GDT: Finland (2) vs. Latvia (1) • Relegation Round • Jan. 2

[Woodhouse]

Relegation Round:

Finland vs.

Latvia
Jan. 2 • 11:00 ET • 17:00 CET
Bell Centre — Montreal, Que.
TV: —

Projected lineups will be added after they are published here.

Finland

34 Kristian Vesalainen - 32 Aapeli Rasanen - 33 Eeli Tolvanen
15 Petrus Palmu - 25 Julius Nattinen - 35 Otto Koivula
9 Janne Kuokkanen - 13 Henrik Borgstrom - 10 Kasper Bjorkqvist
22 Arttu Ruotsalainen - 20 Julius Mattila - 21 Joona Luoto
27 Teemu Vayrynen

7 Olli Juolevi - 2 Miro Heiskanen
12 Juuso Valimaki - 18 Vili Saarijarvi
28 Jesper Mattila - 3 Urho Vaakanainen
6 Juho Rautanen

31 Veini Vehvilainen
30 Karolus Kaarlehto

Latvia

21 Rudolfs Balcers - 22 Filips Buncis - 10 Martins Dzierkals
11 Renars Krastenbergs - 6 Eduards Tralmaks - 14 Roberts Baranovskis
9 Rihards Puide - 12 Erlends Klavins - 16 Valters Apfelbaums
17 Roberts Blugers - 24 Deniss Smirnovs - 18 Ricards Bernhards

5 Kristians Rubins - 23 Karlis Cukste
7 Maksims Ponomarenko - 8 Kristaps Zile
4 Gvido Jansons - 3 Eduards Jansons
15 Tomass Zeile - 26 Rimants Zelis

30 Mareks Mitens
29 Gustavs Grigals


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[QnebO]

Lets go Finland. First game ill be able to see (time). Sad that it had to be in relegation..

 

[FinPanda]

This game will be on Finnish TV.

 

[llwyd]

Ok, I guess I celebrated the New Year too much (or the ending of the horrible 2016), but I seem to be now in some alternative universe where we are playing Latvia to avoid relegation and not in the quarterfinals. I want to get back to my own world!

 

[ChicagoBullsFan]

Lets go Finland.
That roster what Finland has they should be able to beat ***** out of Latvia.

But in IIHF's men's world-championships Latvia has been tough team to beat even for Finland.
And if our young lions underestimate them like they did for Denmark this might be really close game.

I didn't watch Switzerland game but i expect Finland plays much better than they did against Switzerland and goal-scoring is one what needs to improve.
That team who scores most goals wins these games and goes 2018 world juniors in Buffalo.

 

[ijuka]

If they win by less than 5 goals it's a failure.

 

[Marky1999]

This will probably be a easy game for Finland. I hope that Latvia will at least make it a close game.

 

[Statsy]

If they win by less than 5 goals it's a failure.

Even when this Finnish team plays well they just can't seem to find the net. Perhaps they'll find their scoring touch against this Latvian defense that has also had its struggles, but it just seems that they have a lack of natural... conversion ability.

Man, it was hard to avoid using the word "finish" in that post!

 

[aonb]

Yeah, finally I'll catch Team Finland game. But looking at results and reading this board, not sure if I should be happy at all.

Anyway, best players for Finland? Not asking for potential highest picks, but the best player on ice in your opinion

 

[Joe Zanussi]

I still cant believe this game is happening.

The impact of Finland being the "9" seed next year gives us the potential of a fantastic "group of death" next year. If we get an upset or two, we could be looking at a pretty awesome round robin group in Buffalo. Obviously not gonna happen, but imagine: 1. Canada 4. USA. 5. Sweden. 8. Russia. 9. Finland

 

[Statsy]

Yeah, finally I'll catch Team Finland game. But looking at results and reading this board, not sure if I should be happy at all.

Anyway, best players for Finland? Not asking for potential highest picks, but the best player on ice in your opinion

They're playing much better than they were to start the tourney, so I definitely think you should give it a watch. As for the best player, the guy I've liked is Saarijarvi. Always has the puck and a great shooter. He's taken some flack for getting his shots blocked but that was largely due to a sequence in the last 30 seconds of a game they were losing when it was desperation shots. Even then, he was the one that wanted to be the difference maker. Also keep an eye on Eeli Tolvanen. He's a gifted shooter who has just now been given his rightful place on the powerplay. His one timer is definitely elite level.

Enjoy the game!

 

[ChicagoBullsFan]

Yeah, finally I'll catch Team Finland game. But looking at results and reading this board, not sure if I should be happy at all.

Anyway, best players for Finland? Not asking for potential highest picks, but the best player on ice in your opinion

Vili Saarijarvi has been best Finnish player this year.
If you wanna see how our draft eligible prospects doing you can follow Juuso Valimaki, Eeli Tolvanen and Miro Heiskanen.

 

[Scotty B]

I still cant believe this game is happening.

