Is there an issue with Finnish development system ?

[Mestaruus]

Various valid questions here, but any negative reference to the U20 tournament may be an overreaction. This is a game of moments and fine margins. Finland was 2-0 up in the semis and very narrowly lost 2-3; had they managed to get the W, regardless of the outcome of the gold medal game, everyone would speak of this tournament as a tremendous Finnish success. Likewise, the tournament would be regarded as relatively successful (albeit with a painful semifinal loss) had the bronze medal game ended a mere minute before it ended… Small margins.

Honestly, the bronze didn't matter that much. It was more about how everything happened.

It was a miracle that Finland was able to get that far (4th) with that kind of penalty killing. Literally every time there was a PP for opponent, opponent would score. The only question was, how many seconds it would take for the opposing team to score. Very often it took just 10-12 seconds. It was more of Finland's weakness than opponents' PP ability, because it was a repeating pattern game after game.

Add to that the fact that Finland's own PP was also below average. Usually a team can't go far with just even strength play.

Then there was the thing that the coaching staff wasn't able to coach second periods. Choosing the starting goalie wasn't so great either. #1 goalie with 1-4 record, while the back up goalie had 2-0 record, with one win against Sweden.

On top of this all, the Finnish press said during the tournament that this same head coach would be continuing next year. I don't think a single Finnish ice hockey fan wants to see that, except that coache's wife maybe.

 

[SantosHalper]

Would there be so much concern if Finland hadn't blown that bronze medal game yesterday? Finland's won medals in 6 out of the last 8 Winter Olympics (pro tournaments except the Gold they won in 2022). 2 Golds and 3 Silvers in the last 10 World Championships. 2 Golds, 1 Silver and 1 Bronze in the last 10 World Juniors. 2 of the Top 10 NHL players in scoring at the moment. From the outside, it looks like things are going pretty well.

Yes. Like i have already mentioned, there was a crisis meeting that took place in 2008 or 09, around that time anyway. Erkka Westerlund called the meeting and basically said that finnish hockey is going to shitter. Then they did some changes to junior coaching and the result was what you just listed.

But the problem is that we stopped evolving with the times, hockey evolves all the time and Finland is stucked to what they decided more than 15 years ago. Big problem is skating, even our most elite players biggest problem is skating. Except Heiskanen, but Heiskanen put lot of work in his skating.

Biggest problem along with skating is Liiga, the level of hockey has plummet. There is just too many teams(16 next season) and not enough quality players therefore not enough competition. And also there is no relegation round, the bottom tier teams can sell off most of the team and play the remaining games with 3 lines and 2 of them are filled with U20 players. Absolute mockery of competetive sport.

If there is no competition how can our players develop to high standart of todays hockey? People in this threat focus too much on past results, when the problem is the future. Our top prospects in up coming draft, what are their ceilings? Helenius 2C? Hemming middle-6 winger, most likely another Kapanen. Kiviharju will be a bust, most over hyped and overrated prospect in finnish history. Veeti Väisänen, next Jokiharju or Honka?

Finland winning a medal would have just made the Finnish ice hockey association to turn the blind eye on these problems. They have all the money and power to fix this mess, but last 2 years they have been more interested selling tickets to big corporations. Which totally ruined the atmosphere in B2B home tournaments. Compare the 2016 WJC tournament atmosphere, created by real hockey fans to the atmosphere created by the corporate clowns in 2022 & 2023.

View attachment 797531

View attachment 797532

Just look at these numbers....... blaming on the coaching staff is easy but only few coaches can turn shit to chocolate.

Still going back to skating, see just how fast paced game the gold medal game was. There is no way in hell Finland could have kept up with that. And our kids supposed to play in "pro league".

 

[Czechboy]

Yes. Like i have already mentioned, there was a crisis meeting that took place in 2008 or 09, around that time anyway. Erkka Westerlund called the meeting and basically said that finnish hockey is going to shitter. Then they did some changes to junior coaching and the result was what you just listed.

But the problem is that we stopped evolving with the times, hockey evolves all the time and Finland is stucked to what they decided more than 15 years ago. Big problem is skating, even our most elite players biggest problem is skating. Except Heiskanen, but Heiskanen put lot of work in his skating.

