GDT: Group B - May 9 - Finland (3) vs USA (2) (MOD WARNING - POSTS 26 & 275)

[TheKrebsCycle]

Finnish broadcast said Finland won scoring chances something like 24-10.

Wow, that seems pretty unbalanced based on what I saw. The 18-17 metric seemed more in line imo

 

[TheLeastOfTheBunch]

Matthews was great. Laine wasn't. what we learned today? canada will whoop our ass.

Agreed. Canada is in a class of their own, even with a young defence.

 

[Lonny Bohonos]

Matthews was good in the first 2 periods and then the Barkov line finally woke up and took over which they should have been doing for most of the game. Matthews line does not even compare to that line, in any way you spin it. The talent level is night and day and Matthews still managed to do some things against them. What would people be saying if Laine was playing with a scrub center and winger and had to drive his line by himself because that's what Matthews has had to do the entire tournament and people don't seem to want to appreciate that. His line is nothing without him, he is the driver of that line and has played very well considering he has had to step into those shoes. Laine plays with Barkov who is quite clearly driving his line and Laine can sit back and compliment Barkov's elite 2-way play.

Laine cant drive a line himself


I said after the Juniors in comparing Pulju to Laine that Pulju plays like he can own a line. Laine on the other hand will be more complementary. Not that it means anything pointwise.

 

[TheFinnishTrap]

Laine had some bad turnovers and lazy penalties.

This is just a blatant lie. Laine had ONE turnover in the first and ONE penalty that looked extremely soft.

It's not hard to see that Matthews is the more complete player as of now. Broke up that Barkov line's chance near the crease and didn't have any huge mistakes. Offensively he seemed somewhat simple this game. Simple passes, had a couple of nice shots on that one powerplay too. Seemed to get destroyed on faceoffs though, which honestly isn't Barkov's strong suit either.

Laine was quiet in the first period as were his linemates. Just not a lot going for them at first. Had that bad turnover, but that was also a bad goal by Koskinen. Overall I thought Laine created more offense than Matthews. He seemed to get going in the second period, that was closer to what Laine should do. When he doesn't have the shot available, he can dish some sweet passes to his linemates.

 

[Hagged]

Matthews was good in the first 2 periods and then the Barkov line finally woke up and took over which they should have been doing for most of the game. Matthews line does not even compare to that line, in any way you spin it. The talent level is night and day and Matthews still managed to do some things against them. What would people be saying if Laine was playing with a scrub center and winger and had to drive his line by himself because that's what Matthews has had to do the entire tournament and people don't seem to want to appreciate that. His line is nothing without him, he is the driver of that line and has played very well considering he has had to step into those shoes. Laine plays with Barkov who is quite clearly driving his line and Laine can sit back and compliment Barkov's elite 2-way play.

Matthews was very impressive. Much more than Laine.

That said I'm not ready to put Laine in the bust category due to a back to back game with 13 minutes ice time against a well rested team USA (in which he had a couple of nice shifts showing great IQ passing game and a couple of great shots on goal and played a crucial role in gaining possession for the winning goal).

One 0-point game doesn't make or break his career.

 

[BB88]

Why do you consider Pulkkinen a rookie? He's an NHL drafted prospect that already played nearly a season's worth of games, and was drafted 6 years ago...

He's never played for Finland before, neither has Aho, neither has Laine.
Aho was the most complete player in Liiga and was benched, learn that Finns don't play them in those situations.

 

[Brewsky]

Laine cant drive a line himself


I said after the Juniors in comparing Pulju to Laine that Pulju plays like he can own a line. Laine on the other hand will be more complementary. Not that it means anything pointwise.

Agree with this, Poolparty seems to be the engine of a line, where he can drive it, just sucks he wasn't on the Finland team, would've loved to see his wheels.

 

[Pyromaniac]

I think it says alot. Matthews was going head to head with an elite C player already NHL seasoned in Barkov, used in all situations, solid defensively and was buzzing offensively.

For Matthews and Larkin to be the best players on a US team that had no business being in the game and only lost by 1 goal says a lot for those 2 young players.

The quality of Team USA's lineup today had a steep drop after Larkin, Matthews and Foligno is all I meant. The rest of the forwards just aren't as good.

Laine has more competition in guys like Aho, Granlund, Barkov, Koivu, Komarov and Pulkinen.

 

[Brewsky]

He's never played for Finland before, neither has Aho, neither has Laine.
Aho was the most complete player in Liiga and was benched, learn that Finns don't play them in those situations.

So you mean a IIHF WC rookie? Please define what a rookie is because by your standards, Steven Stamkos would be a rookie if he played in the Olympics since he never played before?

So confused.

 

[TheFinnishTrap]

Laine had some bad turnovers and lazy penalties.

Laine cant drive a line himself


I said after the Juniors in comparing Pulju to Laine that Pulju plays like he can own a line. Laine on the other hand will be more complementary. Not that it means anything pointwise.

When Laine got going today, it sure looked like he could carry his line, luckily his linemates woke up too. Again, somewhat strange to say that Laine, yes that playoffs MVP winning guy, can't carry a line. That's basically what he did for a lot of the playoffs.

 

[Booster*]

TSN doing its best to prop up Mathews over Laine...

They truly want Toronto to get Mathews...or must be something else...dont know..

They seem to be doing a hatchet job on Laine...

"Laine Struggles" headline...

TSN artice was pathetic, why does a canadian newspaper have such bias towards Matthews?

