Finnish Ranks Game 1.

[Know Your Enemy]

Niko Kapanen-1Goal 1Assist. Niko, in my opinion, was the best player on the ice. He Constantly created scoring chances working extreamly hard wining puck battles and made a beutiful pass to Jukka Hentunen on the gamewining goal. He also scored on a tip from a Sami Salo shot. Grade= A

Niklas Hagman- Was far and away the best player who didnt register a point. He probably worked harder than anyone els on the ice by doing that he drew two penalties. Had a couple great scoring chaces in the 1st period created mostly by himself. Grade= B+

Ville Peltonen- 1Assist. Please come back to the NHL Ville! Peltonen created the most offensive scoring chances on the team, was briliant on the cycle and the forecheck. In all of his shifts in the first period he created something offensively and looked like Selanne of a few years ago while doing it. Grade= A

Jere Lehtinen- 1Assist. Made things happen on the big line, causeing turnovers in the offensive zone playing hard along the boards. Grade=B

Saku Koivu. 1Goal. His goal early in the 3rd was key in giving the Finns momentum on their offensive outburst. Played great allaround, especially on the forechek. Grade=B

Kimmo Timonen-1Assist. Timonen was exceptional in the offensive zone. Was taking alot of shots and jumping up on the play acting as a 4th forward. Grade=C+

Olli Jokinen- Was the only player on the team to be penalized, luckly it didnt cost his team. He still played hard taking the body in the corners and created some offensive opportunities. Grade=C+

Miikka Kiprusoff- Was not tested often but when he was, he never got caught out of position. Made a brilliant glove save on I beleive Jagr which got the fans and his teammates pumped. Grade=B-

Mikko Koivu-1Assists. Got his first nerveracking experience with the big boys but didnt look out of place. I don't recall him making any mistakes. Showed a bit of a physical game. Grade=C+

Teppo Numminen-1Assist. The veteran leader played a solid game racking up alot of icetime. Grade= C+

Sami Salo-1Assist. As usual Sami played strong allaround game. Was one of the best players in the 3rd period. Grade=C+

Tuomo Ruutu- Was probably the most physical player on the ice. Looked like he was a bit nervous with the puck but was good without it. Grade=C

Jarko Ruutu- Didn't do his job which was to be very physical and get in eveyones face. Still did a fine job killing penalties. Grade=C

Teemu Selanne- Was'nt a contributer to the big lines offense, it seemed like he wanted to do things himslef a bit too much... looked like he did when playing in Colorado.
Grade=D

Juka Hentunen-1Goal. Other than scoring the gamewiner in the 1st he didn't do anything worth taking note of. Grade=C+

Mikko Eloranta-1 Goal. Played a good 1st period and added a goal in the 3rd. Again didn't do much. Grade=C.

Janne Niinimaa- Didnt impress me at all. All I remeber of him was a few shots. Grade=C-

Aki Berg- Did nothing of value. Made a mistake trying to hold the line which lead to what the refs called an intentional offside that coulve cost the team. Grade=C

Toni Lydman- Got very limited ice time. All I can remeber of him was when he jumped up into the play at the wrong time. Grade=C


3 Stars
1.Kapanen
2.Peltonen
3.S.Koivu

If you have any agreements, disagreements or anything els you'd like to add please post them.

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[wilka91*]

This post is way too long, that's why I'm not gonna read it. Just the 3 stars at the bottom.

 

[looooob]

interesting. a few people I've heard from Finland (not Flames fans per se) and some Flames fans also, thought Lydman had a good game, but obviously you weren't impressed

anyone else with opinions on Lydmans game?

 

[ZDogg]

How can you give Kipper a B- rating when he gets a shutout? In my opinion that deserves an A. If you have an easy test and you ace you get an A. Same thing applies for goalies in hockey, if you don't let one in you did your job to the best of your ability and get full marks.

 

[Jussi]

FYI, Tuomo Ruutu's left arm/hand is busted/banged up. He can't do much with the puck(or hit, either one of these). I wouldn't be too surprised if he sat out the Germany game.

 

[Nazzy-19]

Here's the Czech Teams Ranks

All the Skaters: F-

Vokoun: A for effort

It was really a lack luster performance by the Czech team

 

[SopelFan*]

Everyone on Finland's roster deserves atleast a C+. Every player was good. Czechs were just ... horrible.

 

[Pepper]

Jokinen was the best player on Team Finland, giving him C+ is downright ignorant. Stop looking at the scoresheet only.

Players who didn't impress me much were Berg and Selänne, it never ceases to amaze me how Väänänen isn't playing and that pylon Berg is. Let's hope Summanen realizes his stupidity on that.

Also Nieminen should play, he's better player than Eloranta and Hagman.