Biggest problem along with skating is Liiga, the level of hockey has plummet. There is just too many teams(16 next season) and not enough quality players therefore not enough competition. And also there is no relegation round, the bottom tier teams can sell off most of the team and play the remaining games with 3 lines and 2 of them are filled with U20 players. Absolute mockery of competetive sport.

If there is no competition how can our players develop to high standart of todays hockey? People in this threat focus too much on past results, when the problem is the future. Our top prospects in up coming draft, what are their ceilings? Helenius 2C? Hemming middle-6 winger, most likely another Kapanen. Kiviharju will be a bust, most over hyped and overrated prospect in finnish history. Veeti Väisänen, next Jokiharju or Honka?

Finland winning a medal would have just made the Finnish ice hockey association to turn the blind eye on these problems. They have all the money and power to fix this mess, but last 2 years they have been more interested selling tickets to big corporations. Which totally ruined the atmosphere in B2B home tournaments. Compare the 2016 WJC tournament atmosphere, created by real hockey fans to the atmosphere created by the corporate clowns in 2022 & 2023.



Just look at these numbers....... blaming on the coaching staff is easy but only few coaches can turn shit to chocolate.

Still going back to skating, see just how fast paced game the gold medal game was. There is no way in hell Finland could have kept up with that. And our kids supposed to play in "pro league".

It's funny because a lot of our better Czechs are going to FInland because our leagues are so bad and the Finn's are saying their league is bad. If I'm being honest, when I hear a good Czech prospect goes to Finland I am happy they left Czech league. Malek and Malik might be the next 2 after Dostal. Hamara was our best D and he came from your system and not ours. Kos brothers, I think a Svozil.

 

[SantosHalper]

It's funny because a lot of our better Czechs are going to FInland because our leagues are so bad and the Finn's are saying their league is bad. If I'm being honest, when I hear a good Czech prospect goes to Finland I am happy they left Czech league. Malek and Malik might be the next 2 after Dostal. Hamara was our best D and he came from your system and not ours. Kos brothers, I think a Svozil.

But they leave pretty fast. Best finnish '07 born went to play in Sweden, there is something seriously wrong in finnish player development now.

But Finland still plays very well as a team, so maybe that is the best lesson your boys learn from Finland. But then they leave to get actually better in hockey.

I think Radek Koblizek is the only Czech who stayed in Finland to have career here. Arrived to Finland when he was 15, after that 1 season in Czechia but all the other seasons in Finland. And he's not really the biggest gun you got in Europe.

Back in the day Liiga use to have stars from Czechia. Janecky, Caloun, Tenkrat, Bros, Ujcik, Rosa, Machulda, Ton, Kucera, Kohn, Vykoukal, Zidlicky, Kucharnik, those were the days.

 

[Czechboy]

But they leave pretty fast. Best finnish '07 born went to play in Sweden, there is something seriously wrong in finnish player development now.

But Finland still plays very well as a team, so maybe that is the best lesson your boys learn from Finland. But then they leave to get actually better in hockey.

I think Radek Koblizek is the only Czech who stayed in Finland to have career here. Arrived to Finland when he was 15, after that 1 season in Czechia but all the other seasons in Finland. And he's not really the biggest gun you got in Europe.

Back in the day Liiga use to have stars from Czechia. Janecky, Caloun, Tenkrat, Bros, Ujcik, Rosa, Machulda, Ton, Kucera, Kohn, Vykoukal, Zidlicky, Kucharnik, those were the days.

I feel like we always have a bunch in your league...

with KHL not an option a lot of Czechs seems to cycle between Sweden/Finland and hope for a NLA gig.

Several NT members in here.... Bares just got Bronze. Kovarcik brothers doing well on EHT. Masin with a comeback tour and may make Prague team. Zabransky has strong extraliga ties and still left.lol I am hoping Kral is on our team in Spring. Jordan has always been on the NT but the Czech posters don't like him very much.haha

 

[Czechboy]

I feel like we always have a bunch in your league...

with KHL not an option a lot of Czechs seems to cycle between Sweden/Finland and hope for a NLA gig.
View attachment 797697

Several NT members in here.... Bares just got Bronze. Kovarcik brothers doing well on EHT. Masin with a comeback tour and may make Prague team. Zabransky has strong extraliga ties and still left.lol I am hoping Kral is on our team in Spring. Jordan has always been on the NT but the Czech posters don't like him very much.haha

Liiga may have more NT guys in Prague than Extraliga.lol

 

[SantosHalper]

Liiga may have more NT guys in Prague than Extraliga.lol

Well yeah, Team Finland for starters.

