WJC: 2022 Team Finland roster talk

[FinPanda]

Liking Järventie quite a bit. Simontaival has been good as well. I don't like our goaltending and that may cost us the spot in the final, but we certainly have a chance. I can always hope.

 

[teravaineSAROS]

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.

Meriläinen is very poor when it comes to rebounds. USA and Canada will be great at capitalising on that because our defensemen don't believe in helping the goalie.

 

[Statsy]

Meriläinen is very poor when it comes to rebounds. USA and Canada will be great at capitalising on that because our defensemen don't believe in helping the goalie.

I will admit it seems to be his biggest weakness. It cost him against Canada and it was the problem on the first German goal.

 

[Svedu]

YOU mentioned his so called “weak numbers”!

He has weak numbers when it matters? Now you are lifting his numbers from pre-games, desperate much?

 

[gritdash60]

I think Lambert will sit out the next game, and im not saying it's the absolute best move but i think that's what will happen.

 

[Jukurit]

Worst PK in the tournament at 45.45%.
Let's go boys!

 

[Ippenator]

Worst PK in the tournament at 45.45%.
Let's go boys!

You are missing the tires with those fires…

 

[Ippenator]

Meriläinen is very poor when it comes to rebounds. USA and Canada will be great at capitalising on that because our defensemen don't believe in helping the goalie.

I have to very much agree with you here. To me he looks even pretty ok with how well he covers the goal when he makes saves. But unfortunately he seems to be pretty much a reboundomat. And with Finland’s defensive play in this tournament that is pretty much like a red carpet for the opponents to score goals. Tervetuloa meidän maalille! Tehkää hyvin!

 

[Jukurit]

You are missing the tires with those fires…

Such an intense tire fire that you can't even see the tires.

 

[snipes]

Czechia wins.

Suomi v Tre Kronor in the semis

 

[JJTT]

Worst PK in the tournament at 45.45%.
Let's go boys!

Expected. We don't have any defensive defenseman to play on the PK.

I mean Rafkin-Niemelä and Heimosalmi-Puutio? All of them are small OFD.

 

[Jukurit]

Expected. We don't have any defensive defenseman to play on the PK.

I mean Rafkin-Niemelä and Heimosalmi-Puutio? All of them are small OFD.

Finland needs Rami Määttä!

 

[Jukurit]

Finland now has the best PP, but the worst PK.

 

[Svedu]

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?

What can i say? I was right about the US firepower this year. A couple of names besides Cooley and let's be honest, he's no Matthews, Eichel and perhaps not even on Jack Hughes level at the same age.

This is why everything less than a medal or a final (depending on Canada or not in the semis) should be considered as a underachievement.

 

[Svedu]

I have to very much agree with you here. To me he looks even pretty ok with how well he covers the goal when he makes saves. But unfortunately he seems to be pretty much a reboundomat. And with Finland’s defensive play in this tournament that is pretty much like a red carpet for the opponents to score goals. Tervetuloa meidän maalille! Tehkää hyvin!

So, change of mind all of a sudden? Didn't i mention his rebound control from the beginning?

 

[FinPanda]

Pennanen picked the best players instead picking for roles for PK and stuff.. this os what we wanted right? All the offense but no defence, mix that with below average goaltending.

Of couese our individual skill got us to semis but I expected more from the team play.

Excluded Blonqvist from this comment.

 

[Mestaruus]

Sweden scores first goal against Finland but Finland wins. It's not impossible that Czechs beat Canada, but I think that we get a Finland-Canada rematch in the final. Canada would get 4 hours rest advantage on Finland in the final, but Finland would play better than in the last meeting with Canada, however I don't think that Finland's soft defense in front of Finland's own goal will be fully resolved, so that's a worry if Canada-Finland happens again. I think that our soft defense will be enough against Sweden though and our good PP and forwards will be the biggest factors carrying Finland over Sweden.

Finnish players also need to stay out of the penalty box in the two last games. That PK has been pretty bad. I'll also predict that Lambert may not play in one of those remaining games as there are other good options as well to replace him. I don't think that Pennanen is a huge Lambert fan.

 

[ijuka]

Pennanen picked the best players instead picking for roles for PK and stuff.. this os what we wanted right? All the offense but no defence, mix that with below average goaltending.

Of couese our individual skill got us to semis but I expected more from the team play.

Excluded Blonqvist from this comment.

There are players for the roles, Pennanen just isn't using them very well.

One of the worst-coached teams that I've seen at this level.