Matthews was good Laine wasn´t bad, he had 1 turnover, wich caused a weak shot the goalie should have stopped. Also Laine didn´t get to play hardly any PP, he felt hot when he got some shots in the first.

Barkov was man of the match. In team US Hanifin.

 

[BB88]

So you mean a IIHF WC rookie? Please define what a rookie is because by your standards, Steven Stamkos would be a rookie if he played in the Olympics since he never played before?

So confused.

You are pushing for Matthews too hard here, you don't even want to think for a moment, none of these 3 are proven NHL players, they are all young players and rookies for team Finland.

Finland would have used Koivu, Granlund, Barkov, Jokinen, Komarov over Matthews in this same exact situation.

 

[AndyA]

So you mean a IIHF WC rookie? Please define what a rookie is because by your standards, Steven Stamkos would be a rookie if he played in the Olympics since he never played before?

So confused.

Veteran defensively solid players get the preference over inexperienced young players. MOD

 

[hirawl]

I liked the US team. Made it almost impossible for the Finns to get clean breakouts. No passes to the wingers on the fly.

Matthews looked impressive. Quite the complete skill set with some very obvious hockey smarts. He's going to be a hell of a player.

Laine got some Jagr type of hands. Some slick moves with great reach to hold on to the puck. He'll be a special one when he gets more muscle.

The best players were Hanifin and Barkov.

 

[Lonny Bohonos]

When Laine got going today, it sure looked like he could carry his line, luckily his linemates woke up too. Again, somewhat strange to say that Laine, yes that playoffs MVP winning guy, can't carry a line. That's basically what he did for a lot of the playoffs.

I dont know what MVP has to do with carrying a line. You can be considered an MVP and not necessarily a "line carrier".

 

[skillhockey]

TSN artice was pathetic, why does a canadian newspaper have such bias towards Matthews?

Matthews was good Laine wasn´t bad, he had 1 turnover, wich caused a weak shot the goalie should have stopped. Also Laine didn´t get to play hardly any PP, he felt hot when he got some shots in the first.

Barkov was man of the match. In team US Hanifin.

Matthews was solid. Laine had some good looks and plays. Anyhow, it was good game. Gotta wait and see whole tournament, hope both get all 10 games and then can get some overall view on both. This is very rare occasion you can watch 2 top picks in this kind of situation.

 

[Murky]

Irony...who led USA exactly? Matthews and Larkin were consistently the most dangerous US forwards. You should really heed your own advice.

I am Matthews #1 guy. My eyes are open. Consider that and check the game again, if you have it. Laine showed every bit as many glimpses of brilliance as Matthews did, and neither of them had nearly enough to be considered to have lead anything.

However Laine also had some bad moments, worst of which was to stop playing in anticipation of the whistle that never came. His penalty was total weak sauce though, so that can't be held against him.

All in all Matthews had a better game than Laine, but he did nothing to write home about either. Unless you really really want to write home about Matthews. And I can clearly see quite a few people doing just that.

 

[Brewsky]

You are pushing for Matthews too hard here, you don't even want to think for a moment, none of these 3 are proven NHL players, they are all young players and rookies for team Finland.

Finland would have used Koivu, Granlund, Barkov, Jokinen, Komarov over Matthews in this same exact situation.

My question had nothing to do with Matthews...I asked the following:

So you mean a IIHF WC rookie? Please define what a rookie is because by your standards, Steven Stamkos would be a rookie if he played in the Olympics since he never played before?

Please answer the aforementioned question, it will help me understand your definition of "rookie" better.

 

[agent082]

I said after the Juniors in comparing Pulju to Laine that Pulju plays like he can own a line. Laine on the other hand will be more complementary. Not that it means anything pointwise.

Pulju on a beast mode is quite impressive sight. Too bad there is so big of a difference when he is playing 99 % and when he is playing 100%. But he is still a young kid and can develope to be more consistent.

 

[FinRanger]

My question had nothing to do with Matthews...I asked the following:



Please answer the aforementioned question, it will help me understand your definition of "rookie" better.

Jalonen played defence-oriented players.. Shows that how good Finland is in coaching. We have the best coaches and systems in the world. It is understandable that you don`t understand.

 

[Lonny Bohonos]

Pulju on a beast mode is quite impressive sight. Too bad there is so big of a difference when he is playing 99 % and when he is playing 100%. But he is still a young kid and can develope to be more consistent.

Im hoping the Laine hype, PL Dubois hype, Tkachuk hype, Edmonton needing Dmen badly all culminate in Pulju dropping to 5th where the Canucks can snap him up.

Fingers crossed.

 

[snipes]

Jalonen played defence-oriented players.. Shows that how good Finland is in coaching. We have the best coaches and systems in the world. It is understandable that you don`t understand.

Mike Babcock and Joel Quenneville are pretty damn good coaches

 

[BusQuets]

~15minutes of serious play was enough for Finland this time. USA played very well and gave everything. Finland has to be better against Canada though.

 

[agent082]

Matthews isn't Sundin. Sundin would have scored couple of goals in the last minute.

 

[TimeZone]

Kind of felt bad for Matthews and Larkin at some points during the game, everyone else on USA really looked lackluster, offensively at least. Hanifin looked good on D. Maroon....I don't even know what to say about this guy.

Barkov, Komarov had great games for Finland. I thought Laine was more quiet than usual, had a bad turnover, took a rough penalty and didn't seem as dominant as usual outside of a couple shifts.