 

[WayTooCold]

While Finns have first-hand knowledge of what's going on, sometimes an outside perspective is a little less emotional and biased.

Would there be so much concern if Finland hadn't blown that bronze medal game yesterday? Finland's won medals in 6 out of the last 8 Winter Olympics (pro tournaments except the Gold they won in 2022). 2 Golds and 3 Silvers in the last 10 World Championships. 2 Golds, 1 Silver and 1 Bronze in the last 10 World Juniors. 2 of the Top 10 NHL players in scoring at the moment. From the outside, it looks like things are going pretty well.

It's kinda a bad sign when our team could only play the first period then gas out in the second.
FEL is so soft. On Czech team Künichi trains 1000 shots everyday. Nobody on Finnish team does that.

Those:
1 x Olympic gold
3 x WCH golds
1 x WJC gold
were headcoached by J. Jalonen. w/o Jalonen take those 5 gold medals out and it looks really bad.

 

[Czechboy]

It's kinda a bad sign when our team could only play the first period then gas out in the second.
FEL is so soft. On Czech team Künichi trains 1000 shots everyday. Nobody on Finnish team does that.

Those:
1 x Olympic gold
3 x WCH golds
1 x WJC gold
were headcoached by J. Jalonen. w/o Jalonen take those 5 gold medals out and it looks really bad.

I mean, yes, if you take away all those sensational gold's then things are really bad.

 

[Mestaruus]

It's funny because a lot of our better Czechs are going to FInland because our leagues are so bad and the Finn's are saying their league is bad. If I'm being honest, when I hear a good Czech prospect goes to Finland I am happy they left Czech league. Malek and Malik might be the next 2 after Dostal. Hamara was our best D and he came from your system and not ours. Kos brothers, I think a Svozil.

I would say that the top players of the Finnish League/Liiga are pretty good, but the overall level may not be what some Finnish fans would hope for. Maybe those Czechia players you mentioned are Liiga's cream of the crop as well and these players would get some of the best salary in Liiga. There's a good bunch of Finnish players in Liiga now that would still be in KHL if that was an option. I'd say at least 15 of them. The number could actually be close to 20-30. I'm not quite sure. To mention a few: Pakarinen, Jori Lehterä, Ohtamaa, Petteri Lindbohm, Melart, Kemppainen, Oula Palve and that's only a few of the older players. The list is quite lenghty. KHL disappearing as an option for players and coaches did raise the level of Liiga a bit, but that had same effect on all leagues. When you pay a lot to these KHL level players, the teams' budgets most likely get tighter from the other end and they would cut the salaries of the players that aren't as good.

 

[ChicagoBullsFan]

Lätkäjunioreiden evakuointi kiihtyy – suomalaislupaukset siirretään Liigasta Pohjois-Amerikan kaukaloihin kehittymään | Aitio

NHL:n piirissä ei enää luoteta suomalaiseen juniorijääkiekkojärjestelmään eikä edes SM-liigaan. Seuraus on, että lupaavimmat suomalaispelaajat kutsutaan jo varhain Pohjois-Amerikkaan kehittymään.

www.apu.fi

Can someone translate this.
My computer skills aren't enough good for translating lond articles.

 

[Albatros]

Lätkäjunioreiden evakuointi kiihtyy – suomalaislupaukset siirretään Liigasta Pohjois-Amerikan kaukaloihin kehittymään | Aitio

NHL:n piirissä ei enää luoteta suomalaiseen juniorijääkiekkojärjestelmään eikä edes SM-liigaan. Seuraus on, että lupaavimmat suomalaispelaajat kutsutaan jo varhain Pohjois-Amerikkaan kehittymään.

www.apu.fi

Can someone translate this.
My computer skills aren't enough good for translating lond articles.

Mestis & U20 Liiga suck because of too many teams, therefore NHL prospects are encouraged to go to NA juniors instead.

