GDT: Exhibition • Finland vs. Sweden

[Jim Morrison]

Well, I don't know why it would make sense to say that one team "deserved" to win it because they maybe controlled the puck more or outshot the other team or whatever. I think it's kind of pointless because that is not how the winner is determined. What does it mean to be the "better team" if you lose the match? And is there an objective, universally approved way to determine that kind of "betterness" that is independent of the actual score?

I never said Sweden 'deserved' to win. All I'm saying is that the better team definitely does not always win. If you play the same game 10 times in a row the outcome will probably be in the better teams favor. That's what playoffs are for - and even regular season for that matter

 

[psycho_dad*]

Hehe, you're impossible dude. I just think you have a very, let's say short-sighted, way of viewing sports.

No his view is absolutely the correct one. Finland has mostly always in the last 20 years outworked and even out shot the opponent but the quality wasn't there so they lost a lot of meaningful games (like the olympic final in 2006 for example) due to lack of scoring skill.

Hockey games are decided by one thing, which team scores more goals. The one who scores more deserved the win. Unless there was some serious ****ery by the referees, which is fortunately very rare.


This is just an exhibition game, it really means nothing at all. Both teams are playing their first game of the season and it looked that way too. Don't get your panties in a wad, Sweden could very well win the next one. The one that matters is when the world cup is actually on.

 

[EK47]

Worst players for each team

Finland: Sami Vatanen (was worst player of the game)
Sweden: Jhonas Enroth (was the worst goalie of the game)

Honorable mention
Mikko Koivu* (FIN) Erik Karlsson** (SWE)

*only one good executed play from Mikko,other weise most
invisible player on the ice
** had most giveaways in this game and in his standards,
his offensive game wasn't that good either.

Karlsson needs timing to play well and preferably a more cerebral partner (Lindholm) which he didn't have today. I'm sure he'll get it rolling eventually otherwise we'll just have to make due with the other godawful defensemen we have.

 

[snipes]

Agreed, was a surprisingly physical and intensive game all around. Lots of hitting and battling going on. And of course Uncle Leo's antics adding to the atmosphere; Landeskog helped too.

The smaller ice and less room behind the nets leads to more physical play. We love it in Canada .

Physicality is an important part of hockey and always will be. The pace is also faster on the smaller ice, you can't clog the middle and keep things to the outside as easily.

 

[kooma 13]

Meh, I'm sure you guys have seen games with your team/club obviously being the better ones that night but still end up losing. Not saying the difference was that huge tonight, but the better team definitely does not always win.

I get your point, somewhat but, in hockey better team is determined by goals and the winner is the team that scores more goals. Then there is tactics. Some teams prefer more offensive tactics and some more defensive ones. Some teams are flashier than anothers. Some teams tend to shoot a lot and some teams pass a lot. But still in the end the team that scores more wins and is better team. There is also involved something called luck in each game and we just have to accept it.

 

[Sorey*]

Karlsson needs timing to play well and preferably a more cerebral partner (Lindholm) which he didn't have today.

Grönborg is an idiot if Lindholm isnt playing next game. He is better then ekholm for sure.

Knowing Grönborg coaching; kruger gets promoted to 1st line and Enroth becomes our starter. He has no clue when it comes to player selections.

 

[Chimpradamus]

The smaller ice and less room behind the nets leads to more physical play. We love it in Canada .

Physicality is an important part of hockey and always will be. The pace is also faster on the smaller ice, you can't clog the middle and keep things to the outside as easily.

Errr... is it more difficult to clog the middle on an NHL sized rink than an international sized rink? Pure logic says no. As for the physical thing, for sure.

 

[EK47]

Grönborg is an idiot if Lindholm isnt playing next game. He is better then ekholm for sure.

Knowing Grönborg coaching; kruger gets promoted to 1st line and Enroth becomes our starter. He has no clue when it comes to player selections.

He can't be worse than BÃ…G

 

[llwyd]

It's pretty important how you look in matches like this where the results don't matter.

Well, I think we looked pretty good and organized against a team much stronger on paper. Lots of "almost chances" to Sweden, dangerous "looking" situations, but for the most part they didn't have that many undisturbed chances in the sector (as the score indicates). And they did cycle around a lot, of course. We were far from perfect and there is much improvement needed but for the first practice match of the season it was very much ok.

 

[snipes]

Errr... is it more difficult to clog the middle on an NHL sized rink than an international sized rink? Pure logic says no. As for the physical thing, for sure.

The pace moves up ice too quickly for a collapsing the middle in the defensive zone (not talking neutral zone trap).

Seems counterintuitive but because there is less space and faster players collapsing the middle on NA size ice leaves open prime scoring areas still, unlike on the much wider IIHF ice, collapsing the middle keeps things really far to the outside.

Look for it more in the defensive zone in transition, you'll see what I'm talking about.

 

[Artorius Horus T]

Lets split it; neither teams were better,nor deserved to win this game .

No need to argue yet,this was only a tune up game,
lets leave all the "hate" and "anger" whats between us
to the actual tournament .

 

[snipes]

Lets split it; neither teams were better,nor deserved to win this game .

