GDT: Group A - May 11 - Slovakia vs Finland

[Elvs]

Ciliak is confirmed

This makes me nervous, though with Slovakia playing a late game yesterday, it makes sense let Rybar rest, eat and hydrate.

 

[Babula]

We are like friends. Big heart and soul, similar population.. huge hockey maniacs.

It is so nice. While I can not still understand this whole thing. What is in history in yours ?

 

[slovakiasnextone]

It is so nice. While I can not still understand this whole thing. What is in history in yours ?

There are many comparisons one can draw between Slovakia amd Finlamd, though at the same time they are utterly different.

History wise they are both the little brother, population size is the same, both even have a considerable minority which speaks a different language. Also shared love of booze

Of course Finland is ahead of Slovakia developmwnt wise and economically.

But as someome who has lived in Finland for a little bit, I can see why one could say that there are plenty of reasons to feel like friends in hockey for us.

 

[illone84]

Close game but Finland prevails. Finland 5 Slovakia 3

 

[IceHockeyDude]

There are many comparisons one can draw between Slovakia amd Finlamd, though at the same time they are utterly different.

History wise they are both the little brother, population size is the same, both even have a considerable minority which speaks a different language. Also shared love of booze

Yeah and I think Ireland has also that type mentality due to Britts. Canada perhaps as well towards USA (Except in hockey).

 

[slovakiasnextone]

Yeah and I think Ireland has also that type mentality due to Britts. Canada perhaps as well towards USA (Except in hockey).

I was in Ireland last summer and was surprised by how similar it was in some ways to Slovakia and if I'm completely honest mostly not in good ways. And yeah, the way the Irish spoke about their history with teh British was very similar to the way Slovaks tend to speak of ours.

Like we were on a bus in Dublin and the road was so narrow that the car standing at the intersection had to go back a bit, so that the bus could even turn left That was not something I expect to see in a developed Western country tbh.

Also the terrible modern architecture and no taste or sense of preservation when it came to sticking it right in the middle of nice historic buildings, felt just like Bratislava in some regards. Though it has to be said that Glasgow in Scotland was hardly much better.

 

[BullLund]

I don't know if Slovakia's roster is better, I'm just saying that an argument can be made for once.

Kako is in all likelyhood a future NHL star. But how good would he be in the NHL right now? Panik level? Tatar level? Better than both? We haven't seen enough of him against high quality competition to know for sure. Just remember how hyped Jesse Puljujarvi was a few years ago. He's defenitly worsse than Tatar, and even Panik for that matter.

Finland has more depth up front, no doubt. But on defence Slovakia is much better. Sekera and Cernak are top 4 defensemen in the NHL, and has the potential to be one of the best shutdown pairings in this entire tournament. The 2nd pairing is Marincin/Jaros. It may not sound very impressive on HFboards, but they are used to defending against much better forwards than the likes of Toni Rajala, Marko Anttila, Harri Pesonen every day in the NHL.

It's fairly close on paper, and based on results from yesterday it's likely to be a close game tonight, unless either team's goalie completely craps the bed.

Puljujärvi never showed much at adult-level though, his big performances were mostly against other teenagers, whom he dominated with his size.

Kakko on the other hand has been great in Liiga and had a good showing against Canada. He seems ready to compete at a high-level, perhaps more so than any other Finn in history, at his age.

The advantage for him is that he's the clear "star" in the team, and he has a bunch of guys who are willing to work to give him opportunities. Finland has always had problems scoring, so whenever a guy with scoring confidence appears, they will have an easy time receiving opportunities, without any egos being involved.

I agree though that the talent level is similar on both teams. Finland is not winning based on sheer talent against any of the more competitive teams. The roster that they put up is all about teamwork, coach Jalonen picking players based on the roles they can fill, and their attitudes, and dedication to strategy.

The coach himself admitted that they might lose out on individual skill, against other top-tier teams.

 

[Star Ocean]

I am pulling for finland

 

[fouba]

2-4. marko anttilas soft hands are too much for todays slovakia

 

[thestudent]

Canada. He seems ready to compete at a high-level, perhaps more so than any other Finn in history, at his age.
.

No... that would be Kotkaniemi

 

[FiLe]

Puljujärvi never showed much at adult-level though, his big performances were mostly against other teenagers, whom he dominated with his size.

Not to mention bringing up Puljujärvi in this context is more or less cherry-picking the only highly-touted draft forward prospect who has failed to meet the expectations in the ongoing decade. And only the second or third of them all, alongside Juolevi and Honka. All others that generated hype have so far managed to answer to that hype, making a name for themselves in the NHL.

 

[ijuka]

Not to mention bringing up Puljujärvi in this context is more or less cherry-picking the only highly-touted draft forward prospect who has failed to meet the expectations in the ongoing decade. And only the second or third of them all, alongside Juolevi and Honka. All others that generated hype have so far managed to answer to that hype, making a name for themselves in the NHL.

Too early especially for Juolevi, as defensemen take longer to develop. Obviously, he was a reach and he'll never live up to his draft position - being picked too early and all - but if he for example develops like Josh Morrissey that can hardly be considered a disappointment.

 

[king89]

Juolevi is definitely not a bust, he would have played NHL hockey now if it wasn't for his injuries.

 

[lostinwarsaw]

There are many comparisons one can draw between Slovakia amd Finlamd, though at the same time they are utterly different.

History wise they are both the little brother, population size is the same, both even have a considerable minority which speaks a different language. Also shared love of booze

Of course Finland is ahead of Slovakia developmwnt wise and economically.

But as someome who has lived in Finland for a little bit, I can see why one could say that there are plenty of reasons to feel like friends in hockey for us.

This is dumb, there is no comparison between the nations. We are literally nothing alike. All those same factors you mentioned can be applied to pretty much every nation that wasn’t a major colonizer. We are nothing like Finland and it’s useless to draw comparisons. And the minority thing is even worse, the historical relationship between Finns and Swedes is very different than that of Hungarian and Slovaks

 

[Elvs]

Not to mention bringing up Puljujärvi in this context is more or less cherry-picking the only highly-touted draft forward prospect who has failed to meet the expectations in the ongoing decade. And only the second or third of them all, alongside Juolevi and Honka. All others that generated hype have so far managed to answer to that hype, making a name for themselves in the NHL.

I'm not saying that Kakko will turn out to be a new Puljujärvi, I'm just saying it's difficult to compare him to the likes of Tatar, as we have barely seen him play against high international competition. I think he'll do well in his rookie year, but he'll have another summer of off season training and growing before then. Right now, there's no way of knowing if he's a already a better player than Tatar.

 

[jj cale]

Should be a close game, hope Slovakia can pull it out. If they play like they did yesterday they stand a decent chance of doing so.

Looking forward to this one, should be a good game.

 

[king89]

Let's go Suomi!!

 

[Retroglyphs]

amazing speed in this match.

 

[king89]

Illomäki is really good, but he should have shot.

 

[king89]

That was so cheap....

 

[Stubu]

Need a good PK now, Tatar is feeling it

 

[ecemleafs]

2 mins cuz the slovak player wasnt holding his stick.

 

[Hasa92]

Joke of a penalty

 

[Retroglyphs]

Wow, great chance for the slovak top line!

 

[Stubu]

Damn. Last second of the penalty. Didn't have much pressure on either. Good shot from Sekera though