GDT: Finland vs. USA | 13 February 2025 | 8:00

[IceManCat]

Game is a lot slower than the Canada vs Sweden game, chippy game.

Yeah not as fun.

 

[Bunch of Jurcos]

Slavin and Fox are a dream pairing

What could have been

 

[Nikki Potnick]

"Finland's not going away", it's been one period dumb dumb.

Amazing how the Fins went from underrated to overrated in less than a period.

 

[NotCommitted]

Missing Heiskanen so much... but glad to see Finland came to play regardless. No disrespect to the D-men we have available but most of these guys are not really up to jumping on the play and engage more in the O-zone. Ofc Jokiharju with the only goal, but still

 

[CanadaIsIrrelevant]

Tell that to Mattias Ekholm

Mattias Ekholm isn't blond.

 

[Beerz]

A healthy Heiskanen could make a difference in this game...

So could a healthy Quinn Hughes

 

[Czechboy]

That looked exactly like a period Finland would want

 

[thewave]

Has Matthews gained weight? His face looks body-positive

No he just skates so fast it looks like that now

 

[Summer Rose]

That looked exactly like a period Finland would want

"Good road period" is something that we say on the Utah board all the time (but we rarely mean it, and often say it about home games too). I think it would apply here if you're a Finnish fan, though.

 

[93gilmour93]

Oh shut the F up about the Lafs.

 

[MNRube]

Eichel line looks clunky. Matthews & Miller lines look good.

 

[Miro4Norris]

The Finns ALWAYS play the same game and somehow make it work it internationally. Kakko/Pool Party not being able to live up to their draft position hurt them bad. Only offensive dynamos they have are Laine/Rantanen which is tough to keep up with the top 3 in world hockey

Ever heard of Barkov, Aho, Hintz and International Granlund?

 

[doublechili]

Finland is almost always better than the sum of their parts in international tournaments. They get a bunch of guys together and they jell into a team fast and seem like they've been playing together constantly relative to the other teams.

 

[The Blue Baron]

View attachment 976810

We shall see tortured soul, we shall see

LMAO

 

[SeanMoneyHands]

Where's Big Keith? No sighting of him yet.

 

[agent082]

It's Canada Sweden final

 

[Czechboy]

"Good road period" is something that we say on the Utah board all the time (but we rarely mean it, and often say it about home games too). I think it would apply here if you're a Finnish fan, though.

Yup, withstood the storm and played plucky underdog perfect. They had more chances than I expected to be honest. Both goalies let in a bad goal. This game is as even as it gets right now. Keeping up with this US teams seems like an exhausting job.

 

[FMichael]

Mattias Ekholm isn't blond.

ginger/brown ?

 

[EK47]

Slavin and Fox are a dream pairing

Vaakanainen - Matinpalo should be the road to serfdom, at least on paper..

 

[thewave]

Finland is almost always better than the sum of their parts in international tournaments. They get a bunch of guys together and they jell into a team fast and seem like they've been playing together constantly relative to the other teams.

It's a small country with their own hockey doctrine trained to all from a young age. It's Finnish hockey. They live breathe hockey and study everyone else.

 

[Hank Plank]

 

[Summer Rose]

Yup, withstood the storm and played plucky underdog perfect. They had more chances than I expected to be honest. Both goalies let in a bad goal. This game is as even as it gets right now. Keeping up with this US teams seems like an exhausting job.

Hoping that stays true and we can pull away later on in the game because of wearing them down, but... who knows?

 

[1989]

These Finn's can play, very impressive considering they're icing only 3 NHL dmen.

Team defence goes a long way.

If Finland get a couple more powerplay opportunities, they could put USA in a bad spot.
Same if Finland finds themselves down 1 late in the third.
They're absolute bulldogs and won't go away without a fight. Absolutely had the Americans completely scrambling in ways we didn't see in Canada-Sweden.

 

[Summer Rose]

View attachment 976814

Hey! I thought of it first!

 

[sadpanda]

Finland is almost always better than the sum of their parts in international tournaments. They get a bunch of guys together and they jell into a team fast and seem like they've been playing together constantly relative to the other teams.

I think finns really take pride in representing their country