Random question: who is the best Finn to ever play for Toronto?

[Suntouchable13]

This is pretty random, but I thought I’d start this thread anyway to see what people think. I know we’ve had some great players from Sweden play for us, but not that many from Finland. So who is the best Finn to ever play for Toronto Maple Leafs? Is it the legendary Aki Berg?

Leo Komarov? But he is not even an 100% ethnic Finn. So who is the best Finn to ever play for Toronto?

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[notDatsyuk]

I'd go with Komarov, but if you exclude him then probably Kasperi Kapanen.

Berg or Jyrki Lumme (anyone remember him?) on D.

Even including Leo there are only 9 skaters to choose from.

Only 3 goalies, with Toskala the only one to appear in more than a couple of games.


An all-Finnish Leafs lineup:

Hagman - Komarov - Kapanen
Lumme - Berg
Toskala

 

[nuck]

You are kind of getting into a "who's who" of Eurostuds athletes. Nik Hagman?

 

[ACC1224]

Aki Berg is the most underrated Leaf of all time.

 

[TMLAM34]

The legendary Olli Jokinen.

 

[notDatsyuk]

I just realized that my 'lineup' includes every Finn who has played more than 9 games as a Leaf.

 

[The Iceman]

ask again in 5 years and hopefully Hakanpaa, Topi or Roni are the answers...

Underrated Finn would be Nik Hagman who scored 42 goals over 2 seasons and 120 GP
About a 28G pace over 80 games.

 

[ITM]

In terms of ability it has to be Olli Jokinen, then Lumme, then Hagman, the latter of which had the best/biggest impact by far; Loved Niklas Hagman as a Leaf.

Edited to add: And the cycle (i.e. Phaneuf) that Hagman

 

[Stephen]

Out of the big hockey nations, Finland is probably the country Toronto has never had that much of a connection to. The best Finn to ever be part of the Leafs organization was Tuukka Rask.

 

[Brown Dog]

I really liked Niklas Hagman. Actually had his jersey back in the day (God, that's pathetic!).

 

[TMLBlueandWhite]

I mean, Jokinen played six games with the Leafs... should he even count?

There hasn't been many Finnish players on the team over the years. Not good enough to be worth remembering anyway. When it comes to drafting quality hockey players Finland just isn't as attractive as Sweden.

Nobody wants to take home the ugly stepbrother.

 

[al secord]

Aki Berg is the most underrated Leaf of all time.

He's the brunt of every idiot Leaf fan's joke. If you grew up in the Era, he was very solid. He took a lot of heat for being drafted 2nd overall. That wasn't his fault.

I always enjoyed Joe Bowan saying "Jyrki Lumme"

 

[trellaine201]

I thought Kapanen was pretty good.

 

[TheScandal89]

Matt Finn of course

 

[Canadian Finn]

when it comes to impact on the leafs, it was Leo.

 

[garce]

Aki Berg is the most underrated Leaf of all time.

He was solid and physical enough. Overdrive guys mention him in disparaging terms way too much,

 

[Gabriel426]

Considering only Leo was the All Star of the bunch, going to say Leo

 

[Menzinger]

Of the guys who were semi-regulars, probably Aki Berg

Komarov was also fun, and had that one wild season

 

[Ianturnedbull]

I miss Uncle Leo.

He has my vote.

 

[Jimmy Firecracker]

Out of the big hockey nations, Finland is probably the country Toronto has never had that much of a connection to. The best Finn to ever be part of the Leafs organization was Tuukka Rask.

Toronto and Edmonton are mirrors when it comes to this. Toronto has a lot of great Swedes and connections, but not many Finns. Edmonton has a history of great Finn's, but only Ekholm could be considered a great Swede for them.

Don't think any Finn who's actually played for the Leafs could be considered "great" for Toronto. Even Russia has better representation here with Mogilny, Berezin, Kulemin, Markov, Mironov, and Yushkevich.

My vote goes to Komarov.