionally we play on a whole different level when the real games start. But, yeah, Pennanen hasn't impressed so far. I don't know why he needed to shoot himself and the present goalies in the foot about this Blomqvist decision. I mean save yourself a huge amount of trouble by choosing the guy even if you won't play him in the big matches. Totally unnecessary.

 

[WhiskeyYerTheDevils]

Well, traditionally we play on a whole different level when the real games start. But, yeah, Pennanen hasn't impressed so far. I don't know why he needed to shoot himself and the present goalies in the foot about this Blomqvist decision. I mean save yourself a huge amount of trouble by choosing the guy even if you won't play him in the big matches. Totally unnecessary.

He strikes me as a guy who has problems managing his ego - seems like a guy who holds grudges against specific players. Not someone I would want to coach teenagers...

 

[karhukissa]

I have been pretty disappointed in watching this Finnish team play, as I had them as the strongest team coming in. The systems and player usage both seem to be pretty poor. Pennanen has not done a great job at setting this team up for success, they seem to be getting worse each game. I don't know much about his coaching style, but it doesn't seem to be motivating players or getting results.

System is pretty much the same what Finland's been using for the last 10 years and gotten medals more than plenty. Pennanen is one of the coaches with Jalonen who have invented this system what these players have played since they played their first national team games with U-16.

This is just overanalyzing, you can ask Swedes how much it means to break records of consecutive wins in preliminary round if your last gold medal is 10 years ago. Tournament starts again today, and like we've seen million times before, Finland can struggle against Latvia or Great Britain but still win the whole tournament eventually. And if we end up getting a medal, we can all act surprised part 20000.

We are definetly not a favourites to win gold, but someone can tell me the last time when elimination game against Finland has been easy, no matter how they played preliminary rounds.

 

[rkatec68]

Koivunen-Helenius-Lambert is back

 

[karhukissa]

He strikes me as a guy who has problems managing his ego - seems like a guy who holds grudges against specific players. Not someone I would want to coach teenagers...

This is just not true, although i can understand why you think like that. He left Blomqvist out, who's been the best Finnish goalie this season.

He also left Räty out 2021 and now he's the main guy in this team. I've watched many deep talk interviews with him and he's very far from egoistic guy. But no coach is perfect, he does make mistakes and hopefully he's able to get this team going when it truly matters.

 

[Svedu]

Meriläinen is getting too much hate. Sure he hasn’t been great but not terrible either. He let in a couple softies in the Czech game but the Canada goals were definitely mostly on the defense. He’s also made quite a lot of key saves. Some posters have been saying stuff like ”with Blomqvist we would’ve beat Canada and he would be pretty much the best goalie in the tournament” but I don’t think it’s fair to just assume that he would be our almighty savior. I mean I also think he’s better than Meriläinen but not by so much that I would believe that he would be sporting a 94% in this tournament so far. I watched all of Kärpät’s playoff games where Blomqvist had a 95% sv% and sure he was great but his team played a very tight defensive game that Ilves had barely any high danger chances and most of the shots he faced were harmless shots from far outside the slot. That’s a pretty convenient situation to be in as a goalie compared to what Meriläinen faced versus Canada where the Canadians were just allowed to repeatedly waltz into prime scoring areas and no-one was there to clear the crease.

Who has assumed that we would beat Canada with Blomqvist?
You guys are just creating your arguments based on thin air or made up thoughts.

One doesn't exclude the other. There are goalies that can play good with questionable defending and goalies that don't. Not that difficult really.

Last but not least, has Meriläinen only played against Canada? Is that why he has weak numbers? Stop lying to yourselves already.

 

[Jukurit]

I don't understand all the shitting on Pennanen. Coach with a good proven track record makes some "questionable" moves and now he's apparently a shit coach. I remember how Jussi Ahokas was apparently a shit coach back in 2019. How did that turn out?

 

[teravaineSAROS]

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.

Agreed. We can't trust "the system" if the system and defense/goaltending is unreliable.

We're spoiled because we're used to icing a team that doesn't make a ton of mistakes, but as of right now it's looking like we'll have to outscore our problems.

 

[teravaineSAROS]

Some posters have been saying stuff like ”with Blomqvist we would’ve beat Canada and he would be pretty much the best goalie in the tournament”

I haven't seen anybody say that. Sure there's always one person with a hot take, but most people aren't saying Finland would've won the Canada game.. We're just saying Blomqvist might've had a better save% than .890.

Sweden would've had the best goaltending regardless. People are just saying that Blomqvist might've compensated for our bad defense a bit better than Meriläinen.

 

[JJTT]

I don't understand all the shitting on Pennanen. Coach with a good proven track record makes some "questionable" moves and now he's apparently a shit coach. I remember how Jussi Ahokas was apparently a shit coach back in 2019. How did that turn out?

Pennanen just doesn't seem like a great tournament coach, needs more time to work with the players, similar to Marjamäki.

 

[Itkonen]

Who has assumed that we would beat Canada with Blomqvist?
You guys are just creating your arguments based on thin air or made up thoughts.

One doesn't exclude the other. There are goalies that can play good with questionable defending and goalies that don't. Not that difficult really.

Last but not least, has Meriläinen only played against Canada? Is that why he has weak numbers? Stop lying to yourselves already.

There were some in the GDT. I’m not saying that most people seem to think so but quite many are unnecessarily throwing Meriläinen under the bus and just assume that Blomqvist would have been a lot better. And I agree that Blomqvist is a better goalie but I’m just not so certain he would have for sure been significantly better.

Regarding Meriläinen’s numbers, he did have a 91,3% before the Canada game which is not bad. Not great either, though.

 

[Statsy]

Who has assumed that we would beat Canada with Blomqvist?
You guys are just creating your arguments based on thin air or made up thoughts.

One doesn't exclude the other. There are goalies that can play good with questionable defending and goalies that don't. Not that difficult really.

Last but not least, has Meriläinen only played against Canada? Is that why he has weak numbers? Stop lying to yourselves already.

For the record, here are Merilainen’s non Canada game numbers:

33 of 34 vs Sweden (pre-tournament)
19 of 20 vs Latvia
23 of 26 vs Czechia
Total: 75 of 80 = .937

You can add to that 4 out of 5 stopped in the shootout vs the Czechs that weren’t included in the game shot totals.

As we’ve talked about, it’s not all about numbers, but nevertheless, .937 seems pretty damn decent to me!

 

[Svedu]

For the record, here are Merilainen’s non Canada game numbers:

33 of 34 vs Sweden (pre-tournament)
19 of 20 vs Latvia
23 of 26 vs Czechia
Total: 75 of 80 = .937

You can add to that 4 out of 5 stopped in the shootout vs the Czechs that weren’t included in the game shot totals.

As we’ve talked about, it’s not all about numbers, but nevertheless, .937 seems pretty damn decent to me!

Classic. You use numbers when it suits your argument and before they were more or less irrelevant.
I see consistency isn't your thing.

 

[cc]

Meriläinen is not playing well at all. I'm thinking his play is not inspiring a lot of confidence for the team to push the offense as much outside of powerplays

I would have selected Blomqvist and Koskenvuo to be the goaltending pair.

 

[Statsy]

Classic. You use numbers when it suits your argument and before they were more or less irrelevant.
I see consistency isn't your thing.

YOU mentioned his so called “weak numbers”!