The impact of Finland being the "9" seed next year gives us the potential of a fantastic "group of death" next year. If we get an upset or two, we could be looking at a pretty awesome round robin group in Buffalo. Obviously not gonna happen, but imagine: 1. Canada 4. USA. 5. Sweden. 8. Russia. 9. Finland

Even if Canada, by rights, winds up in a different group then Yanks, they'll get switched to same pool cause they have a big outdoor game planned on NYE Canada vs USA, so the potential ( with Suomi slated to finish 9th and with Canada slated to play in same pool as Yanks come what may ) for a so-called Group of Death is greater than ever...

Yawn....it just means Canada almost certainly gets a comparatively easy QF opponent...

NO BIG DEAL...

 

[Joe Zanussi]

Even if Canada, by rights, winds up in a different group then Yanks, they'll get switched to same pool cause they have a big outdoor game planned on NYE Canada vs USA, so the potential ( with Suomi slated to finish 9th and with Canada slated to play in same pool as Yanks come what may ) for a so-called Group of Death is greater than ever...

Yawn....it just means Canada almost certainly gets a comparatively easy QF opponent...

NO BIG DEAL...

Forgot about Canada moving over. Thx for pointing that out. Also, thx for all the enthusiasm toward my brilliant contribution to the thread. Lol.

 

[Scotty B]

Forgot about Canada moving over. Thx for pointing that out. Also, thx for all the enthusiasm toward my brilliant contribution to the thread. Lol.

Don't get me wrong...I'm not saying a GROUP of Death wouldn't be interesting/ FUN...But the more ( WJ historically speaking ) Big 4 Teams in the same pool....

The less likely the homeside=Yanks, and the honorary homeside=Canada get tripped up in quarter finals, which would be BAD/ Bordering on Disaster for Buffalo tourney organizers...

Plus it greatly enhances the probability that Yanks and Canucks will clash in either semis or finals...which would be great for the above

Far From Being Doom and Gloom...Bring On That Group o' Death...Indeed...

WHAT'S NOT TO LIKE???

****

PS: my ' Yawn ' was just for fact that Pool winners don't get rewarded with bye anymore...making those round robin games A LOT less meaningful than they were in the GOOD OLD DAYS

 

[Gsus]

I'm totally confident, but I'm disappointed we're in this situation. If Finland can for once play near to their potential, it should not be a close game. I respect the Latvians tho, they have a good team in Worlds every year.

 

[Joe Zanussi]

Don't get me wrong...I'm not saying a GROUP of Death wouldn't be interesting/ FUN...But the more ( WJ historically speaking ) Big 4 Teams in the same pool....

The less likely the homeside=Yanks, and the honorary homeside=Canada get tripped up in quarter finals, which would be BAD/ Bordering on Disaster for Buffalo tourney organizers...

Plus it greatly enhances the probability that Yanks and Canucks will clash in either semis or finals...which would be great for the above

Far From Being Doom and Gloom...Bring On That Group o' Death...Indeed...

WHAT'S NOT TO LIKE???

****

PS: my ' Yawn ' was just for fact that Pool winners don't get rewarded with bye anymore...making those round robin games A LOT less meaningful than they were in the GOOD OLD DAYS

All good. I was joking.

 

[Mestaruus]

Finland should have this but the goalie vs goalie match up probably decides everything, so we will see.

If Ahokas was the coach from the beginning I am pretty sure he would've chosen Ukko-Pekka Luukkonen to the team. Shame he isn't there.

 

[FiLe]

I'm not saying the result can't be close, but you can expect Finland to totally dominate this game. SOG will be something like 50 to 10 in favor of Finland at the final whistle.

Latvia can stay up, but for that, they'll need to score with very high effeciency. They also need their goalie to stand on his head, and that the Finnish goalie is perhaps not fully in the zone because he won't be facing shots consistently (in other words, pretty much what happened in Finland's game vs. Denmark).

And oh, the above needs to happen not only once, but twice.


I'm fairly confident, but not overconfident, since those things can well happen. I've seen stranger things in hockey. The longer Latvia can keep the Finns off the scoresheet, the easier it may come for them, because this squad has shown signs that it can get easily frustrated if things don't go their way, which will lead to them making hasty decisions.

 

[smitty10]

Not on Canadian TV?

 

[Visul]

Switzerland game was total domination from Finland. Glad that many underperforming players woke up to this tournament. Henrik Borgström was probably the best player on ice against the Swiss group. Latvia will get crushed if Finns keep playing the same way.

 

[Lempo]

Finnish YLE will stream it online live starting 18.00 EET, but at least now it seems to be viewable only in Finland. The relegation games most probably fall under the television rights of the tourney, but if they don't there is a slight change they might do it as a global broadcast like they did with the pre-tournament USA-FIN in WHC 2016.

http://yle.fi/urheilu/areena/1-3813176

 

[QnebO]

This is or isnt on tv? Nothing on telkku.com

 

[FiLe]

This is or isnt on tv? Nothing on telkku.com

Looks like it isn't. Guess they didn't take this into account and now it was a little too late to tweak the program schedule.

Well, it's a good thing the web is far more flexible.

 

[Gsus]

The game is on YLE TV2. Also on Areena. Don't always trust telkku.com or such sources.

http://yle.fi/urheilu/3-9384006 (lineups + broadcasting info)