 

[illone84]

Sweden scores first goal against Finland but Finland wins. It's not impossible that Czechs beat Canada, but I think that we get a Finland-Canada rematch in the final. Canada would get 4 hours rest advantage on Finland in the final, but Finland would play better than in the last meeting with Canada, however I don't think that Finland's soft defense in front of Finland's own goal will be fully resolved, so that's a worry if Canada-Finland happens again. I think that our soft defense will be enough against Sweden though and our good PP and forwards will be the biggest factors carrying Finland over Sweden.

Finnish players also need to stay out of the penalty box in the two last games. That PK has been pretty bad. I'll also predict that Lambert may not play in one of those remaining games as there are other good options as well to replace him. I don't think that Pennanen is a huge Lambert fan.

Would you replace Lambert with if you were Pennanen?

 

[Svedu]

Pennanen picked the best players instead picking for roles for PK and stuff.. this os what we wanted right? All the offense but no defence, mix that with below average goaltending.

Of couese our individual skill got us to semis but I expected more from the team play.

Excluded Blonqvist from this comment.

No, he didn't even manage to do that right. He didn't pick the best players in anyway, neither players to fill a specific role.

 

[Ippenator]

So, change of mind all of a sudden? Didn't i mention his rebound control from the beginning?

Yes, but the main problem is still the very poor defence. Even Meriläinen wouldn’t be really as big a problem if the defence would be handling their job. Sometimes bad rebound control goalies can be still ok, but your team needs to do their job in front of your own goal, which Finland isn’t doing at all.

 

[jj cale]

What can i say? I was right about the US firepower this year. A couple of names besides Cooley and let's be honest, he's no Matthews, Eichel and perhaps not even on Jack Hughes level at the same age.

This is why everything less than a medal or a final (depending on Canada or not in the semis) should be considered as a underachievement.

He is without question not on Jack Hughes level at the same age. He's a low end 3rd overall pick, wasn't a particularly strong draft at the top compared to a lot of years.

 

[Artorius Horus T]

Pennanen picked the best players instead picking for roles for PK and stuff.. this os what we wanted right? All the offense but no defence, mix that with below average goaltending.

Of couese our individual skill got us to semis but I expected more from the team play.

Excluded Blonqvist from this comment.

Niko Huuhtanen would be like our 4th or 5th best forward on this team.
(i would have put him into either 1st or 2nd line)

Not to mention Christoffer Sedoff, who would be like, 2nd or 3rd best
d-man on this team.

Leevi Meriläinen wasn't even scouted by team Finland
last season, he was auto picked because of his previous involvement
with team Finland and Pennanen

none of the Finnish CHL players were scouted,
if they were, Huuhtanen and Sedoff would have been
here/there 100%.

 

[Ippenator]

Niko Huuhtanen would be like our 4th or 5th best forward on this team.
(i would have put him into either 1st or 2nd line)

Not to mention Christoffer Sedoff, who would be like, 2nd or 3rd best
d-man on this team.

Leevi Meriläinen wasn't even scouted by team Finland
last season, he was auto picked because of his previous involvement
with team Finland and Pennanen

none of the Finnish CHL players were scouted,
if they were, Huuhtanen and Sedoff would have been
here/there 100%.

You are probably quite much overestimating the level of CHL players. A bit over a PPG at his age doesn’t tell anything too great about Huuhtanen. And he absolutely isn’t that close to the player that Kemell, Hirvonen, Simontaival or Järventie are. So no, he shouldn’t have any chance to be in the top 6 in this Finnish team.

Maybe he could be useful in a bottom 6 role, although I’m not sure if he is really an ideal player for that kind of role? Well maybe he could be useful instead of Lambert, who is pretty much a waste of roster space as he is now.

Sedoff I agree much more about. With how atrocious the Finnish defence has been, it seems quite obvious that Sedoff would have been a better option than many other defencemen in the team. Hell, I think 16 year old Aron Kiviharju would have been by all means a better choice for the team than most other defencemen have been.

But Pennanen is an awful coach, especially for coaching juniors in a tournament. If we even get a medal, we should definitely be happy, and if it happens, it will happen despite Pennanen being the coach, not as an achievement made possible by his coaching.

 

[teravaineSAROS]

Sweden vs Finland will be a battle of who can draw the most penalties .

My prediction:
2 even strength goals for Sweden (both as a result of rebounds that Finnish defensemen just choose to ignore), one ES goal for Finland. Both teams will score 2 each on the powerplay.

Wallstedt will be the deciding factor. Meriläinen will become an Estonian expat as a result of too many pitchforks being pointed towards him even though he will only allow one softie this time as a result of Lambert turning the puck over.