 

[Ajacied]

Just goes on to show what an effective player Niko Kapanen can be when you give him a decent role on the team. I hope Armstrong takes note..

 

[broman]

I think you are being a bit harsh on Selanne, although that seems to be the trend in Finland these days. He did put in an effort, comes up with the shots on goal, and showed willingness to crash the crease and take the hits, although it's still too easy to knock him on his a**.

He's still not at the same wavelength with Saku though and they will need to improve that part of the game. Too many obvious moves, a few missed passes, and a general lack of creativity were evident. Also, he certainly didn't show any of that explosive speed we have come to expect, but I guess that's his age showing.

People should put that 76 goal season to rest and take Teemu as he is. He may not be the Finnish Flash any more but he is still a Top 6 forward with solid offensive skills and an excellent vision of the game. Team Finland would definitely be hurt if he wasn't there. I give him a C+ if not more.

In the clash of aging superstars, Teemu beat Jagr with hands down. It wasn't even a knockout, Jaromir never showed up in the ring.

 

[Pepper]

Just goes on to show what an effective player Niko Kapanen can be when you give him a decent role on the team. I hope Armstrong takes note..

Don't draw too many conclusions based on this game, the czech d-men made all finnish forwards look good yesterday. Also the game was quite a bit less physical than your average NHL-game which helps Kapanen a lot.

 

[psycho_dad*]

Someone asked about Lydman so here is my take. He was pretty much invisible which only means he was good in defense. But he made one really bad pass which could have ended up a goal so I would not give him a very high grade.

Selänne was ok but that whole line was lost on even strength. They will get better. Jokinen deserves a better grade. He was the man out there...worked harder than anyone and looked twice as strong as anyone else. I thought I'd never see the day when Jokinen stands infront of czech crease and brushes off two big guys grabbing him. He was pure strength and will be our key player. Loads of good hits too.

I was disappointed with Tuomo Ruutu...he was a bit lost. He did not hit anyone really. He had one good chance but Vokoun stopped that. It looked like he was holding back. Tuomo, they are NHL refs, go ahead and hit!

Mikko Koivu impressed me again. Last year watching him in the SM-liiga I could have sworn he'd never make it in the NHL, after one summer he is a completely different player. Congratulations Minnesota, Mikko Koivu has grown up! He was impressive against Germany, he was good yesterday, and people who saw the Finland-Sweden exhibition said he was impressive in that one too. I guess it just took Mikko a year longer than it took Ruutu and Pitkänen. I remember Pitkänen's jump to NHL being a significant one too.

Berg did not make mistakes, that's why he was out there. And for the fact that Czechs have big forwards who drive to the net. Of course Väänänen could replace him. Or Pitkänen. Both are pretty big guys.

 

[montreal]

How does Saku Koivu get a B, wasn't he named player of the game?

 

[Sampe]

How does Saku Koivu get a B, wasn't he named player of the game?

He was, but this wasn't the Saku you saw in the NHL playoffs. His speed isn't there yet and he was clearly saving his strength in the 3rd period. Playmaking wise he was great of course, at least on the power play, but over the years I've learned to take that for granted. And the 1st line's play at even strength could use some improvement.

 

[Shack]

I think that the whole team played well.

There were a few players who disappointed me in the first game.

1. Teemu Selänne. (I saw his name a few times, but that's it. He was sailing on his own and didn't find his linemates).

2. Aki Berg (I was expecting more physical game, but no )

3. Toni Lydman (Same as with Aki)

Big suprise was a stellar play by Mikko Koivu and his line. I liked the way they worked together.

 

[teme]

I was disappointed with Tuomo Ruutu...he was a bit lost. He did not hit anyone really. He had one good chance but Vokoun stopped that. It looked like he was holding back. Tuomo, they are NHL refs, go ahead and hit!

Noticed the same thing, there are some reports that he is playing with an injury.

Mikko Koivu was something of a revelation to me, really nice performance. I'd forgotten how good Numminen and Lehtinen are. Only ones I were slightly disappointed with were Selänne, J. Ruutu, and Lydman, all played OK though. The thing about Lydman for me has always been that he is good but not great skater, has decent hands but is not really that effective with the puck, has size and hits but doesn't intimidate anyone, has a good head for the game but doesn't actually wow you with his hockey sense like Numminen... Some call that two-way player, I call it all-around medicore, in practice we don't disagree.

 

[Jussi]

Noticed the same thing, there are some reports that he is playing with an injury.

Like I posted earlier in this thread, Tuomo's left arm/hand is injured (accorinding to 'cobol' at the jatkoaika.com boards) and he can't hit or much else.

 

[mikkoz]

Early one mornin' the sun was shinin..

Czechs were just ... horrible.

Yes, it seemed that they didnt even try, really dissapointing.

Surprisingly good pp´s from finns.