 

[SantosHalper]

Lätkäjunioreiden evakuointi kiihtyy – suomalaislupaukset siirretään Liigasta Pohjois-Amerikan kaukaloihin kehittymään | Aitio

NHL:n piirissä ei enää luoteta suomalaiseen juniorijääkiekkojärjestelmään eikä edes SM-liigaan. Seuraus on, että lupaavimmat suomalaispelaajat kutsutaan jo varhain Pohjois-Amerikkaan kehittymään.

www.apu.fi

Can someone translate this.
My computer skills aren't enough good for translating lond articles.

The evacuation of hockey juniors is accelerating - the Finnish prospects are transferred from the Liiga to North American rinks to develop, The NHL no longer trusts the Finnish junior hockey system or even the Liiga. The result is that the most promising Finnish players are already called to North America to develop.

Spoiler

The burgeoning crisis of player production in Finnish hockey is a topic that has been written about in increasing numbers in the domestic media in recent years, mostly in connection with the annual NHL draft event And no reason.

The number of Finnish top-level promises and generally drafted players has undeniably been on the decline since the mid-to-late 2010s. The sample size is starting to be enough that the decline cannot be explained by variance alone, even though it always has its own keys in the game.

The phenomenon is worrisome from the point of view of finnish hockey and it should definitely be discussed. The draft class for the upcoming season is shaping up to be historically weak in terms of Finns, so we will certainly see speeches in the future as well.

However, just as much attention should also be focused on the status of domestic ice hockey as a developer of the promises that will come to the reserve age and those that have already been reserved. During the last week, it has been reported again that several Finnish prospects will move to the North American junior leagues next season.

"It is a stark fact that in many cases NHL organizations do not see Finland as the best development environment for their own Finnish prospects."

Spoiler

Emil Hemming, drafted in the first round at this summer's draft, signed a rookie contract with the Dallas Stars a few weeks ago, and soon after it was announced that the promising winger will join the ranks of the OHL club Barrie Colts for the upcoming season. In the Ice Hockey Federation's recent announcement regarding the Finnish Hlinka Gretzky Cup team, goalkeeper Patrik Kerkola, who is considered one of the most promising goalkeepers born in 2007, is also listed as a Colts player.

Kasper Pikkarainen, a third-round pick of the New Jersey Devils, will move to the WHL club Red Deer Rebels, while Jesse Nurmi, who went through KooKoo's junior pipeline and played in League matches in the previous three seasons, is a year older, is jumping to the OHL's perennial contender London Knights. More transfer news will probably be received before the start of the season, as a record number of Finnish players, a total of 15, were selected at the CHL draft for European players organized at the beginning of July.

Also, the Finnish players Kasper Halttunen and Rasmus Kumpulainen, who were the first to be drafted at the summer 2023 NHL draft, left the domestic rinks a year ago for the following season. Arttu Kärki and Tuomas Uronen also came to the same decision. Of course, Finnish juniors - including promising ones - have moved to North America before. However, the pace has been accelerating in recent years.

It is a harsh fact that in many cases NHL organizations do not see Finland as the best development environment for their own Finnish prospects. Instead, they are often tried to get them to the other side of the Atlantic as quickly as possible. For example, in the case of Hemming, the Stars have probably made a rookie contract at such an early stage precisely so that the organization could influence the player's playing position and bring him to the OHL. This is despite the fact that Hemming played the majority of last season with the TPS men's team and would probably have already received a more permanent responsibility in the result chains in the coming season.

Konsta Helenius, the crown jewel of Finnish player production in recent years, also immediately signed a rookie contract with the Buffalo Sabres. If a direct NHL spot does not become available in the fall, the Sabers want Helenius to develop in the AHL, according to the latest reports. That is, instead of him playing one more season in the League as the number one center of the best team in the Liiga, Tappara.

"The absence of competition makes you lazy."

Spoiler

In the end, the root cause of the change is, in all its simplicity, the decline in the level of Finnish leagues. Not only the Liiga, but perhaps even above all Mestis and the U20 SM series. Mestis condition has been alarming for a long time. From a competitive point of view, the level has sunk really low, and almost no club's daily life is at such a level that NHL organizations could send their promises there and sleep soundly at night.

The number of teams in the U20 Liiga has exploded at the latest during the corona years, and at the same time the average level has taken a hit. The league clubs' mandate places also have their own share in the loss of the series. The lack of competition makes you lazy. It is certain that these arrangements do not serve Finnish player development in any way.