No need to argue yet,this was only a tune up game,
lets leave all the "hate" and "anger" whats between us
to the actual tournament .

Embrace the hate .

Respect before and after, hate during the battle. Can't wait for Suomi v Tre Kronor round II in a couple days.

 

[EK47]

Lets split it; neither teams were better,nor deserved to win this game .

No need to argue yet,this was only a tune up game,
lets leave all the "hate" and "anger" whats between us
to the actual tournament .

Wouldn't it be better to get it out of the way now so we can have a civilized tournament?

 

[Artorius Horus T]

Wouldn't it be better to get it out of the way now so we can have a civilized tournament?

I agree,but like thats gonna happen ...
its Finland and Sweden after all.

But hey...you never know.

 

[Eye of Ra]

He can't be worse than BÃ…G

I still dont understand how we got 2 golds with him....it should not be possible.

 

[Sorey*]

He can't be worse than BÃ…G

we got a gold out of BÅG atleast. BÅG also played 18 year old Backstrom and OEL on team sweden. Grönborg will never play a teenager because he thinks veterans are always superior.

Grönborg has also never won anything, the man is even worse then mårts when it comes to be 2nd in tournaments.

 

[psycho_dad*]

Lets split it; neither teams were better,nor deserved to win this game .

No need to argue yet,this was only a tune up game,
lets leave all the "hate" and "anger" whats between us
to the actual tournament .

But aren't we supposedly celebrating this like an olympic gold? I heard that from a sad Swede.

Yeah I agree with that, it's a meaningless game and there's another one on Saturday. It's great for the players to get some actual games in before the tournament starts but that's really all these are good for.

 

[VictorLustig]

He can't be worse than BÃ…G

Can you imagine that Grönborg has never head coached grown-ups before this tournament?

 

[matsqq]

If you define "better" as "wins" then of course the better team always wins.

It becomes a tautology - it's just saying the team that scored the most scored the most - it becomes a toally meaningless statement

There is nothing wrong with a tautology but there is nothing interesting with it either

 

[Artorius Horus T]

If you define "better" as "wins" then of course the better team always wins.

It becomes a tautology - it's just saying the team that scored the most scored the most - it becomes a toally meaningless statement

There is nothing wrong with a tautology but there is nothing interesting with it either

All true...but the winners (the winning team)
can always...you know .

 

[Sojourn]

As a neutral fan, I thought Sweden was the better team. Goaltending, primarily, let them down. I'd be encouraged if I were a Swedish fan, because they played a pretty solid game and that should be encouragement moving forward.

If I were a Finnish fan, I'd be encouraged because the team found a way to win, even though they were out-played a bit. Goaltending was a big strength. If they can work on the PP, and get better results there, things will look even better.

It's an exhibition game, and I think the actual score is less important than the play on the ice. Both teams have reasons to be happy with how things went.

Edit: On a different note, I don't think Ekholm and Karlsson looked very good together. Vatanen looked... off. Rusty, and not moving his feet enough. For the latter, he just needs to shake off the rust a bit. For the former, maybe give Karlsson someone who complements him better. As someone else said, Lindholm might be that guy. I'm trying not to let my Anaheim roots influence that opinion too much, but I'd definitely give Hampus a shot with Karlsson, if we're looking for the best pairings. Karlsson can wander a bit, and Lindholm is exactly the type of intelligent, defensively-focused guy who can help stabilize things defensively, and he can absolutely contribute on the offensive side of things.

 

[Eye of Ra]

Can you imagine that Grönborg has never head coached grown-ups before this tournament?

Yeah, scary.

Roger Melin, Roger Rönnberg or Sam Hallam should be the coach.

 

[llwyd]

No need to argue yet,this was only a tune up game,
lets leave all the "hate" and "anger" whats between us
to the actual tournament .

Well, I don't think it's "hate", I think it's "dislike"... But it is often nice to have bit heated discussions between the two sets of fans, senseless trolling aside or cheering for injuries etc. etc. And I think these genuinely unpleasant things have gotten very rare which is an excellent thing.

 

[Stubu]

The smaller ice and less room behind the nets leads to more physical play. We love it in Canada .

Physicality is an important part of hockey and always will be. The pace is also faster on the smaller ice, you can't clog the middle and keep things to the outside as easily.

Sure thing, but I mean this still got surprisingly physical and entertaining for an exhibition/rehearsal game.

 

[ulvvf]

The start of the game was a real sleepy game, but it become better and better. Good to get practice with a biased ref it will be more of that in the wc for sure.

Bad: Ekholm, Bäckström line. Invisible, I think it is to slow, I would put Hagelin or Rakell there, to give it to some energy. Importent that line works

Best: Hagelin, Landeskog, Sedins, Rakell

Those that do not think zetterberg is a big loss just because his production wasnt that great last season, can look at the sedins. They had a similar season. This old guys may have problem keeping up the level the whole season, but in a tournament like this is a different matter. Zetterberg is a huge loss. Steen is not.

Nice to see also that Strålman wasnt as horrible as in the playoffs, but the commentators where way to nice to him, he was good but not that good.