Biggest losers?

[Aki Berg]

it's not 100% sure that Aki's back.

Don't you ever question Aki's courage and heart.

Shame on you.

 

[Talentless Practise*]

Really hard to speculate Ruutu's upside because his career has all but been ruined by not one but two blatant, vicious knee-on-knee cheapshots by has-been nobodys. Great.

However, Ruutu did play an extended period of time in the old NHL over a point per game AND has more grit than the whole team sweden combined so i'd say someone like Zetterberg would be nothing more than a whisper in the back of team Swedens coaches mind incase they were healthy and both swedes.

But he's not healthy and not a swede so this discussion is quite pointless. Big loss for Finland nevertheless.

 

[Joe MacMillan]

Starshollow:

Pitkänen, Ruutu, Kipper, Lehtonen, Väänänen and Kapanen are more valuable for Finland than Näslund, Johnsson and Kronwall are for Sweden. We lost our #1 goalie and #1 defenceman and two of our top6 forwards. That's a pretty big impact on the team if you ask me.

If Ruutu wasn't a top4 center on Team Sweden (as you said), it doesn't mean that he wouldn't be an important player for Team Finland. So I don't know what your point here.

 

[Joe MacMillan]

Don't you ever question Aki's courage and heart.

Shame on you.

Sorry Aki.

 

[psycho_dad*]

True, but that says more about the Finnish team than it does about Tuomo unfortunately. We have 4 centers that I´d pick before Tuomo; Sundin, Foppa, Zetterberg and H.Sedin.

T.Ruutu has been playing the right wing in the NHL. And even if he would play center, H.Sedin would never be in his league.

 

[psycho_dad*]

Havent seen Selänne & Koivu much this season, but Selänne seems to do better than the previous years, too bad he´s so one-dimensional.

Hehe...what was it that Andy Murray said....

Oh yeah, it was something about Selänne being one of the best forwards in the league today.

 

[hossy316]

Looks like the Fins to me to answer the question of this thread.

 

[C-J...*]

Really hard to speculate Ruutu's upside because his career has all but been ruined by not one but two blatant, vicious knee-on-knee cheapshots by has-been nobodys. Great.

However, Ruutu did play an extended period of time in the old NHL over a point per game AND has more grit than the whole team sweden combined so i'd say someone like Zetterberg would be nothing more than a whisper in the back of team Swedens coaches mind incase they were healthy and both swedes.

But he's not healthy and not a swede so this discussion is quite pointless. Big loss for Finland nevertheless.

How can anyone seriously claim that Tuomo is a better player than Zetterberg, this is beyond me. At this point, Zetts is the third best forward in Sweden, better than both Sundin and Näslund.

 

[mattihp]

Calling any swedish forward better than Sundin on the national team is ridiculous.

 

[mattihp]

True, but that says more about the Finnish team than it does about Tuomo unfortunately. We have 4 centers that I´d pick before Tuomo; Sundin, Foppa, Zetterberg and H.Sedin.

Koivu is a great playmaker but lacks many other important aspects of the game, Selänne is a great scorer but lacks other important aspects of the game, Lehtinen is pretty good at everything, but not great at anything except defensively. Together however, they could be deadly. However, aside from that line, the Finnish team has no real depth. But as we all know, motivation usually adds up pretty well against a lazy more talented team, so who knows. God how I hate your Finnish "Sisu", hehe..

Havent seen Selänne & Koivu much this season, but Selänne seems to do better than the previous years, too bad he´s so one-dimensional.

The only area Koivu is consistanly lacking in is size, and maybe some top end speed.

He is underrated in his defensive play (though overrated by Habs fans) and in terms of grit and hard work. He also possesses a great arsenal of shots. And he always seems rejuvenated and full off endurance with the national team.

I don't have much hope for Teemu being the same scorer he used to be, but hopefully he'll use his body along the boards like he did with San José.

 

[C-J...*]

Calling any swedish forward better than Sundin on the national team is ridiculous.

Zetterberg dominated in the SEL last season, and has been Detroits best player all season long, while Sundin hasnt done virtually anyhing.

I´m going out on a limb here, saying that Zetterberg will be our best player in the olympics.

 

[stv11]

Well, Nummelin had his shot in NHL but didn't manage to keep his spot on the Jackets' roster. I've hard time to believe he'd be a top10 offensive defenceman in NHL.