The weakness of Mestis and the U20 SM series has led to the fact that if a suitably large role cannot be planned for the NHL prospect from the Liiga, there are simply no good alternatives in terms of development. In particular, players who have already played through the U20 SM series, but who are not yet ready for a regular League team, are in the current situation intermediate players, for whom the Canadian junior leagues is often the only reasonable solution. And as mentioned above, even players who would probably get a significant role in the League are constantly leaving.

"It can be said that Finnish hockey is going through a transitional phase to some extent."

Spoiler

Undeniably, one factor is also how different style of game is played in Finland compared to North American series. This especially affects the defenders, who have to operate under completely different pressure in North America compared to what they are used to in Finland. This is one of the reasons why the jump from the League to the AHL – not to mention the NHL – is challenging for many.

If we look at Sweden, the situation appears very different.The SHL's reputation as a league that develops quality young players has not experienced a similar drop. You can't even talk about HockeyAllsvenskan in the same sentence as Mestis, and even for first-round picks, it is often a good option as a venue for the season after the draft, for example. The country's highest junior league is also clearly ahead of its Finnish counterpart. There is almost always a suitable option for each situation.

Although the rinks are wide like in Finland, on average more active and fast-paced ice hockey is played in Sweden. The skating and skill requirement is higher, you can't get over or around it. I dare to suspect that this also has something to do with why in recent history Sweden has produced significantly more potential NHL prospects than Finland, especially well-moved defenders.Although Finland occasionally attracts promising foreign juniors from Central European countries, the choices of NHL potential individuals are directed to our neighboring country with a clearly higher percentage.

Of course, players from Sweden also move to North America from time to time, and the university route in particular is constantly growing in popularity. However, the differences in numbers compared to Finland are significant, especially when talking about top prospects. Almost half as many Swedish players have been picked at the CHL draft as Finns in the past two years. Of the ten Swedish players picked in the first three rounds of this summer's NHL draft, only one is choosing the NCAA path, while the others will remain in their home country for the time being.

Spoiler

It can be said that Finnish hockey is going through a somewhat transitional phase. The opening of the league and the return of the relegation round is a big change and definitely a step in the right direction, but in the end it is unlikely to have a great effect on increasing the attractiveness of Finland as a developer of NHL prospects.

Regarding the number of teams, we are rather going in the wrong direction, as it will increase by one next season. The decision also does not change the course of Mestis. In the U20 Liiga, the mandate places of Liiga clubs were finally removed during the summer. This is also a good move and will force certain clubs that previously neglected their flagship of the junior side to invest more. But again, the decision alone doesn't solve anything.

The upcoming season will start again with a preliminary series of no less than 18 teams. Ridiculous. There would clearly be an order for more radical changes, even if they would irritate some parties. Cutting the number of teams at all the above levels - and more aggressively reforming league systems in general - would be a good start and probably the single measure that would also have the biggest positive impact.

At the end of the day, I believe that the development and nurturing of Finnish player production are - or at least they should be - relatively high on finnish hockey's agenda. If the course is not reversed, Finnish top prospects will head abroad in even greater numbers and at an earlier stage.

 

[Yozhik v tumane]

The evacuation of hockey juniors is accelerating - the Finnish prospects are transferred from the Liiga to North American rinks to develop, The NHL no longer trusts the Finnish junior hockey system or even the Liiga. The result is that the most promising Finnish players are already called to North America to develop.

Spoiler

The burgeoning crisis of player production in Finnish hockey is a topic that has been written about in increasing numbers in the domestic media in recent years, mostly in connection with the annual NHL draft event And no reason.

The number of Finnish top-level promises and generally drafted players has undeniably been on the decline since the mid-to-late 2010s. The sample size is starting to be enough that the decline cannot be explained by variance alone, even though it always has its own keys in the game.

The phenomenon is worrisome from the point of view of finnish hockey and it should definitely be discussed. The draft class for the upcoming season is shaping up to be historically weak in terms of Finns, so we will certainly see speeches in the future as well.

However, just as much attention should also be focused on the status of domestic ice hockey as a developer of the promises that will come to the reserve age and those that have already been reserved. During the last week, it has been reported again that several Finnish prospects will move to the North American junior leagues next season.

"It is a stark fact that in many cases NHL organizations do not see Finland as the best development environment for their own Finnish prospects."

Spoiler

Emil Hemming, drafted in the first round at this summer's draft, signed a rookie contract with the Dallas Stars a few weeks ago, and soon after it was announced that the promising winger will join the ranks of the OHL club Barrie Colts for the upcoming season. In the Ice Hockey Federation's recent announcement regarding the Finnish Hlinka Gretzky Cup team, goalkeeper Patrik Kerkola, who is considered one of the most promising goalkeepers born in 2007, is also listed as a Colts player.

Kasper Pikkarainen, a third-round pick of the New Jersey Devils, will move to the WHL club Red Deer Rebels, while Jesse Nurmi, who went through KooKoo's junior pipeline and played in League matches in the previous three seasons, is a year older, is jumping to the OHL's perennial contender London Knights. More transfer news will probably be received before the start of the season, as a record number of Finnish players, a total of 15, were selected at the CHL draft for European players organized at the beginning of July.

Also, the Finnish players Kasper Halttunen and Rasmus Kumpulainen, who were the first to be drafted at the summer 2023 NHL draft, left the domestic rinks a year ago for the following season. Arttu Kärki and Tuomas Uronen also came to the same decision. Of course, Finnish juniors - including promising ones - have moved to North America before. However, the pace has been accelerating in recent years.

It is a harsh fact that in many cases NHL organizations do not see Finland as the best development environment for their own Finnish prospects. Instead, they are often tried to get them to the other side of the Atlantic as quickly as possible. For example, in the case of Hemming, the Stars have probably made a rookie contract at such an early stage precisely so that the organization could influence the player's playing position and bring him to the OHL. This is despite the fact that Hemming played the majority of last season with the TPS men's team and would probably have already received a more permanent responsibility in the result chains in the coming season.

Konsta Helenius, the crown jewel of Finnish player production in recent years, also immediately signed a rookie contract with the Buffalo Sabres. If a direct NHL spot does not become available in the fall, the Sabers want Helenius to develop in the AHL, according to the latest reports. That is, instead of him playing one more season in the League as the number one center of the best team in the Liiga, Tappara.

"The absence of competition makes you lazy."

Spoiler

In the end, the root cause of the change is, in all its simplicity, the decline in the level of Finnish leagues. Not only the Liiga, but perhaps even above all Mestis and the U20 SM series. Mestis condition has been alarming for a long time. From a competitive point of view, the level has sunk really low, and almost no club's daily life is at such a level that NHL organizations could send their promises there and sleep soundly at night.

The number of teams in the U20 Liiga has exploded at the latest during the corona years, and at the same time the average level has taken a hit. The league clubs' mandate places also have their own share in the loss of the series. The lack of competition makes you lazy. It is certain that these arrangements do not serve Finnish player development in any way.

The weakness of Mestis and the U20 SM series has led to the fact that if a suitably large role cannot be planned for the NHL prospect from the Liiga, there are simply no good alternatives in terms of development. In particular, players who have already played through the U20 SM series, but who are not yet ready for a regular League team, are in the current situation intermediate players, for whom the Canadian junior leagues is often the only reasonable solution. And as mentioned above, even players who would probably get a significant role in the League are constantly leaving.

"It can be said that Finnish hockey is going through a transitional phase to some extent."

Spoiler

Undeniably, one factor is also how different style of game is played in Finland compared to North American series. This especially affects the defenders, who have to operate under completely different pressure in North America compared to what they are used to in Finland. This is one of the reasons why the jump from the League to the AHL – not to mention the NHL – is challenging for many.

If we look at Sweden, the situation appears very different.The SHL's reputation as a league that develops quality young players has not experienced a similar drop. You can't even talk about HockeyAllsvenskan in the same sentence as Mestis, and even for first-round picks, it is often a good option as a venue for the season after the draft, for example. The country's highest junior league is also clearly ahead of its Finnish counterpart. There is almost always a suitable option for each situation.

Although the rinks are wide like in Finland, on average more active and fast-paced ice hockey is played in Sweden. The skating and skill requirement is higher, you can't get over or around it. I dare to suspect that this also has something to do with why in recent history Sweden has produced significantly more potential NHL prospects than Finland, especially well-moved defenders.Although Finland occasionally attracts promising foreign juniors from Central European countries, the choices of NHL potential individuals are directed to our neighboring country with a clearly higher percentage.