As I watch the guy regulary since he came to Swizerland in the late 90's, I'd like to point out that he's better right now than he was back in 2000, so I wouldn't read to much in his lone NHL season.

He's been the best defenseman in Switzerland for each of the last four seasons, outplaying Thomas Rhodin, a top 15 defenseman for Sweden, in the process, so there's no question he'd be a top 100 player for Sweden.

 

[Joe MacMillan]

The only area Koivu is consistanly lacking in is size, and maybe some top end speed.

He is underrated in his defensive play (though overrated by Habs fans) and in terms of grit and hard work. He also possesses a great arsenal of shots. And he always seems rejuvenated and full off endurance with the national team.

I don't have much hope for Teemu being the same scorer he used to be, but hopefully he'll use his body along the boards like he did with San José.

Actually that is exactly what he does in Anaheim.

 

[Joe MacMillan]

He's been the best defenseman in Switzerland for each of the last four seasons, outplaying Thomas Rhodin, a top 15 defenseman for Sweden, in the process, so there's no question he'd be a top 100 player for Sweden.

He would definitely be a top100 defenceman/player for Sweden, there's no doubt about it. But a top10 offensive defenceman in the NHL? I seriously doubt it.

 

[Riddarn]

As I watch the guy regulary since he came to Swizerland in the late 90's, I'd like to point out that he's better right now than he was back in 2000, so I wouldn't read to much in his lone NHL season.

He's been the best defenseman in Switzerland for each of the last four seasons, outplaying Thomas Rhodin, a top 15 defenseman for Sweden, in the process, so there's no question he'd be a top 100 player for Sweden.

Uh.. first off, a list:
Nick Lidström
Mattias Öhlund
Kim Johnsson
Mattias Norström
Niklas Kronwall
Christian Bäckman
Niklas Hävelid
Dick Tärnström
Henrik Tallinder
Daniel Tjärnqvist
Niklas Wallin
Andreas Lilja
Kenny Jönsson
Marcus Ragnarsson
Josef Boumedienne

There.. 15 swedish defenders who are all superior to Rhodin. And there are more of them.

Thomas Rhodin is or have never been a top 15 defender in Sweden. What has made him a steady player on the national team is that we're very low on defenders with a right handed shot and the fact that most of our better D-men are usually busy playing in the NHL playoffs.

And this year, Rhodin hasn't been close to a top defender in the SEL..

 

[C-J...*]

As I watch the guy regulary since he came to Swizerland in the late 90's, I'd like to point out that he's better right now than he was back in 2000, so I wouldn't read to much in his lone NHL season.

He's been the best defenseman in Switzerland for each of the last four seasons, outplaying Thomas Rhodin, a top 15 defenseman for Sweden, in the process, so there's no question he'd be a top 100 player for Sweden.

Rhodin isnt top-15 in Sweden.

Perhaps in BÅG´s eyes, but that says more about him than it does about Rhodin.

 

[stv11]

Rhodin isnt top-15 in Sweden.

Perhaps in BÅG´s eyes, but that says more about him than it does about Rhodin.

Well, maybe more top 20-25 than 15. Anyway, you get my point.

He would definitely be a top100 defenceman/player for Sweden, there's no doubt about it. But a top10 offensive defenceman in the NHL? I seriously doubt it.

I'd have a hard time ranking the top 10 offensive defensemen in the NHL, so I won't touch the idea of ranking them against non-NHL players. Anyway, in my opinion he's good enough to be on the original roster above a guy like Berg, so I'm not surprised he's the first injury call up. Unfortunately, Väänänen is not the right guy to have out of the team to get Nummelin in.

 

[Joe MacMillan]

I'd have a hard time ranking the top 10 offensive defensemen in the NHL, so I won't touch the idea of ranking them against non-NHL players. Anyway, in my opinion he's good enough to be on the original roster above a guy like Berg, so I'm not surprised he's the first injury call up. Unfortunately, Väänänen is not the right guy to have out of the team to get Nummelin in.

Berg is a better 6th defenceman than Nummelin. So it wasn't surprise they picked Aki over him.

 

[Seiza]

IMO it's pretty clear that Finland has lost the most important players. I hope they do well though..

 

[stv11]

Berg is a better 6th defenceman than Nummelin. So it wasn't surprise they picked Aki over him.