Of course, players from Sweden also move to North America from time to time, and the university route in particular is constantly growing in popularity. However, the differences in numbers compared to Finland are significant, especially when talking about top prospects. Almost half as many Swedish players have been picked at the CHL draft as Finns in the past two years. Of the ten Swedish players picked in the first three rounds of this summer's NHL draft, only one is choosing the NCAA path, while the others will remain in their home country for the time being.

Spoiler

It can be said that Finnish hockey is going through a somewhat transitional phase. The opening of the league and the return of the relegation round is a big change and definitely a step in the right direction, but in the end it is unlikely to have a great effect on increasing the attractiveness of Finland as a developer of NHL prospects.

Regarding the number of teams, we are rather going in the wrong direction, as it will increase by one next season. The decision also does not change the course of Mestis. In the U20 Liiga, the mandate places of Liiga clubs were finally removed during the summer. This is also a good move and will force certain clubs that previously neglected their flagship of the junior side to invest more. But again, the decision alone doesn't solve anything.

The upcoming season will start again with a preliminary series of no less than 18 teams. Ridiculous. There would clearly be an order for more radical changes, even if they would irritate some parties. Cutting the number of teams at all the above levels - and more aggressively reforming league systems in general - would be a good start and probably the single measure that would also have the biggest positive impact.

At the end of the day, I believe that the development and nurturing of Finnish player production are - or at least they should be - relatively high on finnish hockey's agenda. If the course is not reversed, Finnish top prospects will head abroad in even greater numbers and at an earlier stage.

Thank you for translating this. Very interesting read.

(Also seems to echo a lot of the sentiments in this thread)

 

[alko]

What is actually a problem? What i see, that Finns are still top players in NHL. Top players in Europe.

Many Finns are drafted, also in 1th round

 

[Albatros]

What is actually a problem? What i see, that Finns are still top players in NHL. Top players in Europe.

Many Finns are drafted, also in 1th round

The leagues are not nearly as competitive as they could be, the first tiers have too many teams and that then also affects the lower leagues making them unsuitable for exceptionally talented players. Especially if you're not quite ready for Liiga there's nothing else for you in Finland that could match foreign options.

 

[Jukurit]

Hlinka team is looking absolutely terrible. Most players on the team can't pass, shoot, skate, handle the puck or play physical. So unskilled. 2007 looks like the worst Finnish age group in a long time. There won't be many Finns drafted in 2025 draft.

 

[WayTooCold]

The Finns have to work not sport. They don't time to ski and run around all day as rich Norwegians.

 

[ChicagoBullsFan]

MSN

If this is true i wouldn't be surprised if / when Finland plays relegation round next U18 WJC's.

 

[Albatros]

If this is true i wouldn't be surprised if / when Finland plays relegation round next U18 WJC's.

Heh, no. They're not going to lose to both Norway and Latvia.

 

[WarriorofTime]

Finland failed to win a single medal at the Summer Olympics for the first time ever.

It seems like Hockey is part of a broader issue with the status of sport in Finland right now.

 

[Albatros]

Not really. Hockey has abundant resources besides the fact that it's become a middle class or upper middle class sport. Hundreds of people make a good living in professional hockey in Finland alone. In most Olympic sports you just don't have a whole lot of people wanting to devote all their time, money, and effort only for the sake of uncertain Olympic success without any real future perspectives beyond that.

 

[WarriorofTime]

In most Olympic sports you just don't have a whole lot of people wanting to devote all their time, money, and effort only for the sake of uncertain Olympic success without any real future perspectives beyond that.

You realize that's the same everywhere, of course?

 

[Albatros]

You realize that's the same everywhere, of course?

Not really, for example in the United States most Olympic athletes are full-time professionals. The most successful are millionaires. Many also got to go to college thanks to their athletic excellence, making it worthwhile even if they never reached Olympic glory.

 

[WarriorofTime]

Not really, for example in the United States most Olympic athletes are full-time professionals. The most successful are millionaires. Many also got to go to college thanks to their athletic excellence, making it worthwhile even if they never reached Olympic glory.

There is not a lot of money in most Olympic sports.

If every other country is able to figure it out, but Finland can't, that's an issue with Finnish sports.