Berg wasn't taken as a 6th, but as a 7th defenseman. As your 7th defenseman is not part of your regular rotation, why not take a chance on a guy that can be a difference maker instead of going for the safe bet ? And it's not like Berg was such a safe player to have on the ice.

 

[Matti_A]

True, but that says more about the Finnish team than it does about Tuomo unfortunately. We have 4 centers that I´d pick before Tuomo; Sundin, Foppa, Zetterberg and H.Sedin.

Koivu is a great playmaker but lacks many other important aspects of the game, Selänne is a great scorer but lacks other important aspects of the game, Lehtinen is pretty good at everything, but not great at anything except defensively. Together however, they could be deadly. However, aside from that line, the Finnish team has no real depth. But as we all know, motivation usually adds up pretty well against a lazy more talented team, so who knows. God how I hate your Finnish "Sisu", hehe..

Havent seen Selänne & Koivu much this season, but Selänne seems to do better than the previous years, too bad he´s so one-dimensional.

What are you smoking man?
Selänne is far from one-dimesional. It's pretty obvious you haven't seen much of him as you say.

AND fyi Lehtinen is the leading goalscorer for one of the nhl:s best teams, I think you can say he's great at it.

 

[Joe MacMillan]

Berg wasn't taken as a 6th, but as a 7th defenseman. As your 7th defenseman is not part of your regular rotation, why not take a chance on a guy that can be a difference maker instead of going for the safe bet ? And it's not like Berg was such a safe player to have on the ice.

I'd much rather have Berg as 7th defenceman than Nummelin. The problem with Nummelin is that he's total crap in the defensive zone. Of course I'd rather put Nummelin over Berg in the PP unit, but Nummelin wouldn't have gotten any PP time over Pitkänen, Timonen, Salo or Numminen/Lydman. And he would have been useless in the PK unit, in which Berg isn't. So that being said Berg was the safer bet than Nummelin IMO.

 

[Raimo Sillanpää]

Foppa being better than Selänne?? What?


Re-read my post, even though its a given, where did I write that Foppa is better than Selänne?

We were talking about Tuomo, and I stated that even though he might be the nr:1 center in Finland, he´d have a hard time even making the Swedish squad as a center. Never wrote anything about Foppa -----> Selänne.,

There isn't a single team in the Olympics that woudn't have a fully healthy Tuomo Ruutu on its roster.
And as was pointed out, his position is RW/C not C.

On Team Canada, I'd swop Doan for Ruutu, for the US, Gionta for Ruutu, for Slovakia say Kapus, for Russia how about Haritonov, for the Czechs how about Cajanek, for Sweden we could do away with Hannula, or if we wanted a centre then Jörgen Jönssön. Tuomo certainly brings more to the table.

 

[MAF]

If Sturm misses the Games, then Germany suffered the biggest loss.
Team GER is the team that is in the most dire need of a goal getter.
Defence, goaltending, all en par with the "big 7" nations, but scoring is the teams absolute weakspot and without sturm there is no patch for that. Sturm doesn't play all that nice but he somehow puts pucks into the net, garbage or not, a goal is a goal and we would desperately need his goals...

Umm...no. Goaltending yes, but not D overall. Their top d-men (Schubert, Seidenberg, Ehrhoff) are all 5th or 6th defender on their respective team (sure, Seidenberg gets now a lot of icetime in Phoenix, but he had been a healthy scratch a cople of times in Philly).

However if the Germans play quite well, they can make the Big 7 nations having a hard time against them.

 

[C-J...*]

There isn't a single team in the Olympics that woudn't have a fully healthy Tuomo Ruutu on its roster.
And as was pointed out, his position is RW/C not C.

On Team Canada, I'd swop Doan for Ruutu, for the US, Gionta for Ruutu, for Slovakia say Kapus, for Russia how about Haritonov, for the Czechs how about Cajanek, for Sweden we could do away with Hannula, or if we wanted a centre then Jörgen Jönssön. Tuomo certainly brings more to the table.

Doan shouldnt be on Canadas roster to begin with, where´s Staal for instance?

Canadas team is rediculously awsome and solid in offensive area, their 3:rd and 4:th line´s are better than most other teams firstlines, Sweden & Chech Rep excluded, and perhaps Russias aswell.


Jörgen Jönsson and Mika Hannula are the worst picks since the battle of Hastings, those guys dont belong there.